Have you given any thought\nto your next chapter? Nearly four decades ago when I graduated from\ncollege, did I see myself as a professional recruiter? I knew I wanted to\nmake the world a better place by making a difference in other people\u2019s\nlives. My story, like so many others, has resulted in several chapters to\nbalance personal life, career goals and the vision to grow engineering\norganizations. I now look back and realize each time I reflected on my\ngoals and objectives I was writing my next chapter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preface \u2013 Early Career \u2013 Design Engineer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon graduation, I was\neager to start as a mechanical process engineer in the nuclear power industry\nwith a focus in design, construction, startup and operations of a grassroots\nfacility. After eight and half exciting years and intellectual challenges\nthat made me the engineer I am today; it was time to make the difficult choice\nto leave this great job to advance my husband\u2019s career. Together, we\nembarked on our next chapter leaving our comfort zone of family in Kansas to\nstart a new life in the GulfSouth with the added adjustment of switching roles\nfrom working as a plant engineer at a utility to a mechanical process engineer\nwith EPC firm in the oil and gas and petrochemicals market sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chapters 1, 2, 3, … \u2013 Mid Career to Senior Leadership Roles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n During the next three\ndecades, I became a licensed professional engineer, evolved from a design\nengineer to senior engineer, project engineer, project manager, program\nmanager, director of mechanical engineering, vice president of engineering,\nprincipal in charge. I didn\u2019t do this by myself. With the assistance of a\nskilled professional recruiter, I advanced my career from design engineer of\nprojects to leading and growing engineering organizations. With each\ntransition I would reflect on both my personal and career goals which provided\nme the opportunity and privilege to work on some of the most challenging\nengineering projects of my career in the aftermath and recovery from Hurricane\nKatrina. To this day I am grateful and humbled by the professionalism and\nknowledge of many of my colleagues over the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n