Turkish-born Meryem Skinner promoted to top operations job at UK-based language services company

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 23, 2009 -- When Turkish-born Meryem Skinner finished her degree in Librarianship at Istanbul University, Istanbul, little did she imagine that just a few years later she would have launched a successful career in language services in the UK.

For Meryem, 33, her bold decision to leave her family in Istanbul in 2001 to become an au-pair in England sowed the seeds of a new direction for her. After deciding to study English as a foreign language at Newbury College, she found work as an administrator at Thatcham-based Prestige Network, working part-time in the interpreting team and part-time in the finance department.

Working her way up, her project management and people skills were quickly recognised and at the start of 2009, she was promoted to Prestige’s Operations Manager, responsible for the full operations team of seven people – including all aspects of language services such as face-to-face translation, interpreting and British Sign Language.

She said: “I’d always wanted to do something different. Coming to the UK was one of my dreams – I wanted to immerse myself in the British culture.

“Learning English was the best thing I ever did – it gave me the tools to do the job I’m doing now. Prestige Network discovered the skills I didn’t know I had and I really thank them for that – they gave me encouragement.

“I’m very excited about my new role – as well as continuing to be involved in interpreting (which I love), I’m also responsible for people management, training and reviews, generating invoices on time and quality assurance of Prestige Network’s entire operations.

“I now have to make sure that people who are working with me are happy, motivated and are delivering services to the correct standard. We have an excellent team of people who all work very very hard. The fact that they come from all over the world – including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and South Africa – works to our advantage, because we bring a range of values to the workplace – we view the differences as positives rather than negatives.”

Part of Meryem’s job involves providing 24-hour emergency access for clients who have an out-of-hours service – such as Cheshire Police and Royal Berkshire Hospital.

She said: “We rotate this responsibility, so it doesn’t come around very often. But it’s part of the excitement and challenge to be able to help somebody in a difficult situation –I love it."

Shawn Khorassani, Business Development Director at Prestige Network, said: “When Meryem came to us, she was a real find – a gem in fact. We recognised her potential and promoted her through the ranks - now all of our customers and staff are benefitting from her skills and her personal qualities. She is fantastic. She has a brain like a computer – she can remember all sorts of facts at the drop of a hat.”

* Prestige Network caters for all language and communications needs in the public sector and has a growing number of commercial clients.

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