​​Olivier de Visser (36) – Belgium

Olivier de Visser (36) from Belgium
Joined our company in 2010
Is ​​​​Cargo Surveyor​ ​
Business unit: ​​Control Union Commoditiy Inspections, Belgium

Can you tell us something about your background?

​​I live in Belgium, and sometimes work in The Netherlands and France. ​​I studied I studied for C&C operator. After 3 years practicing this profession I realized that working every day at the same place isn’t really my thing. So I went looking for other opportunities and a profession with more diversity in tasks and environment.

What is it exactly that you do at Control Union?

​​​​I ascertain the quality and quantity of my clients’ products and make sure that this cargo is according to contract. Mostly these products/commodities are checked by us in the ports surrounding Antwerp and Ghent. In other words you can say that I am the client’s eyes and ears in hte port. We report our findings to our office who reports these back to our client.​

​​We do cleanliness checks of warehouses and ships holds, stock scans/ tally (both on quality and quantity) to help the client keep track of their inventory. We also keep track of the quality of ao. among others, fertilizer and grains during the loading and discharging of ships and trucks. We do full inspections of warehouses and stock sampling, barge measurements, on-site supervision and a lot more. ​ 

What do you enjoy most about your role/work?

​​The freedom and responsibility we get from our management, and the trust from our clients. ​ 

Can you share some of the opportunities Control Union gave you?

​​​​I learned a lot from my coworkers and colleagues from other firms, which helped me improve my skills greatly. This gave me the opportunity to practice a lot of different aspects of the job. ​ 

Control Union has a CSR policy and cares about the environment. How do you see this in your work?

Our management is always trying to improve the company and the wellbeing of the employees by giving them the opportunity to learn and expand their horizons. We just had a survey with a lot of colleagues to see where we can improve as a team. The results of the survey revealed that we’re doing well as a company, but there is always room for improvement…

Can you tell us something about your workload and hours?

I do have a great planner who tries to keep everybody happy. But since we work in logistics it is never a 9 to 5 job. Things can vary a lot and you will need a good support from your family at home, who understands that.​ We have hired more people to divide the workload and to be able to accept more clients and jobs. This will help Control Union Belgium to diversify even more. We try to emphasize our quality and knowledge to our clients.​  

What is your best advice to people who want to join us?

​​Control Union offers a lot of opportunities. We are a global company with all sorts of jobs as well as in the field as in the office, so we can offer a variety of jobs. ​ My best advice: ​​be flexible and give it your all!

If you could only choose five words to describe your career journey with us, what would you choose?

​​​​Flexibility, opportunities, variety, excitement, networking.​