MARCEL CIZMAS

From Student Job to Career

Actually, it was only supposed to be a student job. In May 2009, I studied industrial engineering and aspired one thing more than anything else at EKR Elektrokontakt Romania: gaining practical experience and earning some money on the side. Today, I’m production manager at the Pancota site.

Learning about Different Perspectives
I started as an operator on the assembly line. Not really a glamorous start – but one that revealed real production operation to me. Thereafter, I switched to quality assurance: first as an inspector and technician, later as a quality engineer. Equipped with such profound experience, I took over production management in 2020.

Each position gave me new insights: How do product and process design intertwine? How do quality requirements affect technical and logistical decisions? This holistic perspective helps me every day – as a production manager, you need exactly this insight into the correlations.

Growing Through Responsibility
What really impressed me about EKR Elektrokontakt Romania: they trust in you. I was allowed to take on responsibility early on, in an environment that regards mistakes a chance to learn. And yet, they did not just leave me with it. The company invested in my development – through training in APQP, Core Tools, employee management, and specific product training.

My biggest test? The first production ramp-up. Training new employees, optimizing processes, implementing new technologies – and then handling issues that no one could have foreseen. What helped me: comprehensive preparation, real teamwork across all departments ... and a little bit of pragmatism and creativity.

Cooperating across Borders as Standard
As a production manager, I work with a wide variety of departments every day: Recruiting, Process Engineering, Logistics, Quality... It also includes close coordination with our colleagues in Germany and Ukraine. This kind of international networking has specific effects on my daily work: there are different perspectives on problems, cross-border solutions, and also insights into other (work) cultures.

My Conclusion
Growing into a leadership position – and not simply being kicked into it – has significantly boosted my self-confidence. Without the mentors and colleagues, I’ve had over the years, this would have not been possible.

If you want to grow and advance: here, you'll get the chance to do so. You can try things out, you will be actively supported, and you will work with a team that gets things done instead of just discussing them.

That student job from 2009? Looking back, it was the best career decision I ever made.