Joy*, a WIT client, has been employed at her current workplace for over 20 years. “I’ve been at my job for a long time,” she says. “The last time I did an interview was in the early 90s. A lot has changed since then!”
A 9-week summer program produced in collaboration with Temple University Occupational Therapy Program, Vocation Station promotes independence through the development of meaningful life and employment skills.
Each week’s session begins with an education seminar that covers topics such as resume building, searching and applying for jobs, interviewing skills, and professionalism.
While Joy is not actively job-hunting at the moment, she appreciated learning new ways to look for a job, interviewing methods (including Zoom or group interviews) and new ways to approach the job hunt.
“One of the things that really stuck out with me is that you want to be able to ask questions too. Not just to sell yourself to the company, but to see if they’re a good fit for you. What kinds of things does the employer offer, and what’s the culture there? I’m glad that those things have shifted. “
This emphasis on employee satisfaction and fit also made an impression on Kimyada, a WIT client and another Vocation Station participant. “I learned what I can bring as an employee, how to make sure a job is a good fit for me.
“We feel like the employer has the right to have boundaries but as a worker, we need to have healthy boundaries too!”
One-on-one sessions
In addition to the educational seminars, Vocation Station also offers participants the opportunity to schedule one-on-one sessions with the facilitators. In these individual sessions, participants can get one-on-one help with their particular situations.
Joy, who attended Vocation Station in 2021 as well as this year, remembers that “Last summer, we went soup to nuts in terms of putting 30+ years of work experience in a resume. I told them what I did, and we flushed it out. And that’s something that I would have never been able to do on my own….
“They were really good about taking the key points about what I did and breaking it down to 4-5 bullet points about what I did, along with the skills. Things that I did every day that I didn’t even know were marketable skills. If you did that, Joy, you were coordinating – you were planning – you were evaluating.”
Kimyada, too, appreciated this personalized approach to each participant. “One thing that I liked was them communicating with me where I’m at. Not them making me feel like I am someone else. I’m looking at my identity and how I work and making sure I give my best, not looking at others and trying to emulate them.”
With the self-evaluation tools they discussed in Vocation Station, Kimyada says, “I found out things about myself. I found out that I’m creative, I work best independently, and I’m good one-on-one with people.”
After Vocation Station
Kimyada finds herself using the new skills and knowledge gained from Vocation Station in her everyday life, as an employee, an independent business owner in balloon décor, and as a grandmother of 11 grandchildren.
From incorporating self-care elements into her day to sitting down with her to-do list to prioritize and delegate tasks, Kimyada says, “I make sure I have time for my family, time for work, and time for my own personal stuff. “
Joy, who participated in Vocation Station twice, says, “I feel more empowered. I feel like I have more tools in my toolkit with which I can stand out and go through the job searching process with more ease.”
She continues, “I feel like it opened up a part of me to take a risk. That’s what being in those rooms at WIT does. I can’t even tell you how many things at WIT have been helpful for me, from the credit program, to group [counseling], to individual counseling.”
*not her real name