 After receiving her degree, Sklarek was unable to find work at an architecture firm, so she took a job at the New York Department of Public Works from 1950 to 1954.Unsatisfied with her four year job due to tedious expectations, Sklarek decided to take the architecture examination because she felt her job wasn't challenging her abilities.As a result, she became the first African American woman in New York to become a licensed architect in 1954.