Finding Employment in an Economic Downturn

by Candy Robinson

Finding employment in a less-than-sluggish employment market proved to be a major challenge for me in 2001. I had left Boeing for an opportunity to use my new MBA at a financial services firm. When the company was bought out in 2001, I decided to take the generous severance package and go work elsewhere. Not-so-funny thing was, there was no elsewhere. When you are at the top of your game, have three degrees (BSEE, MSCS, MBA in Engineering and Technology Management), more than 20 years of experience, and have never had trouble finding employment (and, in fact, being in the computer industry, used to fielding frequent calls from recruiters), it is quite a humbling experience to find that your skill set is not currently in demand. I had never before had to work at finding employment. Opportunities had always come to me. I found myself in a brand new world that I was not used to navigating.

I tried everything I could think of — I attended job fairs; I joined career networking groups; I visited the library and perused their employment-related information; I used online searches with tools like Monster; and I continued to be active in my professional associations — specifically IEEE, Society of Women Engineers, and Toastmasters International. I thought that all of these were potential avenues for finding employment. Toastmasters kept my impromptu speaking and communication skills honed (very helpful in interviews). I was Section Chair for IEEE Dallas, a large section with nearly 6000 members, exposing me to a wide network of people. But even with all of my efforts and connections, I was becoming extremely discouraged during my search. I needed to remain in the same geographic area where my children were in high school and my husband had a good position — adding additional limitations to an already difficult job search.

Much to my dismay, I was without work for a full two and a half years. Needless to say, my situation was devastating. I reached a point where I decided that I was going to have to leave the engineering profession altogether. But, I couldn't think of anything I would rather do than be an engineer. My second choice was to teach at a local college, knowing full well that the income would be considerably less. I started applying to community colleges for a teaching position. Meanwhile, my local SWE group was hosting a regional conference. We had invited a Vice President from Lockheed Martin, a major Fort Worth employer, to be our keynote speaker. I had attended job fairs, visited their booth, and applied for many positions on their Web site, but like so many other companies, I wasn't getting any response. Tired and near defeat, I still found the energy to make sure to sit at this Vice President’s table at lunchtime. I had met her many years earlier at a national SWE convention. I asked her for advice on how to get an opportunity to speak with someone at her company; I knew my background was a good match for many of their available positions.

One month later, I received two phone calls regarding teaching positions. I also received a phone call from a hiring manager at Lockheed Martin to come in for an interview. Prior to this experience, I would have told you that while the Vice President knew of my professional society activities, she had little idea of my engineering talents, and therefore could not possibly be of much help to me. I did not realize the value of using that contact to simply get the chance to sell myself. She gave me the opportunity that made the difference. I cannot overemphasize the importance of getting out there, letting people know what you are looking for, and being persistent. Sitting in a room all day combing Web sites is insufficient to finding your next opportunity. Get out there, stay involved and never lose your determination. There are many things in life that we cannot control. Sometimes we need to maintain our vision and our faith, in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Sandra ("Candy") Robinson is a software Engineer for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, in Fort Worth, Texas, providing ground support for testing the F/A-22 fighter jet. She is Women in Engineering Coordinator for Region 5, incoming 2006 South Area Chair for Region 5. And she is also vice chair of Fort Worth IEEE Section's Computer Society, and a senior member of the IEEE Dallas Section. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.