January 2019 Client of the Month

Dayan

Age: 18
Position: Store Associate
Employer: TJ Maxx
Employed: January 2019

Dayan “Day” reached out to YJC for help because he was overworked and underappreciated by his long-term employer. He knew it was time to leave, but he needed a part-time job to sustain and support himself while working diligently to finish high school. He knew he couldn’t afford a gap in pay and asked YJC’s M. Nelsen to help with the planning and timing of this transition to new employment.

 While working with Day during Work Readiness Training and one-on-one career advising, YJC’s Employer and Partner Relations Manager, Julia Brownfield, & M noticed that Day not only had an excellent work ethic, but he had an aptitude for excellent customer service. M knew that an internship at TjMaxx in Evanston would be the perfect placement for him. Also, knowing that this particular location has had and continues to have higher expectations for whom they offer permanent employment, he began his internship at the end of Nov. 2018. Two weeks following, the general manager of TjMaxx offered Day a permanent position!

Days long-term goal is to work in the IT field, potentially doing Cyber Security. M will continue to support Day as he works toward this goal, first by earning his High School Diploma at an alternative school, then enrolling in Year Up. In the meantime,  Day is enjoying his job  at TJ Maxx and putting smiles on customer’s faces. Keep up the good work Day!

December 2018 Client of the Month

Raieana

Age: 18
Position: Sales Associate
Employer: Ross Dress for Less
Employed Since:  December 2018

Raieana is a Senior at Mather High School where she has daily seminar classes and learns about the various post-secondary pathways available to her when she graduates high school.  Raieana aspires to attend a college or university in Fall 2019, and after learning about the cost of college told her Career Advisor that she wanted to get ahead and start saving money for college now by getting a part-time job.

Together, Raieana and her Youth Job Center Career Advisor, who works on-site at Mather High School, reviewed job openings and discussed the materials she would need to succeed in both applying, and in the interview.  Raieana and her Career Advisor had one-on-one career advising sessions where they developed a professional resume and filled out online applications together, as well as completed a mock interview to ensure Raieana was ready for her in-person interview. 

Soon after Raieana developed her resume and completed some online job applications, she was referred to a hiring event with an on-the-spot interview by her YJC Career Advisor with.  Though she was not successful at gaining a job from the hiring event, she was still very determined to find work. Raieana  continued to apply to stores that were hiring in the area around Mather High School, on her own, and kept her Career Advisor updated if she had received any calls or landed an interview.  While she was on holiday break, she got an interview at Ross Dress for Less where she was successfully hired on and began training at the end of December! Great work Raieana!

November 2018 Client of the Month

Tamera

Age: 20
Position: Universal Banker
Employer: Wintrust Bank
Employed Since: March 2018

Tamera was referred to the Youth Job Center by the City of Evanston Youth & Young Adult Outreach Team in January of 2018. Tamera was 19 years old and after talking and spending time with Tamera, the YJC staff quickly recognized that Tamera was committed to her success. The YJC staff also noticed that Ms. Boston was very bright, educated, well spoken, and had a deep desire to go into the banking profession. YJC connected Tamera with Wintrust Bank in March 2018, where Tamera worked hard and built a great relationship with her peers and supervisors, and in September 2018 Ms. Boston was promoted to Universal Banker with a salary increase.

“I love my team. I have amazing and understanding co-workers that make the sometimes stressful job very much worth it.”

Congratulations to Ms. Boston! You have made us all so proud of you.

Youth Job Center partners with City of Evanston and Community Partners on exciting employment opportunities.

The Youth Job Center is partnering with the City of Evanston’s Youth & Young Adult Division, Mayor’s Employer Advisory Council, Evanston / Skokie School District 65, Connections for the Homeless, Curt’s Café, Erie Family Health Centers, Infant Welfare Society of Evanston, James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy, PEER Services, and Youth & Opportunity United to provide some exciting employment opportunities over the course of the next few months.

For more information about the positions that are available please visit our Join Our Team page. Please check back often as more positions will become available over the course of the next few weeks.

October 2018 Client of the Month

Michael

Age: 18
Position: Greeter
Employer: Chicago Architecture Center
Employed: October 2018

Michael is currently a Senior at Curie High School where he attends daily Seminar classes and learns about Post Secondary pathways/options available to him. After learning about the importance of Post Secondary planning, Michael immediately set an important goals for himself - getting a job.

Michael shared this goal with his Youth Job Center Career Advisor, NuDonna Williams, who works on-site at Curie High School in partnership with the school’s teachers and staff. Together, Michael and NuDonna sat down and discussed his previous work experiences and explored possible employment opportunities. Michael then completed a one-on-one job readiness training and developed a professional resume that highlights his previous work along with his current skills.

Soon after Michael completed his job readiness training and resume revisions he submitted several applications. Michael’s Career Advisor also referred him to a couple hiring events in hopes that he would get a chance for an on-the-spot interview or even an immediate job offer.

Unfortunately, Michael was unsuccessful at obtaining a job through the hiring events he attended and reported back to his Career Advisor with the disappointing news. Together they began the job search process, using multiple job-search engines in an effort to create a multi-prong employment search strategy.

Just as he completed a few more job applications, Michael received a call from an employer that was impressed with his application and extended an invitation for an interview on a Saturday morning.

Michael attended the interview, and finally, on the following Tuesday morning, he reported back to his Career Advisor that he got the job and would start working at the Chicago Architecture Center! Michael’s not only employed at the Chicago Architecture Center but he’s also continuing schooling and has added becoming an Architect to his Post Secondary plan!!

Way to keep at it, Michael!

September 2018 Client of the Month

Age: 18
Position: Hostess
Employer: Food Life Restaurant
Employed: August 2018

Alexis is an alumni from Gage Park High School and now attends National Louis University. She was very excited about her new role as a “College Student”, but just like other students, Alexis realized that she needed a job!

