Alumni profile: Burak Haylamaz

UCL alum Burak Haylamaz tells us about his UCL experiences and how they helped him get to his current position of Privacy Policy Analyst.

Please share a brief introduction to your career path, from graduation to where you are now.  

Upon graduating from UCL, I had my second master's at Stanford focusing on internet regulation and intermediary liability which is a relatively new field of law. My UCL experience helped me to land my current job, particularly due to the well-substantiated competition law focus which intersects with internet regulation frequently and highlights the counterpart EU dynamics in the same area.  

Provide a brief summary of your core duties and describe what skills are important to your role?   

Analytical thinking and research abilities are two core and imperative skills important for any policy role. In addition, it is important to analyse, process and reflect on the research topic in a clear written form; hence writing skills are expected. Finally, soft skills such as work ethic, teamwork and communication are essential. 

How did your time at UCL prepare you for the workplace?

Apart from courses at UCL, interactive education and communications with classmates, staff, and professors definitely facilitate my work life. Besides, I realised that public speaking and persuasive communication must be within the toolbox of each lawyer. UCL provides courses for students interested in public speaking and I had a Rhetoric course as part of my curriculum that I am still using my notes in my daily life presentations. Furthermore, UCL has active and effective career services enabling students to meet with alumni around the world which not only provides career-based conversation but also life mentorship, even health insurance, pension-related information!

Were there any challenges in your job hunt?  

Each industry has its own challenges but for legal practice, the US has a different onboarding process than the UK (i.e. trainee contract) and requires a direct application from candidates. I was lucky to find mentors based in the US that helped me to go through my resume, and cover letter and provide me with interview tips. Thus, I suggest finding UCL alumni in your region who can assist you during the job hunting process. 

Top tips for current students: List up to 3 short quick tips that you would like to share with current students.

1. Soft Skills and Empathy – there are some skills a person can improve during his or her studies. Focus on communication skills and listen to another carefully and patiently – you may surprise how miscommunication affects daily business life. 
2. Adaption to change – this is not only a tip for daily business life but in general that there will be situations we need to adapt ourselves to new changes and situations. Sometimes your colleague will be unwell, or we need to re-open a new word document from scratch. Toleration is imperative. 
3. Simplicity – Legal research and matters can easily become complex, detailed and difficult to understand. But, success is hidden in simplicity because we may present the findings to a board or a client who is not expected to know legal jargon as we can. Try to explain legal matters as simple as possible (e.g. elevator pitch).