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At only 32, Hilti Corporation manager Rebecka Marklund has travelled around the world for the multinational tool and product manufacturer and has worked in four nations — her native Sweden, England, France, Liechtenstein and now Canada.

She is Hilti Canada’s regional sales manager for the west portion of the Greater Toronto Area, which includes a large section of southwestern Ontario, and manages a team of nine account managers.

After graduating with an industrial engineering degree from university, she started her career in Sweden in the company’s Outperformer Hilti Careers, a global management development program that prepares participants for international postings.

Her first international assignment was as a product manager in Manchester, England developing and creating safety material and training content, which the sales force could use to help educate contractors and other professional end-users on the safe handling of its products, plus overall site safety measures.

“My focus was on health and safety to support our customers and that is something which I have been passionate about ever since.”

Safety is an important issue and not just for construction workers who are exposed to dangerous hazards onsite on a daily basis. Building safety standards also impacts people who will be living and working in those buildings for years to come, she says.

An emphasis on safety is one of Hilti’s pillars or core values which goes well beyond simply being a tool and product tool manufacturer, she says.

After only four months in England, she was forced to return to Sweden with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but she still worked remotely for the Manchester office. 

Then, in August 2020, she was transferred to Hilti’s newly-created digital marketing office in Paris, a position that entailed building up data-driven digital marketing, collecting and analyzing online customer responses which then could be developed into sales leads, and creating direct marketing material aimed at clients.

Both the projects in England and France provided the opportunity to work with people from very diverse backgrounds, an experience Marklund describes as “very enriching.”

Her achievements and performance in those two countries were the reason the company offered her a role as a product manager at it global headquarters in Liechtenstein, a small country tucked between Austria and Switzerland.

In that capacity she was responsible for one of Hilti’s concrete tools portfolio, developing new innovations to support the construction industry.

“I was excited when I got offered the role,” says Marklund, pointing out she was able to hike and ski in the Swiss Alps.

Apart from the geography, she was able to work in a stimulating international environment. Members from 70 nations work in the Hilti headquarters and her colleagues included numerous other expatriates.

“I also got to travel frequently to meet customers in countries like the United States, Canada and India, and all across Europe.”

Those meetings took place in offices, boardrooms, lab test stations and construction sites.

“I have actually visited construction sites in all my roles.”

It was in Liechtenstein that she met her now-husband Temujen. As he was on the verge of accepting a position in Canada, she also successfully attained a position here and became the GTA West regional sales manager in January 2024. The couple is expecting their first child in May.

Not everyone appreciates having to pick up and relocate to another country — or even a city — for a job and a question posed to Marklund was how she made the transition of moving to four different countries.

“I did not grow up in an especially international context and spent my childhood years in my hometown of Stockholm. I always liked travelling and spent one year on exchange in Germany during my university years, which I really enjoyed.

“But it was not until I started working for Hilti, a company that strongly encourages international rotations, that I fell in love with this experience. Every move has broadened my horizon and helped me grow as a person.”

It also definitely helped having support from Hilti on administrative matters, such as obtaining visas, associated with moving internationally, she says.

“I also speak Swedish, English, German and a little bit of French. Knowing the local language has definitely helped me integrate faster in the different countries I have lived and worked in. I find the best way to learn a language is to go out, meet locals and even if I do not feel very confident, to still try my best at speaking their language.

“I find people are usually accommodating and willing to speak to you in their language if you give it a try.”