I joined DB Schenker GBS 3 years ago as Accounts Receivable Team Manager, period in which SGBS offered me the possibility to constantly develop myself both professionally and personally.

When it comes to personal development, I can’t recall the number of in-house and external trainings I attended in these 3 years - they were a lot. I can give you 3 examples: Communication skills, Project Management, Advanced Excel training sessions, but the list is long.

My career path here was ascendant: I got the chance work with different types of businesses, to train the accountants for cash collection, moved to a new position as General Ledger Team Leader and, at the moment, I am part of a team which contributes to a constant change management and its purpose is to improve the processes of the organization.
 

My main task is to find where the processes can be improved while being aligned to a standard. I also design process maps and make sure that the changes are implemented across all applicable countries in SGBS. Two of the challenges that I encounter while doing my job are change management and making sure that everyone understands that we aim to be improve our activity and make our organization more efficient. Basically, playing the ONE TEAM, ONE GOAL game.

I studied at the Faculty of Transport, specializing in Transport and Traffic Engineering. Although my job does not involve pure engineering, I am happy that I am part of an international business performing in the transport field.

My evolution within the company has been ascendant and I give it as an example every time I have the occasion to inspire others. Starting as a Pricing Analyst, junior associate level, I had the opportunity to have a one-week training in Germany. After one year, I became a Transport Management System Administrator in the Ocean Solutions team. The team has been developing for 4 years from two people with a single project to 30 people and over 60 projects.

Currently I am Team Manager for the Ocean Solutions department from Bucharest, a team which offers back-office support for the regional European Ocean Solutions department. My conclusion: if you work with pleasure, help the team and bring value through solutions, optimizations or good ideas, people will notice and recognize your merit. I have been in DB Schenker GBS for more than 3 years and each one came with professional progress and opportunities. I love what I do! I have a team with great people with beautiful personalities, each one has a special place in the group and does an excellent job.

During my experience here, I had the chance to get acquainted and work with multiple business stakeholders with different cultural backgrounds. I was part of a knowledge transfer process and had the chance to travel to other countries to document and bring know-how and processes to SGBS Bucharest.

The willingness to get involved in a variety of projects has allowed me to develop my skills and to be promoted from Junior Accountant to a Team Lead role in a short period of time. Currently I’m acting as a Team Manager for the Accounts Receivable department. Our main activity in Accounts Receivable is to secure revenue by collecting overdue invoices, verifying and posting receipts and resolving discrepancies. The fun part of this job is that each day you encounter new challenges, which motivates me to be agile and prepared for situations that need solutions.

One of the biggest advantages of working at SBGS is the work environment: challenging and full of human interaction. I like the fact that people are helpful and manage to put a smile on their face every day.
 

Nicolae Mihaita, Team Manager, Accounts Receivable

Even though it was not my dream to work in the finance area, I was advised to study banking and finance. If I had been enrolled, I decided to do it thoroughly: participating at conferences, contests, involving in every extracurriculars. After the first year of university, I decided to search for an internship in the field of logistics, in an oil & gas multinational company. This is when I started loving logistics and supply chain domain.

After the oil crisis in 2015, I thought I should search for another job. In the meantime, I had graduated, I shook the hands with my former company and started a new journey: 12 interviews, nothing fitted with my expectations, as in 2015 the market was asking for accountants, financial analysts – no, thank you. This happened until DB Schenker and I met: love at first sight.
I started as a Transport Management System Administrator in Ocean Solutions team. After one and a half year of tough work, I became a Team Manager and here am I today: Quality Manager, dealing and cooperating with the global teams, being in charge of quality assurance, process improvement, automation, reporting, KPIs and visibility. My journey wasn’t easy. The most important part is that I had the great support of the local manager, I understood the culture and the strategy of the company.

The main challenge for me in the business services industry was to become a leader and developing others. I thought I wasn’t ready to take this responsibility, but then I learnt that a key to success is to start before you are ready, embracing the challenge, believe in your strengths, assuming the responsibility of your facts, making mistakes, learning the lessons and start all over again.

Having all the above said, it’s not the easiest domain to work in, but if you work with passion, do the extra mile and never stop learning, you’ll be successful and proud of what you do.

Raluca Ciobanu, Quality Manager – Air and Ocean Operations Support