Meet Sibel Onemli, who studied law at Utrecht University and pursued a second master’s degree at UCL before working in London for a year and a half because she loved the city so much. When she moved back to the Netherlands, she joined Ausma Advocaten in Utrecht as a criminal lawyer and after almost five and a half years (and several internships at broadcasters and in written media), she quit her job as a lawyer and went all-in. What was her next stop? Working as a reporter and editor for a local broadcaster in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
1. Imagine you had the power to teleport to one place on a daily basis? Where would you go?
Easy, that'd be London, I am in love with London. I did an Erasmus exchange there during law school for half a year and I thought it was such a cool city so I decided I would return someday. Not too long after, I did indeed go back for my second master's degree at UCL. After about 1,5 years of working at a London law firm, I returned home with a heavy heart. Thankfully, I still go back regularly, but preferably I’d go every day!
2. In a nutshell, who is Sibel?
I am someone who likes travelling very much. I enjoy discovering new cultures and new people and really enjoy talking to strangers. I’d say I’m curious and adventurous.
3. People want a solid understanding of what your work and day-to-day looks like. What are you going to tell them?
I am an editor and reporter for RTV Stichtse Vecht, a local broadcaster. I’m currently part of a project to strengthen local journalism. Officially, I’m employed by the NOS (the Dutch Public Broadcast channel) and I’ve been seconded to the local broadcaster to create more of a bond between the local broadcaster and NOS. When I create an item, the NOS can also use it.
I am not a daily reporter on calamities, but instead able to address more in-depth topics. I have a lot of freedom in deciding on the topics I cover. Once I decide on a topic, I consult the planning team and if they think it’s a good idea, I also consult the editor-in-chief before pressing ahead.
Once the topic is settled, I’m good to go and I start doing (more) research and get in touch with the parties involved either by phone or email. I conduct a preliminary interview and if I consider the topic to be newsworthy, I make an appointment to follow-up and really create the item. I’m a "mobile journalist", which means I film everything myself and also conduct the interview myself. The next day, I write and edit the article to be published which - surprise surprise - I also do that myself. When videos are used for the televised news, the editor-in-chief always pre-approves it. Same goes for when I publish an article online. It usually takes about a week to go from idea to publication. It’s a whole new world and everything is new, so it’s lots of fun!
As to where I get my inspiration: so far, I mainly use local Facebook groups and look through the reactions on posts. When something impacts a lot of people, I often look into it further as a potential topic to write about. In addition, there’s topics that I’m interested in myself which I can then look into more, an example being an article on the impact of fireworks on dogs which was published late November. I’m quite dependent on Facebook, (local) newspapers and other news outlets for topics, but also draw inspiration from foreign websites.
4. “The good, the bad and the ugly” about your job. Spill the beans!
The good as far as I'm concerned is that I get to go and see places I’d otherwise not get to see. I visit beautiful places. Not too long ago, I created an item on making national monuments more sustainable and got to visit a beautiful national monument. It was a private residence but the owners were very open. What I like is that people are often very willing to cooperate and tell their stories. I usually actually get way more information than I actually need. And I love interacting with people from all walks of life, who I wouldn’t necessarily meet and talk to if it wasn’t for my job.
A disadvantage of the job is that I really have to do everything myself. I’ve been on the road with a cameraman in the past and being able to focus on content and not on the right lighting, frame, getting the angle of the shot right, etc. is so nice. Some might say the job is individualistic, but you’re always interacting with other people. The only thing you do by yourself is editing a video or writing an article for example, but even then you get to spar with colleagues.
5. Why did you make the transition out of law / out of law practice?
Before I became a reporter, I was a criminal lawyer for about five years. The Corona pandemic hit and the courts closed. I know Corona and having to work from home triggered many people to change jobs, but that wasn’t it for me. I could still go to the office whenever I wanted but also quite liked working from home a bit more given I live in Amsterdam and didn’t mind being able to skip the commute to Utrecht.
Then what was it? Well, years ago now, I used to sit in the audience of talk shows quite regularly. I went to shows like Op1 and Beau. Even though I’d studied law & was working as a lawyer, I was fascinated by the world of television. I like watching tv and it’s a magical world to me. When I was at the studio for those shows, I got to see everything that goes on behind the scenes: the cameramen, the directors and the programme director in action and I actually found that more interesting than what was actually being said on screen. A whole new world opened up to me.
Somewhat unrelated but also related: I love travelling, travel solo regularly and want to inspire others to do the same. To do that, I used to share short stories on Instagram and years ago someone told me: “Wow, you’re good. You should become a travel reporter! That planted the first little seed in my mind, but I didn’t act on it yet back then.
Anyway, as I was fascinated by the world of television and because I really liked presenting and using posture and facial expressions to make people enthusiastic, I decided to register for a course at the TV College Hilversum. The course taught participants to present in front of a camera as if they were going to make a program or present the news. I got such positive feedback there, that it gave me the confidence to take it more seriously. This was around the time Corona started.
After the course at TV College Hilversum, I decided to look around and do some more research into well-known journalists and tv presenters and very often I came across the same thing: AT5. AT5 is Amsterdam’s local network and it was a stepping stone for a lot of great talent like Merel Westrik, Arthur Rooijakkers & Marielle Tweebeeke. Most well-known journalists and tv presenters studied journalism, so Marielle Tweebeeke was especially inspiring to me because she - like me - had studied something different. And not just that, she actually had a successful career before she made her career switch and joined AT5. I decided to message a few journalists and presenters and one of them told me AT5 had a program for “lateral” interns, which was different from the regular student intern programme. He gave me contact details of the internship supervisor, I sent an email, the next day I had a 45 minute interview and then I got an offer for an internship. This was around May or June 2020, but given the fact that I still had Bar exams and ongoing work I arranged to start the internship in March 2021. I was absolutely ecstatic!
