Joan is a recent graduate of Inspiration Corporation’s Employment Services program. You wouldn’t think someone who had been in the workforce for close to thirty years would need such training, but that’s exactly what happened to Joan.
Originally from Jamaica, Joan moved to the U.S. when she was 14, settling in New York, where she went to high school and got her first license in nursing. She moved to Chicago in her early 20s for a change of pace, and has worked consistently in the nursing field for more than thirty years, until 2013.
Joan was let go from her nursing position, and she found herself unemployed for the first time in her adult life. Concepts like working on a resume or a cover letter were foreign to her. And while she never felt sorry for herself during her unemployment, she realized the experience made her begin to doubt her skills.
“After being let-go, you feel beaten up.”
In January, while she was lining up interviews, she enrolled in the Employment Services program. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to commit to the schedule, but once she began the four week employment preparation training, she knew she was in the right place.
“The class prepares you for taking charge of yourself. It helps build your self-confidence.”
Joan found great value in the practical skills taught in the class, and thoroughly enjoyed learning from other people’s experiences. She felt empowered by the entire class, and fortunately, was in the process of lining up interviews for nursing positions during the four week session. By the time she had second interviews with employers scheduled, she was walking into them with great confidence and knowledge of the interview process due to her experience at Inspiration Corporation.
Joan landed a job at Kindred Healthcare, and is taking on the new challenge of working twelve hour days. She’s never been afraid of the work, though, and appreciates what she learned about herself while she was unemployed and going through the employment preparation training.
We’re thrilled that Joan has found a new job and is working with a rejuvenated spirit, and hope many others going through our training programs feel the same way!