Employee Profile

“Being disabled is nothing to be ashamed of. You can make the most of your experience. That’s what has happened to me. Despite my muscular dystrophy, I have progressed in my career and I am currently a maintenance tutor to the young recruits with whom I share my knowledge.”

I perform several roles as a result of my maintenance expertise and the change in my role after I contracted muscular dystrophy in 2002. I am currently the Automation Maintenance Coordinator and I am in charge of a technical department which looks after the maintenance of certain automated analysis tools and the documentary control and planning of automation equipment repairs. My job is more sedentary that it once was, but it has been enriched by my taking on management and tutoring roles which has given my career a boost.

My job has changed significantly over the 36 years I have been with Cargill. I began working in the maintenance department at a time when information technology did not exist! My career developed thanks to the numerous technical training and English courses the company enrolled me on. I also learned a lot on my own initiative. Being a specialist in an area where the technology was constantly evolving, everything had to be invented. I am particularly proud of having set up, for example, the maintenance of analysers, which are very sophisticated measuring equipment. For me, getting to the bottom of things has always been important. My muscular dystrophy has not changed my way of seeing things at all. Although my job had to be adapted, my disability has never been an impediment within the company which understood that having a disabled person among its employees is no big deal! On the contrary, you have to make the most of it. My experience therefore enabled me to become the head maintenance tutor for young recruits. I really enjoy this role which allows me to pass on my knowledge to them, let them benefit from my experience, see them blossom and develop.

I usually work with young people and I say to them: hold on tight! You must be able to anticipate things and not wait for them to happen. My boss has given me free rein because I am constantly taking the initiative. Take the plunge and strive for progression!