For Fiorella, Being Bilingual and Learning Additional Skills in BankWork$ Helped Lead Her to a Successful Career at Wells Fargo.

Posted on by CareerWork$

When Fiorella Reyes first came to the United States, she was passionate about pursuing a career in the financial services industry. Born and raised in Venezuela, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to study English, and decided to try to find an opportunity in banking in January 2020.   

“At the time I was looking for a program to get into banking, but they were all so expensive. When I found an ad for BankWork$ at Employ Milwaukee, I couldn’t believe that it was free,” says Fiorella. She was excited for this new opportunity to develop her skills in finance and saw it as an investment in herself. “I sacrificed some time to do the program, and it totally paid off to get me where I am now in my career.” 

For Fiorella, who had previously had banking experience in Venezuela, her biggest challenge was making her resume stand out—and that’s where the BankWork$ curriculum was key. “In the class, they helped me strengthen my resume and showed me what recruiters were looking for. The interview practice we did gave me the confidence I needed to apply for jobs. I learned how to build my interview answers from beginning to end with vivid detail.” This extensive resume building and mock interview practice is a core part of every CareerWork$ program, so graduates leave the program ready to succeed in new careers. After their graduation ceremony, Fiorella attended a hiring fair with local financial instructions looking to bring on new talent immediately. She ended up with eleven different offers and accepted a role as a Personal Banker with Wells Fargo. “I enjoy working for Wells Fargo. I’m still friends with my previous managers, I feel like I could call them anytime, and they would give me advice. I just started a new position as Small Business Banker, which has been exciting.”  

Like many BankWork$ graduates, Fiorella’s ability to speak multiple languages has been an asset on the job. She was initially nervous to apply due to a potential language barrier hindering her success, as she learned English later in life. “I have friends scared to apply because of the language barrier. I was too, but don’t be afraid, you can still find a path as I did. There are positions available such as a teller, where you don’t have to have a whole conversation in English at first, and speaking another language can be an advantage. The more that you train yourself, the better your English will get. Don’t be afraid to have an accent. Everyone from tellers to managers has one. At my current branch, everyone speaks at least one other language.” In fact, 52% of BankWork$ graduates speak two or more languages, and many community banks recognize how important multilingual staff can be to reduce barriers to banking.  

Fiorella’s instructor at Employ Milwaukee, Adrienne Wright, describes Fiorella as a joy to have in class. “Fiorella had her eyes on the prize early on to land a career in the financial services industry. I knew she would be successful in whatever role she accepted. She eventually landed a position at Wells Fargo and stayed in touch throughout her career. It was no surprise that she would move up in the company with her passion to help others and her dedicated work ethic. We are so proud. Fiorella is a stellar example of a BankWork$ graduate,” says Adrienne. 

Fiorella feels gratitude towards her former instructing team. “I’m very thankful. They helped me put in the work and provided great feedback. Adrienne reaches out to me every few months to check in. I can tell she loves her job, and I think that shows well in the success of all her students. I had to make a lot of sacrifices when I was in the program. I could have spent those months working, but what I was going before BankWork$ wasn’t leading to a career, just paying the bills. Thanks to the time I spent doing the work in Bankwork$, I can now say I have a career in financial services.”   

To learn more about BankWork$ and our partnership with Employ Milwaukee, click here. 

CareerWork$ Announces Delaney Bord as the Latest Recipient of the Marc Hill Rising Star Award 

Posted on by CareerWork$

CareerWork$ is delighted to select Delaney Bord, a March 2022 graduate of the BankWork$® program from our training partners at Partner4Work and Energy Innovation Center Pittsburgh, as the fourth recipient of the CareerWork$ Marc Hill Rising Star Award! Delaney recently began her new career in financial services working as a Personal Banker at Dollar Bank in Pittsburgh. 

Beginning in Spring 2021, the Marc Hill Rising Star Award recognizes a graduate of our BankWork$ or CareerWork$ Medical® programs each quarter who has shown significant personal growth and transformation from the start of their class until their graduation. Each award recipient receives a certificate and cash award to enhance the start of their new career.   

