The Scoop: Pierce County Commerce Team

It’s already November!

These past four months have flown by here at Career Path Services, and we are happy to report some pretty exciting things that happen between July and October :

• 27 participants have found Unsubsidized Employment
• $12.82/hour is the average wage of people leaving the program with employment
• 60 people have been enrolled in Life Enrichment courses (LS)
• 13 people have enrolled in Job Training (JT)

Trainings impacting people

Learning is a cornerstone of great customer service. Here’s what we’ve been learning from recent trainings:

• Crazy Good Customer Service: At our annual Fall Conference, we spent the day with Mike Fazio from WorkForce180 learning about useful and applicable tips on customer communication, change, innovation, motivation, overcoming objections, and selling to help us provide exceptional customer service!
• FreshVue Communication Training: We have begun a 3 day interval training with Eva Marquette focusing on improving our communication skills. So far we have learned about developing a shared method of
• communication and analyzed our personal communication methods. We have two more sessions and are looking forward to learning and applying more!
• Mental Health First Aid: Each of us completed a full day certification, providing us with the tools and knowledge to help assist people in mental health crisis until a qualified professional can step in.

Program Highlight

We are happy to announce that our Job Training (JT) program has expanded over the past few months. We now have laptops in both Lakewood and Puyallup, allowing participants to customize their training options to exactly what they are interested in. Currently we have 6 people enrolled taking a variety of courses:

• Microsoft Excel
• General Secretary 101
• Payroll Management
• Medical Assistant Recertification

A Big Welcome to Jenell Hughes

Jenell joined our team in September as an Employment Practitioner Case Manager for the Puyallup CSO. She has a background as a recruiter for a fast paced staffing agency where she worked closely with employers and job seekers to fill open positions. Jenell also recently earned a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and has an incredible amount of enthusiasm for helping assist individuals in meeting their
goals and potential. She brings excitement and fun wherever she goes! Please feel free to reach out to Jenell, welcome her to team and get to know her better; you’ll be glad you did!

WC –> PT CJ –> CAREER JUMP –> FT EMPLOYMENT!

While the above may look like some type of chemical or mathematical formula, it’s actually a recipe for success.

When beginning with Career Path Services in February of 2017, Sam was enrolled in the Community Works (WC) program, to assist her in developing habits and strategies to aid in obtaining employment. She began working at Goodwill for 8 hours a week. After working closely with her Career Path Case Manager for several months, Sam was transitioned into the Part Time Community Jobs (PT CJ) program where she attended LS classes and increased her work hours to 20 per week. After the transition, Sam excelled and expressed an interest in participating in a paid training opportunity through Career Path (Career
Jump) with a local resale shop.

She began the Career Jump in August and quickly adjusted to working 32 hours per week. In October her training program ended, and she was hired on full time with the employer as a Sales Associate
making $12 hr!