This pair of lawyers seems to be following each other.
Prabha Parameswaran and Amy Yates joined Hewitt Associates Inc., the Lincolnshire-based human resources consulting firm, within weeks of each other this summer after being laid off from Andersen.
Their career paths had crossed once before at law firm Pedersen & Houpt.
“By pure coincidence, we’ve been together for three jobs,” Parameswaran said.
“Everyone thinks we’re joined at the hip.”
Nevertheless, they have leaned on each other at times to ease the transition to their new jobs as in-house counsel at Hewitt.
Parameswaran has turned to her former Andersen colleague for help on learning the names of coworkers and understanding human resources lingo.
Parameswaran, 35, had never been laid off before, so the quick demise of Andersen was traumatic, especially since she had just signed a contract to buy a house. But she found that having Andersen on her resume did not tarnish her credentials.
“Most people I talked to said if you were good enough to work at Andersen, then we’re willing to talk to you,” she said.
Still the Andersen link created some uncomfortable moments during interviews.
Several recruiters asked her point blank if she had been involved in the Enron debacle. “I wasn’t and I told them,” Parameswaran said.
In contrast, Yates, 42, is no stranger to layoffs.
She has lost two jobs because of downsizing or mergers, so she was more philosophical about the layoffs than many of those around her at Andersen.
The toughest part of her move to Hewitt has been adjusting to the commute.
The Oak Park resident usually spends an hour each way driving to work, leaving her less time with her three children, who are all under 10.
But she finds a silver lining in her longer trek: “The upside is I’m listening to more books on tape.”
