Many of my potential employers may have asked:
What’s with this guy? Why is he not already employed? Something's wrong with this guy?!?!?
Well, nothing's wrong.
However.
Judging by merits, i.e. skills and experiences - even before anyone has ever talked to me or even met me - I am at the least interesting, as several have told me.
So - Why am I still a “Job Searcher”, as of current moment of writing? If I have no other, and never have had any other intentions?
- This is a valid question, which I have answered in every single interview lately, and there have been a bunch of them, and which I intend to try answering from my own perspective and my perception of the current state of affairs.
Looking for a job has never been all too easy, not when I have been looking anyway, though it might have been at another point in the past. At times, the job market favors employers, while other times, the market favors job searchers.
Well…
How I wound up in this situation:
During 2020, it was decided by Volvo AB to reduce the workforce by 10-15% (to my knowledge) - this time on the engineering side. This kind of fluctuation is more common at the production side, though not as common in R&D.
Locally, the UX & Human Factors team (where I was assigned) would be merged with another team containing several other developers of electronics and programming. This would, at least in part, make me somewhat superfluous, at least on paper. I can only speculate, but having worked only 2 years in UX & Human Factors, and 7 years at Volvo, made me the one who was to be laid off.
So I got laid off as well as many other engineers, project leaders, specialists etc., due to “lack of work” at the end of 2020, when uncertainty due to “Corona” and major organizational changes in my department, made it “desirable” for Volvo to reduce headcount by all means necessary.
I was given a choice, to be made in the course of the next hours:
sign a contract that gives me certain rights as the go-to candidate for Volvo CE, IF and WHEN the workload is taking off again, If they find anything suitable, and this right was limited to a few months
sign another contract that gives me a financial compensation, worth several months salary, and prohibits employment at Volvo for one year, the whole of 2021.
I took the latter, since the prevalent feeling (after conferring with colleagues) was that this crisis may be a part of a bigger recession and the chance to be employed again soon after the lay-off were slim.
Employment Situation 2021 and Onward
Talking to my contact at the “Employment Safety Council” (Trygghetsrådet), the rate of employment was quite low during 2021, and there were not many roles or employers I could consider as the next step around. Year 2021 was probably not a time to look for a job. But all one can do is put in the best efforts.
What roles I look for
My preferred roles are a generalist range of tasks, similar to the role in the Human Factors team, as these are assignments I know I can perform well. I have been looking for UX engineering, Diagnostics engineering, function development (Propulsion, Transmission, Drivetrain, Diesel…), system design, some more dedicated mechatronics with embedded systems at Scania, Agile Way of Work roles like product owner or scrum master within product development, even lead engineer with a coordinator role, like I used to be at Bosch, as well as product performance engineering roles.
These are all roles that are characterized by the need to see the big picture, have a broad set of skills, experience in several areas and engineering domains with the ability to exchange “thinking hats” and apply my ability to combine various skills. I pride myself on having a broad perspective, having a sense of service, which I feel is an important piece, as well as a feeling for “What people want”, sometimes in contrast to what they say they want.
Even before starting to discuss any engineering prowess, this choice of roles is partly due to being an ambassador of sorts for cross cultural work and also across different parts of an organization, since I have an eye and nose for patterns and think creatively beyond frames, which is advantageous in cross-functional settings.
Having done several things, and knowing I can be very creative at making stuff useful, I see myself as quite a nice multitool, and possibly a good leader, with a service oriented, egoless attitude.
Engineering is not just about doing the work - be it system design, writing/debugging code, designing a product or surveying standards. It is very much about connecting the dots, which favors a broad range of competencies, as opposed to a narrow, even specialized knowledge.
Professionally, I tend to be drawn to working with vehicles, where also off-road yellow machines and agricultural machinery fit my bill. However I am fully aware there’s life also outside this domain and I have also considered other engineering companies in towns nearby and other possibilities.
Scania, located one hour away from where we live, has mostly job openings for roles in a narrow area of duty, which doesn’t seem like my cup-of-tea, as pointed above.
