Meet Bob Zilke

“I’M DOING WHAT I LIKE BEST: FIXING THINGS”

Bob comes from a family of mechanics, and now works as a Senior Service Technician at Hiab in the United States. Most of all Bob enjoys solving his customers’ problems and helping others.

“I come from a family of mechanics. My father was a mechanic, so is my uncle, and I am too. I trained as an offset printer technician, but that job was not for me. So now I’m doing what I like best: fixing things. I’ve never woken up thinking that I don’t want to go to work. I do service calls with our customers both in the shop and in the field. I love figuring out what to do in new situations. It’s the best thing when you don’t yet know how to fix a problem – before you find the solution.

Our team is the big thing for me. We are very close-knit and get along really well. We also just get the job done! I know that if I can’t solve a problem by myself, I can go to anybody in the team – another technician, the janitor, or someone higher up – and that person will help me. I also get job satisfaction from helping others. When you have been at this job for 18 years, you have seen a lot of different kinds of machines and come up with a lot of solutions. That experience I want to pass on to people starting their careers.

Our machines are easier to run, easier to get used to – and our customers love them. My focus is always on fixing the customer’s problems so that they can do their job. When I say to a customer ‘it’s ready to work’, I can see that they appreciate it. The better our machines work, the more business we have.”