FORT WORTH - Jennifer Wedel's life has turned upside down since Monday.
That's when she chatted online with President Barack Obama about a controversial program to hire high-skilled foreign workers - and the president ended up asking for her husband's resume.Since then, she said their phone has been ringing off the hook from media, recruiters, the Texas Workforce Commission and various companies regarding possible job opportunities for her semiconductor engineer husband, Darin.Now, three years after he lost his job at Texas Instruments, she's hopeful he will find a new job soon."We've been praying for this to happen for three years," she said. "Did we think the president would have to get involved? No. As for why he chose this way, maybe God will enlighten me on that in the future."But I'm very optimistic."Wedel, a 29-year-old mother of two who works at a local insurance agency, on Monday had the rare opportunity to participate in a live video chat with Obama through the "hangout" feature on Google Plus, the search engine's social networking site.She asked the president why the government issues and extends H-1B visas, which let U.S. companies hire high-skilled foreign workers when her husband has similar skills and can't find full-time work.Obama said industry leaders have told him there aren't enough of certain kinds of high-tech engineers in America to meet their needs. Wedel interrupted him to say that the president's answer didn't match what her husband is seeing in the real world."If you send me your husband's resume, I'd be interested in finding out exactly what's happening right there," Obama told her. "The word we're getting is somebody in that high-tech field, that kind of engineer, should be able to find something right away. And the H-1B should be reserved only for those companies who say they cannot find somebody in that particular field."Jennifer and Darin Wedel got his resume to the White House and after that, companies from around the country have called Darin, who had to create a spreadsheet to keep all the calls straight.The problem, Wedel said, is that their family - which includes two daughters - can't relocate to another state or even to a different major city in Texas."We are a blended family and there's no way due to custody reasons that we can move out of the area," she said. "He can travel and we're willing to do that, but we can't go to a different state or even to Austin or Houston."Phone ringingDarin Wedel has received calls from CEOs in Austin, recruiters offering out-of-state jobs - and of course the White House, which is trying to help him in his job hunt.His wife, who believes he will find a job in the next month or so, said the attention being showered on their family has been a bit overwhelming."This isn't our life," she said, adding that they turned down a chance to go on the Today Show. "So much is happening in our lives right now."President Obama's chief spokesman, Jay Carney, fielded a number of questions about Wedel and her husband's resume during a recent White House briefing."The exchange reflected the president's sincere interest and concern in the experiences of folks out in the country and how they're dealing with what remains a very tough economy, even as we continue the recovery that we've been engaged in now for 10 months, that there are a lot of folks out there who are looking for work," Carney said.Jennifer Wedel said she hopes talking with the president about her concerns regarding the H-1B visas will help not just her family, but countless unemployed workers across the country."We're just one person," she said of her husband's job hunt. "In my email inbox, I'm getting flooded with notes from people in our exact situation, from all over the United States."I wish we could get everyone a job who needs one."Star-Telegram Washington Bureau Chief Maria Recio contributed to this report.Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610Twitter: @annatinsley
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