I tried to get an employment at Volvo CE as of the end of 2021, so that I can start working as soon as employment is permitted by the contract I had to sign, even in the same role, but was given the “cold shoulder” for reasons I can only speculate on.
Function Development in a “Traditional Company”
When I started at Volvo Construction Equipment (CE), I was assigned to work with the articulated haulers’ transmission control SW, which is some 18000 lines of C code, all nestled into a monstrous labyrinth that no one would want to manage, I came right away to the notion that there were some significant flaws that need to be addressed ASAP and tried to propose some changes. The rest of the SW, Gear Shifting strategy, was a different realm, managed entirely differently, thanks to a guy who hijacked the code (probably working many hours at some period) and made his own changes, in order to come by the giant boulders in his way, and make some pretty elegant coding.
But as a new function developer, with work experience and good intentions, I tried pointing some change potential, and was in essence asked to let go about it as “this is a traditional company and we like being traditional”, which means that if changes that were to happen, they were forced upon the organization top downward, and all changes mean “something bad”, and/or fantastically expensive.
[Good morning all - Changes must occur. Regardless if they come by destiny or by design, while the latter is far more productive. This is one of the only axioms I know.]
So function development might have perhaps been my job to this day if I let them have theirs - traditionally go about, and let me contribute mine - my creativity and my drive to efficiency, ideas I proposed, stuff I invented and developed and even slow but gradual changes that would probably make a big difference.
But my role was to play the compliant engineer, preferably with some Asperger traits, who does his chores in a small, traditional company, keeps opinions to himself and shuts the fuck up, rather than what I hoped to be - someone who can bring some creativity into a small, flexible organization, which I could, to some extent, at the Human Factors & User Experience team, by working with one of my favorite topics - usability and user friendliness, stuff I truly burn for.
But traditionalist work came to the end point when Volvo Construction Equipment cut its workforce by a bunch of engineers, also really talented specialists (I am not referring to myself), and a whole heap of work experience were to become useful somewhere else.
What have I been doing in the meantime
My dynamism and dedication to personal development, which is one of my core values really, prescribes an everyday routine of looking for jobs, attending courses, so I keep myself sharp, busy and engaged, and doing something creative, my website for instance.
Of course, as a health enthusiast, I also have physical training every day, which is either High Intensity Interval Training, body weight training sets, or “just” the usual handstand training and the 100 push-ups regime.
As said: Every day is a training day.
In order to stay fit for work and service, and try not to lose any sharpness or attractiveness in the job market, I think everyone needs a tight schedule of tasks for the day, so that every one of the days that goes by counts.
Being unemployed means you are your own employer, and need to spend time efficiently on what resonates best with your inner core (which you need to ponder on too - what is your core and your inner drive), and to eliminate losses. You need to find what you think is worthwhile and make sure that life runs according to what you see as your life’s purpose - now, as well as ever thus. And there is no surplus time to ditch on something unimportant. Even sleeping, resting, meditating, walking in the forest - all fit into this, in overview.
Being less than 100% employed and/or having “some extra time” off any duty (Work, family, training… ) does not mean time is unlimited, even though it can be spent in many different ways.
If you are on a mission, an achiever on a quest (A “Quest”? Yes, this is where you should fill in the blank), and someone who cannot afford lose a moment for something which is less than worthwhile - which means everybody, IMO - you need to keep a tight schedule of things that resonate with your path, which keeps you sharp, busy and as an extra added benefit - it makes you and your time expenditure more efficient and useful.
Everyone has probably been able to note that a busy person has a higher rate of accomplishment than a not-so-busy one.
It might seem somewhat outlandish, but I have also managed to translate a full-size book from English to Hebrew, additionally to other activities.
Training and Courses
I have taken many courses within the “Trygghetsrådet” workshops, Diploma portal, LinkedIn Learning, within leadership, project management, change management, Lean, Agile methodology, also comparing the “waterfall” way of work (WoW).
I have found myself looking for these courses since I have begun to see myself looking for leadership roles but being uncertain that employers would consider me as a leader without a significant management role, even though I see myself as a natural leader.