Alexis knew that she really didn’t have much past work experience and needed some real help, and support, with her job search. She reached out to her Career Advisor from the Youth Job Center and together they made appointments to meet for one-on-one job readiness workshops.

The Career Advisor worked with Alexis on her resume and helped her understand the importance of being able to describe some of the skills and knowledge from her prior work into a current and relevant description of her capabilities and qualifications, which resulted in her having a better resume to send out to employers.

After a couple weeks of looking for work Alexis got a phone call from an employer to come in for an interview downtown. She went to the initial interview and was told to come back the next day for a second interview.

Finally, after a little more coaching from her Career Advisor Alexis attended her second interview! Afterwards she was notified she had gotten the job!

Alexis is not only excited about being a full-time college student at National Louis but also a college student with a job as a hostess at Food Life Restaurant at Water Tower Place  in Downtown Chicago!

Way to go Alexis!

August 2018 Client of the Month

Age: 19
Position: CNA
Employer: Woodbridge Nursing Pavilion
Employed:  March 2018

Brinity started working with Youth Job Center following her graduation from Robeson High School. Despite graduating with  high honors, Brinity did not have a clear post-secondary plan developed when she left school.

Brinity enrolled in YJC’s Bridge Program the summer following high school graduation where she worked on defining her career goals and increasing her academic skills needed to continue education in the healthcare field. From there, Brinity enrolled in YJC’s Career Pathways program where she was able to complete a Nursing Assistant training program and become a state certified nursing assistant. Brinity did so well during the clinical portion of her training program, she was offered a position with the nursing home hosting the clinicals before she even graduated. Brinity still works at Woodbridge Nursing Pavilion as a CNA. Brinity said she doesn’t mind the long hours and hard work required for the job because she likes being able to develop relationships with the patients and provide a kind of “family support” that many of them don’t have anymore.

The final career goal that YJC is assisting Brinity with is enrolling in post-secondary education. Because she obtained her CNA certificate prior to enrolling in school, Brinity was able to enroll in an accelerated program at Malcom X College to obtain her Associate in Applied Science in Nursing to be a Registered Nurse. Brinity expects to graduate within 2 years and move into a hospital setting. At this point, Brinity is enrolled in school full-time, working part-time and on her way achieving all of her career goals.

Brinity’s journey is remarkable considering the lack of traditional supports she has received while working toward her career goals compared to many of her peers.  Her own motivation, self-discipline, and perseverance are to credit for much of her success at this point.  There were so many steps in the process that many people might experience as routine that Brinity had to move mountains to  accomplish. Although not quite at the finish line yet, Brinity is on her way to a career in a high-paying field with unlimited possibilities to advance. When her Career Advisor asked her what has kept her going so far: “I just can’t settle or stop moving. Nobody is going to do it for me”. Her Career Advisor agreed and asked her to remember the little guys when she’s running a hospital one day.

Way to go, Brinity!

July 2018 Client of the Month

Age: 18
Position: Busser/Runner
Employer: Grand Lux Cafe

Cruz has recently graduated as the 2018 Class Valedictorian from Gage Park High School.

In his academic career he has always been a frontrunner for advocacy for others as he campaigned with organizations like Student With Voices. He fully understands the dynamics of the equity theory alongside those that can help with putting policies in play with efforts to assist young adults that need better opportunities as he presented the Community Leader Award to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky in April 2018.

But when Cruz decided that he wanted to do more than some “odd jobs” for financial self-sufficiency while making his plans to transitioning to college-he had to become his own self advocate.

He reached out to his YJC Career Advisor that assisted him while he attended Gage Park to ask if he was still eligible for assistance with finding employment and learned he was through their OSY Program.

Finally, after some resume review and a job lead from YJC’s Job Developer, Cruz attended a hiring event where he states, “There was plenty of people. But I went in, I got interviewed. They hurried me to another room to fill an online application. After which I was told to come back tomorrow with a State ID and my Social.”

Cruz is currently working as a Busser/Runner at the Grand Lux Café in downtown Chicago where he says, “Work is great! I am very happy here. I will be switching to a line cook by end of August! Thank you for the opportunity!”

Keep up the great work, Cruz!

June 2018 Client of the Month

Age: 18
Position: Concession Cashier
Employer: Sodexo - Shedd Aquarium
Employed: Just Hired

Kaylan attends Gage Park High School. Kaylan has Seminar classes everyday where she is engaged in a social/emotional curriculum layered with job readiness training.

Kaylan mentioned to her Career Advisor that she was currently working at McDonalds where she was not getting sufficeent working hours for the amount of time that she has to commute to the job. She also mentioned that due to the fact that the employer was located in the south suburban area, she was being paid less than Chicago’s minimum wage salary. Then after a recent traumatic personal experience that caused some necessary recovery time, Kaylan expressed that she felt undervalued upon her return to the workplace and was ready to find new employment.

Kaylan alongside her Career Advisor set down to do resume review and complete several applications together. Kaylan was also referred to the Youth Job Center recent partner “Dress for Success” in effort to assist her with interviewing suiting after she received a telephone call inviting her to come in for an interview!

Prior to her interview Kaylan worked closely with Career Advisor to ensure that she was provided with some instructions on interviewing skills as well as some practice opportunities in efforts to help her feel secure with basic employability skills.

Finally, after her interview, Kaylan called her Career Advisor and stated that she was offered the job on the spot, would receive an offer letter  and a time for her to return for her orientation as a Cashier with Sodexo/Magic Shed Aquarium!

Kaylan is truly grateful for all the support and help through YJC services and her newest job and all the opportunities it will offer!

Way to go Kaylan!