“I was used to driving 80,000 kilometres a year. As a Field Engineer at Ericsson I travelled all over the Netherlands to integrate and repair 2G, 3G and 4G sites. That was enjoyable work, but I was ready for the next step,” explains Jan Heuker, who now works as a Site Manager at Emerson. Via Decom he was given the opportunity to move into this completely new line of work.
Emerson was looking for Site Managers with a technical background in the field of Power & Cooling in Data Centres. Jan Heuker and Argo de Waal had carried out assignments for Decom in the past and we recommended them as candidates for the positions. This proved to be a smart move, because both men are well suited to the job.
“The telecom sector is quiet at the moment, but this is new and it is big business.”
Jan and his colleague Argo de Waal both worked via Decom as technicians in the telecom sector. Natascha Brouns, Field Coordinator at Decom, says: “They had both indicated that they would like to fulfil a more managerial role. After their assignments at Ericsson and Tele2 had come to an end, Emerson put in a request for Site Managers with a technical background. We knew straight away that Jan and Argo were the right men for the job, even though they came from a different background. It is great that we are able to find new positions for people like them.”
Emerson is a company that focuses on data centre technology and is a new client for Decom. “We previously posted employees primarily in the telecom sector, but we have recently expanded our activities to other technical fields. The data centre world is growing strongly, so we are pleased that we can supply people for this domain too,” states Natascha.
“This really is one of the best jobs I have ever had!”
“When Decom asked whether I would like to work at Emerson, I didn’t know what to expect, but my interest was aroused,” says Argo. “I held discussions with them and I discovered that the data centre field is very extensive. I also realised that the future prospects are promising. The telecom sector is quiet at the moment, but this is new and it is big business. This was an opportunity I did not want to miss.”
“It took some getting used to,” admits Jan. “It is a huge building site here. Next to the data centre, which is already up and running, another five centres are under construction. This is a new experience for me.” He laughs, “I sometimes wonder what I have got myself into, in a positive sense fortunately.” Argo adds, “We both had the ambition to play a more supervisory, more managerial role. That is what we are doing now, and it is great. This really is one of the best jobs I have ever had!”
“I am proud that Decom has found an out-of-the-box project like this for Jan and Argo.”
According to Natascha, Emerson and Decom are also pleased with the work that the men are doing. “Even though they both had limited knowledge of data centres, they are doing extremely well. I am proud that Decom has found an out-of-the-box project like this for Jan and Argo. It provides them with a good stepping stone for their further career development. It is nice that we can help them with this.”
