In recent years, our Group has made great investments in taking on new staff under 30 years of age, focusing on their training and growth within the company. Mirko Marconi, a promising young employee who works in internal logistics, tells us about his experience.
Hello Mirko, what experience do you have in terms of education and work?
I graduated from the high school for hospitality in Cavaglià (Biella, Italy) in 2012. I chose this route as it would guarantee me an immediate possibility of work after leaving school and I could start work while still studying. From then on, I always worked in the hospitality sector, in Italy and abroad, both in restaurants and as a barman in London and Barcelona. Shortly before the Covid pandemic, I decided to come back to Italy, where I gained some experience in the kitchen of a restaurant.
So your experience was all in the world of food. Why did you decide to change sectors and work in logistics? Was it difficult for you to enter into a new sector where you didn’t have any prior experience?
In 2021, I felt the need to change because the work shifts in hospitality no longer matched my life style. I needed to find a different work-life balance and so I decided to look into the industrial production sector.
I sent my CV to Marchi & Fildi because somebody told me that they were looking for new staff, and the logistics aspect had always interested me, as well. It wasn’t difficult for me to make this change; the total change of shifts and organisation of my normal routine was actually more destabilising. At the working level, everything is different, but at the same time is very stimulating and instructive, and these elements help to increase my awareness every day that I have made the right choice.
What are the most stimulating aspects and the greatest challenges in your new job? What would you like to achieve in your career path?
There are truly many stimulating aspects: the constant updates and training which the Group guarantees me, as well as the frequent new input I receive. It is a job which allows me to increase my competence over a wide spectrum, starting with dealing with customs right through to invoicing and tax matters. Amongst the topics that interest me most, there is the computerisation of business processes, in particular from the logistics point of view.
In the future, I would like to continue to grow my skills for the management of the Group’s logistics aspects, with increasingly complete understanding and responsibility.
In your view, what are the most important characteristics needed to work in warehouse management? How important is the team in this setting?
I’m an open-minded kind of person, I like interacting with others and I find meeting different people stimulating, both in the company (back office, dispatchers) as well as external carriers, in order to organize the dispatch of goods. From my previous jobs in hospitality, I had certainly learned about teamwork, which I think is a fundamental characteristic. I have integrated well into the young, dynamic team in the warehouse, which is supported by more experienced colleagues.
Are there any technological innovations which facilitate working in the warehouse?
Our warehouse has an optimal level of automation. I’m thinking for example of the PDAs for stock picking or of the safety devices introduced in order to avoid accidents between forklifts, and to protect workers moving through the corridors. Other innovations allow the automation of shipping information and to share this with the customer as a result of the extremely streamlined communications, without having to intervene after the shipments of goods.
In general, research and development in terms of improving the logistics sector is very dynamic, and I follow it with great interest, and also discuss it with my manager and colleagues.
What advice would you give to a young person starting out on their career, and undecided as to which path to take? What are the advantages (and criticalities) of working in logistics in a textile company such as ours?
Joining a company usually takes place by means of a period of traineeship during which the company can assess the employee, but which is also useful for a person like me, who was trying this type of work for the first time in a new sector. You should always come to the interview well informed and prepared to ask any question which could help you to form a better idea of the actual job you will be doing.
It is important to stay curious about your job setting, because in a production company like ours, it’s crucial to understand what happens before and after your own role, as well as to be informed about the company and understand its peculiarities.
Having a young team is a strong motivator, as you work better and often organise other activities outside work, which means improving the unity within the team and making everyday working together more enjoyable.
Being aware of working in a solid company with a long history, which constantly invests in innovations and human resources, are further factors which make me proud of my work and my growth in this context.