The award is part of CareerWork$ ongoing work to open doors to meaningful careers – and honors the life, work, and legacy of the late Marc Hill, an instructor of both the BankWork$ and CareerWork$® Ready programs with CareerWork$ partner, YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish, who passed away in late 2020. Marc began teaching our BankWork$ courses in 2011 and then began teaching CareerWork$ Ready in 2020 as part of our response to the COVID-19 crisis. The lessons Marc shared with his students embody our values as an organization: respect, collaboration, equity, and inclusion.   

“I am incredibly grateful to be even nominated. Just hearing a few words about Marc Hill makes me feel so honored to get this award and have a chance to know his story. Bankwork$ has changed my life. Not only is BankWork$ an amazing program, but it has very inspirational and dedicated instructors, such as Tanya Bashor and Carmen Williams, who stop at nothing to make sure their students succeed. Words cannot even describe how truly thankful I am,” says Delaney. 

The CareerWork$ and Energy Innovation Center teams, along with Delaney’s colleagues at Dollar Bank, had the opportunity to surprise her with the news that she had been selected as the newest recipient from a pool of candidates across the country.   

“After we got off the video celebration, she was so appreciative, shocked, and overwhelmed with emotion that she was chosen. We are all so proud of her and all she’s accomplished,” says Kim Rodriguez, Assistant Vice President of Branch Administration at Dollar Bank.  

“Delaney was one of the best students I have taught. She was punctual, had perfect attendance, excelled on all of her exams, and asked thoughtful questions throughout. She made no excuses even though attending the BankWork$ training for eight weeks was very challenging for her. Delaney was always positive and determined to place at a bank—and Dollar Bank is lucky to have her!” said Tanya Bashor, Delaney’s former instructor at Energy Innovation Center Pittsburgh.  

From all of us at CareerWork$, congratulations, Delaney! 

Shelley McHugh and Sara Sheldon From Career Path Services are Helping Students Grow Into Their New Careers Through BankWork$. 

Posted on by CareerWork$

In Lakewood, Washington, just south of Seattle, dynamic duo Instructor Shelley McHugh and Career Navigator Sara Sheldon lead the BankWork$® program with our partners Career Path Services. Shelley and Sara draw on their backgrounds in finance and human services in supporting students before, during, and after our free, eight-week comprehensive training as they learn the skills to thrive in a new career in financial services. For Shelley, that includes a career serving in the United States military and in banking. For Sara, that includes experience working at the Washington State Department of Health & Human Services. For both, the opportunity to support students going through this program is life-changing. 

Shelley and Sara believe a key part of the success of the BankWork$ program is that it teaches the industry-specific knowledge and the customer-facing skills needed to succeed and advance in careers: “For our students, BankWork$ is a package deal: it offers both the hard and soft skills they need,” says Sara.  

For both Shelley and Sara, working directly with their students and watching them grow during the training is a highlight of their jobs. “Often the person walking in the door is often not the person who walks out of the door,” says Shelley. “It’s so gratifying and exciting to hear from our graduates about milestones like promotions in their new career – and their new babies, too!”  

Like so many workforce development organizations around the country, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges and barriers to serving their community with the BankWork$ program. But working with our training partners around the country like Sara, Shelley, and Career Path Services, CareerWork$ adapted quickly, making classes virtual and creating virtual graduation celebrations and hiring fairs with local employers.

“We’re grateful we were able to pivot so quickly to virtual learning by using our Learning Management System,” recalls Shelley. “Now, information is at our students’ fingertips. It’s a great tool to help them be even better prepared for being in a bank. We’ve also learned to appreciate the value of being in person.” 

When giving advice to students considering BankWork$, Sara emphasizes that participating in BankWork$ is a smart bet for the long term. “It’s an investment that dramatically increases your chances of launching a lasting career in financial services.” 

Both Sara and Shelley are characteristically humble when talking about their work together, preferring to keep the spotlight on the graduates and their achievements. “Our graduates always thank us,” Shelley says, “but they did the hard work.” 