Apart from management, Agile, and leadership oriented material, I have been tinkering with my Linux system and my raspberry pi board, and learned som coding with Python, which I find elegant, and system engineering.
Not-so-formal training is an ever ongoing process to me, which I have been doing since many years, and currently, it feels we are bombarded with information and the real challenge is to screen out the chaffs from the seeds, the heart of the matter, which still not spoiled by agenda driven skullduggery. In a nutshell - avoid simple distractions.
Geography and Relocation
Ever since I was informed that I was to become unemployed, I have applied for numerous jobs in my professional area (mechatronics, Automotive, Construction machines, UX, Diesel tech, function development, system engineering…) in my geographical area, being Eskilstuna and its surroundings.
Eskilstuna is not a big town, not even as big as Västerås on the other side of the lake, certainly not as big as Örebro, in the west, and far from being a metropolis like Stockholm.
Granted, there are a few possibilities here in Eskilstuna, but Volvo CE is one of the few employers, and is located just a couple of kilometers from our house. How convenient would it be to jump right back in? In a way I was hoping to just ever so gently be of service again at Volvo's yellow machinery, though not necessarily. With good old colleagues and a slightly upgraded self?.. Hmm... Too convenient to be real?
And though I was interviewed by several managers at Volvo, it never went further than just almost getting there. Some never answered why not (or never answered anything at all) while one manager thought I was probably too creative to work for her, which might have been a valid opinion, but I wish I could defer, since creativity, although one of my core traits, is not my sole purpose. It is something to spray over, in order to come further than the eternal loops that everybody seems to be so locked into.
Relocate? Västra Götaland?
At some point during early summer of 2022, we decided to make room for some bigger changes, and to shift our location, and move - either north, to Dalarna, or west, to the Göteborg (Gothenburg) area.
Obviously, the most suitable area is the latter, as Göteborg is a major industrial hub, perhaps even more so than the Stockholm area, especially when it comes to Automotive.
It seems like an even more of a logical decision now, considering how many possibilities have been presented to me since I changed my focus from Eskilstuna to Göteborg and its vicinity. But the decision has taken time to reach. And it still seems unthinkably brave to some people I have been interviewed by. Some people have never moved further than a few kilometers from where they were born and raised, let alone across the country or even internationally.
We are different. As a family of 4, where every individual has been born somewhere else, we are dynamic and we have no bonds to Eskilstuna in particular, or the surrounding area, apart from a bunch of friends and colleagues. We have moved before and we may as well do it again.
A word on Job search
Finding good employment is an art in its own right - quite obvious but just in case you haven’t noticed. Many people discover that they during this time become more onto what they really want to be doing professionally, some start their own business, most become better at presenting themselves, make a pitch, write and design a CV, and behave more than the adequate at an interview, not to mention becoming more active in the social media portals, especially LinkedIn, and designing their own webpage - what I call an online-CV page.
One could argue that you can have the best profile in your field, but unless it’s out there “on paper” so to speak, and presentable, no one will acknowledge you. At times like this, especially during the Corona period, it seems one stands little or no chance of even getting to an interview, unless you stand out from the crowd and have a firm idea of who you are and what you are capable of, as well as what your challenges are too (since this kind of questions do come up in an interview).
Unless you tick all or most of the boxes above, chances are obviously increasingly slim, the less favorable traits and competencies, the less years of experiences etc.
Chances to get a job are amplified by what area of expertise you are in, of course, but also:
Who you know (connections), gender is a big deal (though not many companies admit it), since many companies want to force-fill a random quota of women in engineering business. Admittedly, men and women balance each other, but forcing a quota as an outcome is both bizarre and futile, since other factors are just more important.
How old you are is not very important, as you can be of tremendous use both at young and older age. But personally, I get the feeling that being young makes you cheaper in the eyes of a cheap employer, that guards budget above all and regards minimizing costs as most important. Not very bright, not much fun for people at work, since cheaper juniors seldom come with skills of seniors.
Being a foreigner might be an advantage (“Fast-Track for Ukrainians” sounds familiar?) or might be a drawback, depending how integrated you are in society and your ability to blend in, merge into a team, and make your “exotic” origin an advantage.
