Reboot Re-entry: Returning to a Technical Profession After a Career Detour

Speakers: Karen Counes Program and Construction Management Practice Leader CDM SMITH Jenn Harrison Regional Team Leader, Program and Construction Management CDM SMITH Julie Lucas Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition Programs CDM SMITH Sara Varvarigos, Transportation Planner and Reboot/Re-entry Graduate CDM SMITH Category: Diversity & Inclusion - Presentation title: Reboot Re-entry: Returning to a Technical Profession After a Career Detour - Description: Two steps forward, two steps back. Sometimes detours happen in our well-planned lives. If you have had a break in your science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career and are now ready to get back in the game, let CDM Smith help you restart your career by participating in our career re-entry program. In partnership with the Society of Women Engineers and iRelaunch, we offer a 16-week program each January through April for those who left their STEM career for 2+ years and now want to return. This is a paid, full-time temporary opportunity to help you train and rejoin peers in your field. Abstract/Content In 2018, CDM Smith joined a task force with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and iRelaunch, a pioneering organization on career return-to-workspace and essentially 'returnships' intended to re-integrate technical professionals into the workplace after career detours. SWE's STEM Reentry Task Force and iRelaunch's research and training programs were the basis for CDM Smith's Reboot/Re-entry Program, a 16-week, 40 hrs/week paid 'returnship' geared toward those employees trained in technical professions such as engineering and construction, but had taken a hiatus in their professional career. CDM Smith's formal Reboot/Re-entry program began in 2019, and can now claim 6 full-time hires as a result of the program.