6. How were you able to make the transition out of law? What do you consider the top 3 best tips or strategies for others looking to make a similar move?
So, in my case it was by doing internships. My internships were a trial run to be able to decide whether this is what I really wanted. The question was, though, what my boss at the time would think. I was working full-time as a criminal lawyer and remember having to go have the conversation with him about doing the part-time internship. I was so nervous.
Funny thing was that my boss had actually studied journalism, but because there were hardly any jobs in journalism at the time, he’d gone on to study law and become a lawyer. So for him, it was the other way around. He thought it was good I wanted to develop myself further. Given law isn’t exactly a 9-5 job, and certainly not criminal law, admittedly it was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to combine the part-time practice with my internship. In the end, although it wasn’t easy, we did manage to make it work though.
From March 2021 to mid-August 2021, I interned on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. And then the next opportunity presented itself: the AT5 program: “We are Amsterdam”. The programme was dedicated to training talent in journalism. As an intern, you never show up in front of the camera, but you did as part of that program. And that was my ambition. My boss had agreed to the initial 5 month internship, but then this new program popped up on my radar so I had to go back again and ask whether I’d be able to do it because that program also took place on Mondays and Tuesdays. Thankfully, he agreed - again. The “We are Amsterdam” program ran until the end of November and afterwards I stayed on for a few more months to intern on Sundays to maintain a connection with AT5 because I really liked the broadcaster. I was back to working as a lawyer full-time, but when I finished at AT5 I pursued a one day a week traineeship at DPG Media focusing on written media. Written media was a whole different - and again new - world for me.
How did you get your current position?
There were a few trainees at DPG Media at the time and we’d regularly discuss our ambitions with each other & share interesting vacancies. One of my fellow trainees shared the vacancy that got me my current job. I applied, was invited for an interview super quickly and a mere three hours after the interview got a Whatsapp message saying I was hired. The whole process was so fast & super informal!
As to my advice, in short: (1) internship and (2) villamedia.nl job site. Many broadcasters organise traineeships, so keep an eye on this per organisation. Connect with people working at broadcasters and follow them on LinkedIn so you can stay up to date with what’s going on and what vacancies are opening up.
Good to know as background info is that being a lawyer was never my end goal, I actually always wanted to become a judge. I’m a fairly quiet and humble person, not the “loud” type which is what people typically associate with lawyers. I know there’s thousands of different types of lawyers - my boss was also the quiet type but also very successful - but “quiet” types of people working as lawyers does often lead to surprises. The reason working as a judge appealed to me was because I like taking my time to think about something and about the next step. When you’re a practising lawyer, you often need to be quick. Think on your feet. That was sometimes difficult for me, given my character. I’d often wonder: did I choose the right strategy? I would’ve applied to become a judge directly from law school if it weren’t for the fact that the year I graduated, direct entry after law school was abolished and a work experience requirement was introduced.
7. How does your experience as a criminal lawyer contribute to your current role?
Recently, for my work as a reporter, I attended a court case for the first time (administrative law). As I was listening, and even though I wasn’t an expert in administrative law, it made me realise how convenient it is to have the experience and knowledge I have of the law. I know how procedures work and I understand the legal terms.
I think the biggest contribution to my current role is the people skills I developed as a criminal lawyer. It helps me communicate with the people I need for my current job. In criminal law practice, you have to learn to deal with a lot of emotions.
In court, you also plead - but it’s nothing like the presenting I do as a reporter. I need to present in very simple language. It’s something I’m still working on because I quite like more formal legal language!
7. What habits or “skills”, if anything, did you have to unlearn? What did you have to develop rapidly for your new job?
Learning to present in very simple language. Basically, you need to ask yourself: how would you explain this to your mother or your friend? Also, there’s a very big difference between written language and spoken language. You need to be aware of that and tweak your approach.
Other skills I also had to develop very rapidly relate to super practical skills, like editing a video, writing articles and headlines (a skill in and of itself!) and recording voice overs. I love doing voice overs.
8. What - if anything - do you miss from your time working as a criminal lawyer, and what are you most happy about to have left behind?
When I recently had to attend a court hearing, I had to go through the security check because I didn’t have a lawyer’s pass anymore which gives you fast-access entry. Also, when the lawyers showed up in their gowns, I caught myself thinking somewhat nostalgically: “Ah, mine’s also still somewhere.” It’s those kinds of things that I miss.
What I don’t miss is having to be on call 24/7, although you know what they say: news is out there on the street. In that sense, as a reporter, you always have to be alert. There is, however, a clear separation between work and personal life and more work-life balance in general. When colleagues go on holiday, they really go on holiday (and leave the team’s Whatsapp group for the duration of the holiday). This definitely surprised me the first time around, but I also understand it.
9. If you were prohibited from doing what you currently do, what would you be doing for a living instead?
A while back, I inquired about a vacancy for flight attendant because it’s something I've wanted to do since I was like 15, 16 years old. My parents didn’t want me to and felt I should go to university and get a degree, but it’s something that has always stayed with me. Every time I’m on a plane, I think about it. It’s not something I’d do for the rest of my life, but it seems like an incredible job to see the world. I've always had that wanderlust. And obviously it’d be a dream to present a travel programme on television.
10. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your 10 year younger self?
Listening to my gut more rather than logic. And not doing something just because it offers security. This is also something cultural. I’ve really been raised with the idea that I should study, get a job and become independent. Stand on my own feet. Nowadays, I think you can also achieve this independence with other types of professions, more creative ones. The past year, I’ve definitely listened to my gut feeling way more. Doing what I do now is completely illogical given I studied law and worked as a criminal lawyer, but I love it. And I still follow my gut.
*Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the interviewee alone and not their employer.
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