… Which is a nice segway into the subject of me, yours truly (yes, YOURS truly, depending on who you are and what you too can offer, and in general, it is NOT money or status).
As a foreigner, an immigrant, I am a BIG question mark to many - both physically (rather big, hehe..) and figuratively. Although not as bent as most of them. Pun intended.
I have been living here in Sweden for a good while, studied here, made friends, colleagues and acquaintances everywhere I treaded, and made a good general impression, though not everybody seems to be fond of someone raising questions, have ideas, firm principles, my health regimen, opinions, or what have you.
This is mostly a good sign - if someone is liked by most, but not by all people, like those who can’t stand dudes with their own opinions (and the ability to discuss them) and some character.
But people definitely have serious trouble putting me in one of their compartments. I am not a “normal” Swede, and I am not a “normal” anything, and never really wanted to be “normalized” more than necessary for becoming a part of human society.
Affinity to languages
I have a “sticky” tongue, as I call it - a natural ability to learn languages, grammar, pronunciation (musical ears do the trick) and difference to adjacent languages.
Being born and raised in Israel, I speak Hebrew, English of course, Swedish (living in Sweden does that to you) and German. Living in Stuttgart, Germany, for more than 8 years does that, while keeping the German skills depends on that the German language is regularly spoken in our family.
On top of that, I read and write in those 4 “main” languages almost daily, so as to keep them alive, and also due to being a stubborn dad who wants his children to have similar language skills.
As a side dish, I learned some basic skills in Polish, from my wife, Arabic from 3 years in school, Spanish from the courses I took at Bosch (when I lived In Germany), Italian out of curiosity, Icelandic from my excursion to Iceland in 2002 (working at Bakkakot farm). Learning Russian is definitely on my wish list as I am intrigued by the culture.
Culture is a big interest and having lived elsewhere, several of them “elsewhere’s”. I am drawn to making parallels and comparisons. This is one of my definite “Itches” that I can’t refrain from doing. So a not-so-typical foreigner, with a range of hard and soft skills, some of which in some professions are considered pure gold, is definitely not any “garden variety”.
But a “garden variety manager” might get some cold feet when comparing me to some of the more familiar candidate profiles. While some seem to welcome my kind of a person, many seem to consider either:
fill the void, when a specialist has left, meaning - they seem to look after a “unicorn”, i.e. someone that can do EVERYTHING between heaven and earth and a little more. Which is as possible as to find a garden variety unicorn
Find just anyone who has been doing exactly X and Y for the last few years and can definitely take over the most significant part of the void.
I have now discovered though that many employers would rather employ someone “cheap”, young, who can do the task but not necessarily fill any other blanks, and have this one learn by doing and/or fill other needs as best he/she can, rather than looking for the unicorns.
This tendency might be an issue after a while, since when you as an employer take someone young/inexperienced, he/she may be young and cheap, and fit as a one-trick pony, but after a couple of years, the one-trick pony will want a higher salary or would want to “broaden the horizons”, and leaves. Management seems to follow the same pattern exactly. So there we have a permanent flow of people who jump from this to the other, while amplifying the need for recruiters, and keeping the accumulated experience for themselves, instead of in the company, which is a deep-going issue of a shallow knowledge base.
When work experience doesn’t accumulate, employees may be, and often are, treated like “resources”, commodities, and people usually suffer discontent, and generally may want to move too, which perpetuates the flow of people, keeping an unfavorable lack of really good folks who want to stay and contribute - and mastery is almost absent.
No wonder then that also many of the managers are of this kind, with a continuous flow of staff that comes and goes. And I ask: What’s the point? Can’t you see the pattern?
A word of summary
I like myself, and I know my worth, my superpowers and my flaws.
However, this is by no means intended to be my “elevator pitch”, but rather to explain, document for myself even, why and how I’ve managed to stay out of work.
It has been, and still is, a tough test to my perseverance and my patience and I hope this ordeal is about to end with a good job.
And if you are hiring - you can help me help you, and ultimately, harvest the seeds of this ordeal, with me - together.
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