The traditional Business Talks’22 event, which is held regularly every year by our university’s IMU Career Club, attracted great attention this year as in previous years. The event was held on November 16, 2022 at Ziraat Bank Library, Ziraat Bank Hall, between 13:00 and 16:00. In the event that took place in three sessions, the founder of Mentoring with Chess (MwC), Strategy and Planning Director Evrim UYAR, Value Creation Facilitator, Design Thinking Practitioner, Marketing & Start Up Mentor, Innolabz company founder Mete YURTSEVER and Corporate Innovation Coach, Venture Investment Advisor, Start Up Mentor Sertaç ORAL took part as a speaker. At the event, the speakers first introduced themselves, informed the students about their areas of expertise, and shared their experiences in the business world.
The first speaker, Evrim UYAR, conveyed the knowledge she gained from both the business world and her own life to our students. She stated that she compared life to a game of chess while advancing on her own road map from her childhood, amid the negativities she experienced in life. UYAR mentioned that the most important factor in finding the next step in the face of obstacles in life is the strategies made. With the words “Your strategy is to separate yourself from others with the choices you make”, she advised students to discover their own unique side and to go after them. She stated that there are many negative events that will affect life in a person’s life, and that it is always best to stand upright and take important steps despite these events. She said “Sacrifices in chess are made to gain an advantage. The queen is lost, but the lost queen wins the game” and suggested that they read Stefan ZWEIG’s “Chess” book and Simon SINEK’s “Start with Why” books.
The speaker of the second session, Mete YURTSEVER, stated that life should be within a plan. With this plan and program, he suggested that students should make choices to prepare for business life at all levels of education, starting from high school. For this, he stated that determining which sectors and jobs they want to work in is a part of this plan and program. YURTSEVER mentioned the importance of the decisions to be made are always clear, but on the other hand, whether these decisions are realistic or not, with the words “Prepare your to-do list and check it later. How realistic are your decisions, how unrealistic”. He stated that a person who makes planned and realistic decisions can work in quality jobs in the business world, can take place in many top positions, and can easily find a place for himself in the society in a social sense. Concluding his speech, he advised the students to read Sun TZU’s book “The Art of War”.
Sertaç ORAL, the last speaker at the event, also touched upon many subjects that are a lesson that he has experienced both in his first years of business life and in his current business life. ORAL stated to the audience that with economic globalization, the business world and life are changing very rapidly at the same time. He stated that the business life adapted today will not be enough for people after a few years. He advised students not to be content with the present, to equip themselves to keep up with the global order five decades from now, and to improve themselves by following global trends and global jobs. With the words “The world is changing so fast. As you prepare yourself for today’s world, you need to prepare yourself for the world ten years from now. Because everything changes every moment in the world order.” he emphasized the importance of following global developments in business life and looking to the future.
ORAL has advised students who will just start their business life always to take a step into the business world and set out, because he stated that only one step on the way will help to see the rest of the way. At the end of his speech, ORAL reminded the students that fair behavior is important in business life as an advice, and suggested that they read Daniel KAHNEMAN’s book “Thinking Fast and Slow” while ending his speech.
In the event, which consisted of three sessions and lasted for three hours, the speakers shared their knowledge about their areas of specialization with our students who are making future plans. In this way, the event made significant contributions to the youth empowerment in terms of career development.The event ended after the questions and answers to the speakers.
