A KRA Customer’s Journey from Job Seeker to Job Developer
March 2019: Shawnda Walker enrolled in the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program operated by KRA for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services.
During Orientation, the Operations Manager was impressed with her demeanor and professionalism, passing her resume on to the Program Manager, Greg Alexander, who needed to fill an unpaid Intern position in the Business Services Department.
Alexander and Walker
April 2019: KRA offered Ms. Walker the Internship, to which Mr. Alexander commented, “Not only did she ‘check all the boxes’ in meeting the position’s technical requirements, I felt her interpersonal skills would be compatible with our program’s culture.
After training in just a few aspects of Business Services operations, not only did Ms. Walker grasp the objectives of the processes, but actually proposed changes that yielded more effective results.”
June 2019: A paid position, Business Services Program Assistant, became available, and Ms. Walker’s application succeeded in landing her the job, which expanded her responsibilities.
As an Intern, Ms. Walker had assumed the POC responsibility for customers’ unpaid Work Experience (WEX) assignments, a role she continued as the new Assistant. Successfully recruiting more employers, she doubled WEX participation from 150 to 300+ sites, and assisted many customers in qualifying for fulltime jobs with participating WEX-site employers.
August 2019: Ms. Walker’s demonstrated abilities, initiative, and knowledge were rewarded with a promotion to the position of Business Services Representative.
February 2020: She received her second promotion to Senior Job Developer. In this role, having demonstrated superior employer-recruitment skills, Ms. Walker assumed the POC role for KRA’s Occupational Skills Training (OST) programs, still in operation despite the challenges imposed by the pandemic.
During these trainings, Ms. Walker guided 90% of the OST customers in achieving Certificates of Completion in several courses, including Professional Green Cleaning and ServSafe, as well as IT Fundamentals and Microsoft Digital Literacy, for which she also served as co-facilitator.
July 2020: KRA promoted Ms. Walker to the role of Lead Job Developer. In this position, in addition to coordinating the efforts of other Business Services team members, she supports another OST program, KRA’s newest Construction Academy.
December 2020: Mr. Alexander concluded, “All across the country, KRA programs match jobseekers with employers, achievements that are especially gratifying when our jobseekers are ideal matches for KRA!”
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