If you recall, I stumbled into a job for a manufacturing company recently and was told I had to pass a mechanical aptitude test before they would hire me to work on their web site. Needless to say, that didn't go anywhere. To be clear, I am not actively looking for a job but would be interested if something interesting to me came along.
Some of you may also recall that I used to own several Subway Sandwich restaurants. While I didn't manage all that directly, sometimes I would be asked to fill in if they had some special thing going on, shorthanded, or whatever. During those occasions I would run into people I knew in the past and, since a previous employer had offices nearby, those people were former co-workers and two engineering managers. I would kid with them about coming back to work there but their response was always more serious and they always encouraged me to contact HR and do so.
So, today, I was at the grocery story and ran into one of the mechanical engineers. He's now a project manager with nine other engineers beneath him. "Come back to work for us!", he said. "We have two openings coming up and I'll vouch for you." The engineering manager told me the same thing a few months ago and encouraged me to contact the VP of engineering.
So I tried. I knew they had been bought by Really Big Company You've Heard Of, Inc. (RBCYHO, Inc.) but they still worked out of the same address I was at plus one other one. I Googled for the phone number but none is listed. I tried the newer address and nothing there. I tried RBCYHO.com but they only show corporate numbers in New York. Then I searched for former owner of my original company that were bought by RBCYHO, Inc. There I was able to find the original phone number of where I worked.
I called that number but it asks you to enter the extension of the party you wish to reach and that's all it does. The web site listed the phone of the newer location and calling that number will get you phone prompts for "employment opportunities". Hitting that, though, redirects you to RBCYHO.com under "careers" where there are no listings for engineers.
Friends, I think I've found the reason for the engineering shortage companies complain about.
Some of you may also recall that I used to own several Subway Sandwich restaurants. While I didn't manage all that directly, sometimes I would be asked to fill in if they had some special thing going on, shorthanded, or whatever. During those occasions I would run into people I knew in the past and, since a previous employer had offices nearby, those people were former co-workers and two engineering managers. I would kid with them about coming back to work there but their response was always more serious and they always encouraged me to contact HR and do so.
So, today, I was at the grocery story and ran into one of the mechanical engineers. He's now a project manager with nine other engineers beneath him. "Come back to work for us!", he said. "We have two openings coming up and I'll vouch for you." The engineering manager told me the same thing a few months ago and encouraged me to contact the VP of engineering.
So I tried. I knew they had been bought by Really Big Company You've Heard Of, Inc. (RBCYHO, Inc.) but they still worked out of the same address I was at plus one other one. I Googled for the phone number but none is listed. I tried the newer address and nothing there. I tried RBCYHO.com but they only show corporate numbers in New York. Then I searched for former owner of my original company that were bought by RBCYHO, Inc. There I was able to find the original phone number of where I worked.
I called that number but it asks you to enter the extension of the party you wish to reach and that's all it does. The web site listed the phone of the newer location and calling that number will get you phone prompts for "employment opportunities". Hitting that, though, redirects you to RBCYHO.com under "careers" where there are no listings for engineers.
Friends, I think I've found the reason for the engineering shortage companies complain about.