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    Employee Spotlight

    Meet Spencer Zhong

    Spencer Zhong Round Headshot_720Spencer Zhong

    Department Manager of International Approval Services team in Canada

    Define your role within Nemko.
    My role is the Department Manager of the newly created International Approval Services (IAS) team in Canada. The goal of the new team is to provide prompt localized support to the sales team and our clients based on our expertise on international approvals so as to grow the IA business.

    How did you choose this career path?
    Honestly, it was unintentional. When my family moved to Toronto, I was trying to find a job then one of my friends recommended an opportunity at CSA GMA team. I realized it’s a perfect fit for me which can leverage my skills in project management and sales support. It does - the best moment of this job is when my clients get the certification they’ve been waiting for and say, “thank you Spencer” and I enjoy it very much.

    The working experience at CSA was a success which prompted me to look for another opportunity where I can have a broader responsibility. Fortunately, I was approached by Nemko at that time.

    What do you enjoy most about your job at Nemko?
    This is just the start of my 5th month at Nemko. The most challenging part of this job (also I enjoyed the most) is to lead this brand-new team fit in the existing working process, which obviously involves lots of communications with different teams. I have to admit that I have also enjoyed the tremendous support from all parts of Nemko - including my 2 teammates Hannah and Andrey – the support makes my job much easier.

    Are there any challenges that you’ve faced during your career that have taught you important lessons?
    My 20+ years career has been relatively smooth but there’re ups and downs. The most important lesson I have learnt is to know yourself well - opportunities are everywhere but you must have a good understanding of yourself (like who you are, what you are good at, what you are truly interested in, what do you really enjoy at work, etc.) – we must find our own answers to those very basic questions before taking actions.

    What do you think the industry will look like in 20 years?
    We must consider 2 factors that could play a fundamental role in the development of the global TIC business – technology and geopolitics. It could go either way but hopefully, we could see a world with the following characteristics: (1) a booming global economy with tremendous opportunities in the TIC business due to the advance of technologies; (2) a much better global trade environment with significantly less trade barriers due to (not limited to) more and more harmonized standards in each product category and more and more MRAs and FTAs signed between nations; (3) a higher degree of industrial concentration in the global TIC business where several players have much dominant positions globally and Nemko is one of them.

    What do you find most rewarding about your role?
    The most rewarding part of my role is to hear “thank you” from the customers, both internal and external, which means my team has done a good job to help them out with our expertise in international approvals. I love to see that, and I believe we can build up an even stronger team to help grow the IA business.

    What are some market trends you’re keeping an eye on?

    • Digital transformation is happening everywhere, from the operation of an organization in the TIC business to the governance of industries by governments.
    • Many countries do not loosen but tighten the regulations of market access via non-technical barriers, which is an opposite to globalization.
    • The advance of different kinds of technologies.

    When not working, how do you spend your spare time?

    • I am a super NBA fan, so I watch many NBA games
    • I love to travel and experience different cultures. I’ve been hiking a lot due to covid restrictions in recent 2 years.
    • I like gardening and I really enjoy the amazing moments the vegetables and flowers I planted can bring.

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