Ask the headhunter

P.R. asks:

I’ve been working in the semiconductor industry for thirty years, developing highly complex circuits. Due to the field’s complexity, I specialized in a particular aspect where few other experts exist. Most companies delegate this part of the work to general designers who juggle many other tasks. This surprises me because having specialists leads to better designs, fewer errors and significant cost savings. I’ve never seen a job opening for my specialty, although I must admit that I’ve never actively looked for one.

Recently, I was informed that my department is being closed due to a reorganization. With no vacancies within my company, I have to seek a new employer for the first time in twenty years. Through my network, I was able to arrange a few interviews, but they were mostly unfruitful. Either there was no suitable vacancy for me or I felt no connection.

The only promising job so far involved managing and supervising an external design partner, conducting evaluations, performing simulations, proposing improvements and handling internal communication and reporting. After passing the technical selection, I got to speak with the manager. Unfortunately, that conversation didn’t go smoothly.

The big bottleneck appeared to be my conviction that management and engineering should remain separate worlds. I believe that technical problems are best not shared with management, as this only causes issues. Even project managers aren’t very helpful in my opinion; if they understand the complexity of the circuits at all, they rarely, if ever, contribute to the solution.

The manager reacted rather irritably and loudly to my position. He totally disagreed with me. However, I base my opinion on my experiences over the past twenty years. His reaction reinforces my belief that he’s part of the problem. He’s looking for someone to mediate between him and the design house because that relationship has soured, at least that’s what I deduced from the conversation. He’s receiving faulty technical reports and the project is being delayed. I would have had to operate as a kind of intermediary, a role I’m not comfortable with.

How do you see my chances in the job market?

The headhunter answers:

Currently, I perceive little willingness among large semiconductor companies to hire many R&D employees. Some of them are even laying people off. Moreover, due to your particular specialization, there are very few one-to-one matching job openings. This means you have to handle every opportunity very carefully.

I don’t know exactly how your meeting went, but generally speaking, if you have an interview with a top manager for a desirable role, you shouldn’t tell him that management and engineering are completely separate worlds. Especially not when reporting about engineering is such an important part of the job.

I do recognize your position; I’ve encountered it many times before. However, it’s not rocket science that an organization is stronger when everyone, including management, is aware of the status and issues, and that shared responsibility is essential to the success of a project. By expressing your opinion as you did in the interview, you only showed that your visions are too far apart. It might be a good idea for you to get some training to better prepare for this type of conversation.