Crossing continents with Canon

Life is full of twists and turns. Just when you think you know where you're headed, it can take you on a detour that somehow leads to exactly where you were always meant to be. At least that’s certainly been the case for Geraldine Van Schalkwyk and Sanette Voges who, after working for Canon in their native South Africa, travelled halfway round the world to join our business in the Netherlands.

However, neither of them simply jumped on a plane, Europe-bound. Things are rarely that easy. With children to care for, they not only needed to settle into their new roles but also make an entirely new city feel like home for their families. Sanette, our EMEA Travel Operations Lead, and her family have now been living in the Netherlands for over two years. However, she began her Canon career in South Africa, where she quickly progressed from working as a Key Account Manager for the partner channel to becoming Marketing Project and Planning Manager. A travel role may seem like quite a career change for Sanette, but it actually picks up from an earlier point in her career – she was previously an air hostess and her husband is a pilot (“although our paths never crossed in our airline careers!”).

It was when her husband landed a job with a base in the Netherlands that the family needed to seriously consider relocation, as his long-distance commutes became impractical, “and that is when I started trawling the intranet to see what was available there within Canon,” she explains. Sanette loved working at a company that offered so much in the way of professional development and had watched Canon South Africa grow from a small team of only a handful of people to the successful hub it is today.

“The business grew significantly and with came so many valuable opportunities to learn, develop my skills and be involved across the organisation,” She explains. “But after nine fantastic years, I needed to find the right opportunity in the Netherlands. I met with a member of the Learning and Development team at Amstelveen, who quickly understood my skills saying, ‘I love how driven you are and the fact that you're trying really hard to get to the Netherlands. I also love the reason you're doing this’ – then sent me the details of the travel operations job and it was perfect!”

Geraldine, a Marketing & Communications Specialist for Imaging Supplies, arrived in the Netherlands around a year after Sanette, but tells a similar story. “My husband was offered a job here and it all happened really quickly,” she explains. She had joined Canon South Africa in 2016 as a Digital & Web Designer but caught the “marketing bug” and quickly moved into a Marketing Specialist role in 2020, mainly responsible for MAXIFY and PIXMA printers. “At the time my husband left, our plan was that I would stay in South Africa with the kids until I found something in the Netherlands, I was very fortunate to secure my current role before he even got on the plane!”

It was a big move for both families: new workplaces, new schools and childcare for the children, plus new roles for Sanette and Geraldine. But, in this regard, at least, both were able to benefit from a globally shared company culture, while everything else in their lives was in a transitional period. “It felt a little weird to be starting over,” says Sanette. “But I'm really loving what I'm doing and the team I'm in is very supportive. This is the Canon culture, not only in South Africa, but here in the Netherlands as well. It's family first and everybody understands.” Geraldine agrees. “I do love Canon, so for me it's such a bonus, such a positive to be able to stay with the brand and I really appreciated that. I was so lucky to be able to find a role similar to the one I had in South Africa too, just for a different set of products.”

There was a lot to learn (“it took me months to figure out the recycling!” laughs Geraldine), but both families found the experience of settling into their new jobs and neighbourhoods an overwhelmingly positive one. They also met plenty of welcoming new friends through their children’s schools and the local South African community. But the path was made so much smoother by the kindness they received from their new Canon colleagues. “Everybody was super supportive and tried to help me everywhere where they could,” remembers Geraldine. “The team was awesome and really helped me adjust to life outside of the office.”

And while there are thousands of kilometres between them and their families back in South Africa, there are no regrets. “After all,” says Sanette. “I still have my friends, my mum and family back there still rooting for me and supporting me. They’re just a call away. And I’ve learned that it’s perfectly okay to miss the people and places you love.” And while Geraldine and her family plan to return for a traditional South African Christmas in the sun, there are no doubts for her either. “This is forever,” she says firmly.