“I’m very proud to work at Scania… it was a big dream for me.”
Wellington Candido was just 14 when he started helping out at his dad’s garage in Brazil, but he was already dreaming of a career at the Scania factory in nearby São Bernardo do Campo. Almost 20 years later he’s in Sweden, working as a Group Manager for Industrial Engineers within gearboxes. “I’m very proud to work at Scania,” he says.
It’s fair to say Wellington Candido is living the dream.
When he was just 14, Wellington was helping out after school at his dad’s garage in the Brazilian city of Santo André. But even then he’d set his heart on a career at Scania’s factory in neighbouring São Bernardo do Campo.
“To work at Scania was a big dream for me,” he says. “When I left school I did an automobile technician course for two years and that helped me get an operator’s job assembling rear axles at Scania. I was 19 years old.”
After various roles including Assembly Line Team Leader and Process Analyst, Wellington took the next big career step six years ago, leaving Brazil and moving to Sweden. He and his wife live in the coastal town of Trosa with their two young children, and in his spare time Wellington likes to practice Brazilian jujitsu and tinker with his old Audi car. He says he’s immersed himself in Swedish life.
“It was curiosity that led me to move here. I wanted to learn something new, another culture. I was looking to move from Brazil before I came here and I found out that there were job opportunities here and then I applied and got the job,” he says.
“I can speak some Swedish. It’s not perfect but it works. And my colleagues are very patient with me too! It’s getting easier all the time, and my family like Sweden very much. You can never say never, but I can’t see us moving back.”
Wellington has just passed his latest career milestone at Scania, becoming Group Manager for Industrial Engineers within gearboxes, where he leads a team of ten. He values the interactions he has with his diverse bunch of colleagues, who he wants to ensure always feel supported in their work.
“The work varies a lot, but at the moment we are closing projects relating to the introduction of the new powertrain,” he explains. “This contributes positively to Scania because we can work out what spare parts are needed to keep the production running. Maybe in a year those parts will be needed, and we’ll see the benefit later on down the line. I’m very proud to work at Scania.”
So, what would the now 33-year-old Wellington say to his 18-year-old self?
“Just be patient; things are going to happen. When you are young you want things to happen so fast, but with time you start to understand that everything has its own time and you don’t need to rush anything. You just need to do well what you do here and now and put your heart and soul into it.”
