Eric started as a service manual writer at Vermeer China in 2008. Now, Eric is an environmental, health and safety (EHS) and product safety engineer.
When Eric first started at Vermeer, he had no technical background in horizontal directional drilling (HDD). He was nervous about the job, but his team had his back.
“My supervisor, co-workers and the Pella manual team gave me confidence. They are very patient, always encouraging me to ask questions. This is the best team for helping me learn and make progress,” shared Eric. “With their support, I learned hydraulic, electrical and production knowledge on HDD.”
After working his way through different roles on the manual team in China, Eric began doing engineering design work. Eventually, in 2012, he took on a completely new role to the China team – an EHS and product safety engineer.
“The Pella product safety and EHS team gave me confidence again,” stated Eric. “I remember I always asked very basic questions at that time, but the team was very patient to explain in a simple way.”
Beyond training for new roles, the team at Vermeer China supported Eric with flexibility, English language improvements, time management, presentation skills, project management and more. In just 14 years at Vermeer China, Eric also had the opportunity to gain experience in seven different roles. His favorite part of his career in engineering at Vermeer has been working through new challenges in each role.
“Life is a journey of learning and growth. Challenges are the things stopping you from getting your goals, and if you keep overcoming these challenges, you’ll eventually get what you want,” Eric reflected. “Vermeer and the team give me confidence to overcome the challenges.”