Conversations with Turkey's Career Pioneers - Hakan Ateş

The fifth guest of our Turkey's Career Pioneers Talk was Hakan ATEŞ, the CEO of Denizbank. Being the first live guest of TEDU radio, after answering the interview questions, Mr. Ateş started his conversation with our high school students by introducing himself.

He stated that, through dubbing for radio and television, he earned a considerable amount of money at the time, but upon the requests of his mother that he have an occupation, he abandoned the job he enjoyed and started his life in banking at İşBank Inspectorate.

Mr. Ateş also emphasized that being a graduate of TED instilled self-confidence in him and with this self- confidence he climbed the ladder of success in his career. After mentioning that he is proud of being the chairman of the board of trustees and among the founders of TEDU, he talked about their scholarship students and the reflection of TED culture on the university itself.

Continuing his talk by answering questions from the students, Hakan Ateş talked about where Denizbank gets its name, it being chosen as the most innovative bank in the world, their survival of the 2008 crisis with profit, the importance of human management and technology, and their adoption of the principles of transparency, equality, responsibility, and quality. He also transferred money to one of our students who has no bank account and showed what other things are possible with the Denizbank application.

Mr. Ateş ended his talk by stating that being brave and not giving up are of utmost importance and the day students start working, they start a new type of education with ones who pass and ones who do not always being differentiated.