Action for Race Equality
Empowering Young People who are Black, Asian and of Mixed Heritage
I’ve only been with Jacobs since the end of January this year, but you see already the months are rolling by quickly. The position I was offered, as mentioned earlier, was that of an Assistant Project Manager, which I happily accepted, as it felt perfectly in line with what I wanted and the path that I wanted to go on. So that’s the role I currently have, I’m lucky enough to be working on major projects such as HS2 and also others. This role has a commercial support alignment as well, which is along the lines of what I’ve studied.
Keon Simms, Assistant Project Manager, Jacobs,
My journey
I’m from a single parent background and the luxury of university was a far-fetched ideology. It just seemed unreachable at the time, but through entrepreneurial exploits, earned scholarships and of course through the hard work that comes with all that, I managed to overcome many challenges and obtain a degree in Operations and Finance graduating with upper second-class honors.
I landed my first official job in tourism operations management and eventually made my way into utilities management when I worked for the NHS. I had a period of difficulties between 2019 and 2022 where I refocused on my aspirations and pursued additional studies to advance myself in the desired field of Project Management and Finance.
After spending considerable time on the internet doing career research, I had exposure to Jacobs and the unknown possibilities in construction through the GLA Workforce Integration Network and the Equal Group.
So, yes, now that I’m with Jacobs through exposure by these organizations, I’m in a position where I feel there is real potential for meaningful career growth and impact which benefits, not only me, but my family and siblings as well. So that’s the background briefly leading up to this point.
Applying to work at Jacobs
The recruitment process was slightly extended, but the entire journey, I must admit, was really a positive experience for me, considering what I’m normally exposed to going for jobs.
I found this one very engaging, surprisingly engaging and interesting, and I think it’s a step in the right direction. I wish it could be like this for most of applicants. Definitely a few rungs above what’s out there as a standard and that’s mainly because of the interactivity and the communication that was offered throughout the process.
So, initially there was of course, that initial point of contact or point of interest, and then you had various interviews to go through and competency testing as well before I got to the final point of an offer.
I actually had multiple other applications at the same time, and I did receive permanent job offers for other roles before I had confirmation from Jacobs. But just because of the type of communication that I had with the Jacobs team, I was willing to let those initial offers or confirmed offers either wait or go by because I was convinced that whatever the outcome, it would be worth it waiting to see what was going to happen with Jacobs. And that’s because of the prior research I did on the company. There were a lot of favourable points that kind of caught my eye. Social responsibility, their hyper-integrity, inclusivity and ethics and some of their values that really resonated strongly with me.