November 3, 2020
Newsroom | Relaunching a Career in Engineering
ReLaunching a Career in Engineering
Thermo King’s Belinda Caspari is happy she took the first step that led her back to the workforce.
After leaving the workforce for 14 years to raise her family and focus on volunteer work, Belinda Caspari was ready to jump back in to her career. But after taking extended time off, she struggled to determine how and where she could make a return.
“When I left my career to be a stay at home mom, I never thought I would get back into the engineering field, and I was not sure what I was going to do when I was ready to get back into the workforce,” Belinda said.
Relaunching Her Career
While Belinda was navigating the process of finding a new job, she heard about Trane Technologies’ ReLaunch program, and decided to apply for an engineering position at Thermo King in Minneapolis. The ReLaunch program is a 12-week, paid professional returnship opportunity for engineers who have stepped away from their careers and are ready to put their passion back to work.
“Hearing about the program wasn’t the hard part,” said Belinda. “It was being convinced that I could get back into an engineering position and be successful at it after being out of the work force for so long. After receiving plenty of encouragement from loved ones and former colleagues, I applied for the ReLaunch program. I have not regretted a single moment getting back into engineering. Not to say that it has not been challenging at times, but gaining confidence through both the failures and the successes is helping to shape me and my career path. I absolutely love what I am doing.”
Taking the First Step
At the end of the 12 weeks, program members are eligible to apply to open positions at Trane Technologies. Belinda applied for and accepted a full-time job as an engineer in Thermo King’s Modeling and Simulation Center of Excellence.
Her advice to other individuals looking to relaunch their careers?
“I know it is hard to take that first step in applying, but just apply – this is coming from someone who had no confidence in getting back to a technical career. It is definitely a journey, but you need to take that first step to see where it leads you.”