Career Path Services operates across Washington State, offering programs and services to help individuals and organizations meet their employment goals. Founded in 1971, their mission is to break the spirit of poverty through the dignity of work. They have been voted a top nonprofit to work for eight times in the last decade, and we are proud to partner with them to offer BankWork$ and CareerWork$ Medical.

To learn more about BankWork$ and our partnership with Career Path Services, click here. 

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In Search of Stability, DaVonte Poole found BankWork$–and a Growing Career.

Posted on by CareerWork$

DaVonte Poole spent much of his early life filled with curiosity to see the world, but without the family or economic stability to fully stretch his wings. “I knew there was something more for me out there, that there were more than just the four corners of my Chicago block. I knew the world was bigger and I wanted to see it,” he said.  

After moving between different homeless shelters, he left Chicago for Alaska, where he discovered Covenant House of Alaska, a shelter in Anchorage. In Alaska, he worked several jobs in retail and hospitality—but one person changed DaVonte’s life. At NuVision Credit Union, DaVonte met LeeAnthony Jenkins, who recommended he joined their credit union and learn about the possibilities of working in the financial services industry. “From day one, LeeAnthony challenged me to learn everything I can about the financial Industry, and I accepted the challenge head on! He truly inspired me because I didn’t know that it was possible for someone in the financial Industry to look like me” says DaVonte. 

After moving back to Chicago in 2017, while he was also taking the Dovetail Project, a program for high-risk fathers to understand their importance in the lives of their children, DaVonte discovered the BankWork$ program at Association House of Chicago. He knew his limited interview and office experience was limiting his professional opportunities, and felt BankWork$ could give him the tools necessary to go farther in his career in banking.  He loved learning about professional roles he could take on. 

“The BankWork$ curriculum included panels of program alumni speaking about their careers, and I appreciated the insights. Being able to hear others’ stories of what they went through in the industry gave me tools to put in my toolbelt. I was constantly taking notes about every little thing.”  

After graduation, like all BankWork$ graduates, DaVonte attended a career fair with employers looking to hire. Wanting to learn from the ground level of how money moves as a teller, he interviewed for a position at a call center for Bank of America. “I had a great interview, and they offered me a position.” After eight months as a teller, he was promoted to a banker. 

After two years of working with Bank of America, DaVonte accepted a new job at Credit Union One as a personal banker, where he became interested in mortgages and credit cards. ” As a Banker, one of your primary roles is to achieve sales goals through providing loans. When I was at Credit Union One, I was able to sell over a million dollars in loan value, which was one of the highlights of my career.” In his next career move to BMO Harris, he developed skills in commercial and business lending. “I wanted to be multi-faceted when it comes to financial services.” 

In May 2022, DaVonte accepted a new role as Assistant Branch Manager at PNC Bank and is looking forward to supporting the next generation of bankers.  “I’m excited about this new job! I want to be able to train a new team of bankers. I know what it takes to be a banker, and I know the habits in order to be successful. If I’m given the opportunity to multiply myself, I know can take a branch to the next level. Hopefully, we can do some great things.”  

As DaVonte reflects on his career, he credits a combination of his own drive and the BankWork$ training he received. ‘Any time I received a no, I felt like I had to sharpen my toolset. I looked at myself in the mirror to figure out what was going on. You have to be your biggest motivator; when you are, nothing someone can say will knock you off your path. People told me I was crazy for wanting to be a banker. External supports can be few and far between on the road to success. I’m thankful for BankWork$ because it gives opportunities to individuals who would otherwise not even think about stepping into this industry. Because BankWork$ didn’t give up on me, I didn’t give up on myself.” 

DaVonte started off with very little encouragement in his career in the financial services industry, but through perseverance, determination, and confidence he has worked his way from BankWork$ graduate to Assistant Branch Manager. We are so excited to see how DaVonte continues to make an impact on the financial services industry. Congratulations on your continued advancement in your career, DaVonte! 

To learn more about BankWork$ and our partnership with Association House of Chicago, click here.