Finding Hope at Altec after a Cancer Diagnosis: Kinsey Simatos

If anyone knows the meaning of hope, community and perseverance, it’s Kinsey Simatos.

Kinsey, a Quality Engineer at Altec, was diagnosed with Stage Four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2019, right before she graduated college at Iowa State. Having already interned at Altec twice, Kinsey had been offered a job at the company’s Midwest location and was set to start work in January 2020.

Because of her cancer diagnosis, she knew she would not be able to start work at that time. After hearing the news, Altec told Kinsey they would hold her job for her, even before she started chemotherapy.

“I told the company I’m not going to be able to make it right away. They said, ‘That’s fine, we’ll wait. That’s no big deal at all.’ There was no pressure, no, ‘Hey, when are you coming back?’ ” Kinsey said.

Altec stayed in close contact with her during treatment and recovery, something she still remembers fondly.

“They worked with me on the entire process. I got flowers from plant managers. My boss was checking in on me quite often, so that was a pretty amazing support to have,” she said.

Beyond her cancer diagnosis and recovery, Kinsey says she enjoys the friendships and continuous support she’s found while working at Altec, even meeting her fiancé at the company.

“It’s also great to work for a company that cares about your family, cares about your work-life balance and also encourages you to have fun while you’re at work. They say every company has family in their values, but Altec actually holds that true,” said Kinsey.

When asked what her reaction is to seeing an Altec truck out in the world, she says she feels an immense sense of pride.

“I helped build that truck. I’m helping lineman and people do the jobs that they need to do to keep our infrastructure running,” Kinsey said.

And her favorite Altec value? People Are Our greatest Strength.

“You don’t realize how important the knowledge of the team around you is until you’re in the thick of a problem and you have to solve it, right? Chances are there’s somebody out there that knows how to solve that problem,” Kinsey said.

Altec Careers

If you enjoy working in a team being challenged, Kinsey says this is the place for you.

At Altec, we know if we put our minds and hearts and backs into something, we can do anything. We care about people. We look after each other.

And no matter where we go, across the nation or the globe, we know one thing holds true: our equipment, our services, and our solutions are used to advance our communities and improve other people’s lives.

Does a career at Altec seem like the right fit for you? If you’re interested in joining Team Altec, check out our current job openings here.