Success Story- Aviv Golani, Marketing Coordinator, TNT Express / Hila Yaakobi

aviv golani, a 34-year-old with a wife and daughter, has a bachelor's degree in marketing communication. he started looking for work as a marketing coordinator at tnt express in july of last year. he arrived at tnt after working at a public relations and marketing strategy firm. after two years he decided to leave in search of a new job where he'd be able to advance and that respected his private life. he found everything he was looking for through jobnet at tnt express.

what is tnt express' line of work?
tnt express is an international company, originally a dutch company, involved in express courier services. the company is one of the top four courier companies in israel and around the world. the israel branch, which includes the headquarter offices and the distribution center, is located in the lod industrial park. most of the customers that patronize the israeli branch are commercial customers.

karen acte, human resources manager, adds:
tnt worldwide has 170,000 employees at 1,000 branches in over 200 countries around the world. the company has 17,000 workers in china alone. the relatively modest israeli branch has a mere 140 workers, including the couriers and the shift workers in the operations department. the israeli branch was set up ten years ago.

aviv, what is your job all about?
my job title is marketing coordinator. in practice i'm in charge of all of tnt's marketing activity, from internal marketing - distribution of information within the company, i.e. informing all of the departments of various marketing activities - to marketing activities aimed at customers, which includes conveying information via newsletters, overseeing the website contents and of course the various areas of classical
marketing - advertising, public relations and running campaigns. my job also includes marketing company issues.

aviv golani at the tnt express offices

what marketing activity does marketing company issues involve?
tnt is involved in numerous issues related to company responsibility and preserving the environment. tnt takes part in social enterprises, e.g. un assistance programs, fundraising, activities with international organizations and environmental preservation projects. social responsibility is one of the goals tnt worldwide has undertaken, and i'm in charge of the marketing aspects of these activities in israel.

what kind of work were you doing before you came to tnt?
at my last job at a public relations firm i was involved in communications strategy and marketing planning, so i arrived here with some experience in marketing and a lot of experience in pr.

what led you to the decision to look for a new job?
i decided to leave my prior company for several reasons; my previous job was primarily in public relations and i wanted to specialize in marketing. also, i wanted to try out a job on the side of the customer, rather than the service provider. my previous job was at a smallish office where i didn't see opportunity for professional and personal advancement, and it didn't meet my salary expectations.

what kind of job did you set out to look for?
i searched for a job in marketing and advertising. i focused on the marketing at a commercial company, marketing consulting and ad agencies.

how did you conduct your search?
i took my time with the search process. part of the search was very serious and intensive, and part was not. my daughter was born during this period, which prodded me to pick up the pace. i looked on my own, rather than through placement companies. the search was mostly done on the internet, especially through the jobnet site, which i knew from the previous time i looked for work. i got to know the site, searched it and at a certain stage i started focusing primarily on jobnet, because i saw it offered a larger range of positions that fit my needs, and for free. via jobnet i found i could achieve optimal results. when i first set out my preference had been to contact companies directly.

why did you prefer doing the search directly on your own, rather than via placement companies?
i believe that directly contacting a potential employer brings better results than with intermediaries and screening processes. somehow it often seems placement companies think they know what's good for you better than you do. i believe in direct contact rather than various intermediaries. direct contact is always more convenient, allows you to present yourself better and leaves a more real impression.

how did you eventually wind up at tnt express?
i saw an ad for the company on jobnet and contacted them. they got back to me very quickly and after a phone interview i was asked to come in for several one-on-one interviews. after the interviews they called and notified me i'd been accepted.

did you keep working at your previous company during the search?
i quit my job first, but in the end my move was from one job to the next. my decision to leave my previous job was not related to finding another job, but a decision stemming from an understanding that you have to take chances in life, because in the long run that's what allows you to get ahead.

how were you received at tnt?
i was taken in very nicely. i was very surprised by the welcome here, especially since my former job was at a small, not very organized office. when i came to tnt i was presented with an orderly training program, i immediately received all of the equipment i needed. nothing was a problem and everything was very orderly and organized. i also encountered a warm atmosphere and a very open and accepting welcome. i was given time to get to know the job and get the hang of things without pressure, and all the conditions i needed were arranged.

how was your training at the company handled?
the training process was very thorough and in-depth. most of the material was conveyed to me by the marketing and sales manager, and the rest by the human resources department and other functions at the company. the process included joining a courier to gain a better understanding of his work. in order to carry out marketing i had to have an in-depth familiarity with the company and its field of enterprise, which was totally foreign to me at first.

would you describe your move to tnt as a success story?
i'm very happy at tnt. it's a place of work that matches what i was looking for. it offers a combination of work that's very interesting and challenging for me, and the managers allow me freedom of action, while understanding that work is not the employee's whole world. it has to do with the approach to management, and from my understanding, with the overall attitude at tnt as an originally european company.

what distinguishes it as an originally european country?
an approach that says work is important, but it's not all there is in life. you work to live, you don't live to work. an approach that says you have to consider the employee's needs in terms of work hours, including his commute to work and home again. for me it was a really radical transition compared to my previous place of work, where my personal needs were totally ignored.

how is this brought out?
the work hours here are a lot more reasonable than what i was used to previously. there a lot of flexibility here regarding work hours as long as you put in the hours demanded by a fulltime position and provide the output expected of you. as a rule tnt promotes an approach of accommodating the employees as much as possible and allows them to create a balance between their private life and work.

do you see yourself advancing at tnt?
in terms of moving to a different position, at tnt-israel there is nowhere for me to advance at the moment, because above me are the ceo and the director of marketing and sales, and i don't see myself replacing either of them as my next job, but i do see myself developing with the company. i believe that as part of tnt israel's development the field of marketing and my job within it will develop and grow accordingly. also, one of the advantages of tnt as an international company is the opportunity to develop not just in israel, but elsewhere as well. i definitely see that as an option.

to wrap up, do you have any recommendations for jobseekers?
my recommendation is to conduct the search process with a lot of patience and forbearance. my experience showed me that in the long run patience is worthwhile, and even if it seems you're missing promising opportunities along the way, if you have enough patience you'll eventually arrive at the right place, and the right place doesn't always depend on the salary and the working conditions. as far as i'm concerned the foremost criteria are the attitude toward the worker, the people you work with and the management. as a new father, another nis 1,000 or 2,000 cannot compensate for the time i could be spending with my family. a workplace that provides the right environment and meets my personal needs is worth more than any salary.

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for the hebrew article