Life happens! Whether it’s due to raising children, caring for ill family members or other personal responsibilities, professionals must sometimes step away from their careers. Once they’re ready to return, the journey back to work can be daunting, especially in the tech industry, where the pace of innovation grows in leaps and bounds. To support those looking to rejoin the workforce, Cadence offers a clear path forward with our returnship program.
We launched our returnship program last year to reincorporate talented people into the highly competitive, fast-paced tech industry. This 16-week program targets electrical or computer engineering professionals and includes a mix of technical training, hands-on projects, and customer interaction. We meet the returnees’ knowledge base and help them grow from there, providing them with training on the latest technology trends and industry-leading tools and giving them the opportunity to apply their skills to real-world design problems. In order to bolster their knowledge, each returnee is assigned training courses that are tailored to their unique experience, helping them assimilate. The program is open to men and women, and we’ve seen this opportunity reach a wide variety of people trying to get back to their careers.
In this returnship program, our candidates have an opportunity to work with the best-in-class EDA tools and collaborate with our R&D and sales teams in a dynamic, yet supportive environment. Application engineers at Cadence also work with some of the most innovative companies in the world. All of this prepares “returnees” in their journey back to the workforce.
More than just training them technically, we offer opportunities to shadow and connect with colleagues. The process also incorporates valuable mentorship, from managers as well as upper management. We often bring the returnees together to broaden their community at Cadence and cheer each other on! By being surrounded with people who have similar experiences, people feel empowered to continue their career journey.
We also introduce our returnees to our various company programs. For example, women returnees are included in our Women@Cadence program and other programs such as Women in Technology (for women in R&D) and Women of WFO (for women in Sales), where they have access to professional development offerings, networking socials, and inspiring events. By doing this, we hope to expand our returnees’ system of support and ensure that everyone feels like coming back to work is attainable.
We had phenomenal interest in our returnship program, even during such unprecedented times, that we have opened additional returnship positions. We are so proud of our employees that are motived to return to the field through this program and we hope to continue supporting them for the remainder of their career.
We have been fortunate to onboard three women who all bring different expertise in the application engineering field spanning across printed circuit boards (PCB) and integrated circuit (IC) package design, functional verification, and digital place and route. Here’s what they have to say about the program.
Sharon Munoz, Returnee
“I worked with Cadence from 1997 to 2002. My experience with Cadence was such a good one, and I learned so much. What I loved most about Cadence was the people. I loved the integrity, the professionalism and those qualities always made me want to be a better person…I designed PCBs for 30 years, and how could you not keep up with the industry? Traveling back and forth to San Jose for caregiving, I visualized that one day I would be working again in my career, I just didn’t know how that would happen. In March 2020, I received an email from a recruiter at Cadence. When I read about the returnship program, I knew that this was a miracle just for me. It’s a blessing and I am motivated!”
Madhu Comandur, Returnee
“Joining the Returnship program has empowered me to feel that I can contribute to work much more than I thought I was capable of…It is a much-needed opportunity for people like me who are very eager to return to tech after a break and willing to give our best. I am very thankful to Cadence for this stepping-stone opportunity, especially during this unprecedented time.”
Sanjita Chokshi, Returnee
“I found Cadence to be a very welcoming place, given the number of people I got to meet and connect with…the Cadence returnship program allowed me to ramp up and catch up with the industry from where I left off. Availability of such opportunities can definitely help women be more courageous while faced with tough options to choose from. While the debate still continues on whether women can “have it all,” such programs definitely offer a staggered approach to having it all.”