Over time, Jackson’s design and development skills culminated in the establishment of iBuild Building Solutions in 2014 from a garage in Melbourne with business partner Michael Zeng.  

iBuild designs and manufactures kit homes and prefabricated buildings, serving clients in every Australian state and territory as well as exporting overseas. It has since grown to a multi-award-winning business competing on a global stage.  

Jackson values the chance to offer youth the opportunities he worked hard to gain in his early days in Australia. A keen employer of interns, he was drawn to this program which matches degree-educated interns with companies in need of certain skills and talents. 

Finding out about the placement opportunities gave Jackson the ability to take on eight interns in a range of disciplines including accounting and engineering. 

“We have observed the amazing skills these interns have brought into the business – and the fresh ideas, some of which are extremely invigorating and enlightening,” Jackson says. 

“We as a team feel enormous joy to see the personal growth and development. We are particularly pleased to see their confidence level gradually increased as well. So this is a program that leads to real-world experience and full-time employment opportunities.”  

The retention rate is testament to the success of iBuild’s strategy. Around 90 per cent of its ongoing full-time employees have emerged from internships.  

“That makes it a perfect match because we found the skills are amazing and it also demonstrates that we as a company invests in talent. We have tangible long-term benefits,” Jackson says. 

“We find that those employees are very grateful for the opportunity, and once they become full-time employees, their loyalty is very high and they are motivated to drive business growth.”  

The timing of the program was important for iBuild, with Australia experiencing severe skills shortages in some industries following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“There is a chronic skills shortage, particularly in I.T. and in engineering or any field related to STEM post-COVID,” Jackson says.  

“This program is very beneficial and it's a great match for us because we have uncovered skills in ICT and engineering. Some of the interns brought some amazing skills that can close the gap for business operations. 

“I think skills shortages can be addressed better by hiring people who perhaps might lack a little bit of experience, however once you nurture and develop the skills they have, will have an immediate and tangible impact to the business.” 

Orifa Arefah M.Rad, a mother and architectural engineer with a Bachelor’s degree from Iran, is one of the interns at iBuild in engineering. 

“Before the YAY program I could not find a job for six months and was rejected in a job interview because I hadn't had any local experience, which is an important factor to the job,” she says. 

“But the program has opened up the opportunity for me and gave me a chance and now I'm able to begin my career in engineering.” 

Similarly, the program has enabled John Koenig, skilled in computer science, to flourish at iBuild’s ICT department. 

“I may just be an intern but I get to call a lot of shots. It's cool being able to actually see your work come to fruition in real time. That's inspiring.” 

These stories are the most pleasing for Jackson, who sees the program as a way of giving back to the community and offering a helping hand to those in a situation like he was in about 20 years earlier. 

“I have first-hand experience in relation to observing how hard it is for many migrant minority or international students to get a foot in the industry in Australia,” he says. 

“So today I'm very pleased to be in a position to be able to offer people similar chances that I was given back in my day. That's a great way for us to pay it forward so that we can support young interns get their foot into the industry.”