Happy New Year from Work First! Over at the foundation’s headquarters, we ended the year with a number of successes: a new collaboration with Uber to give our clients greater access to transportation, and recruitment for the next Fellowship cohort is in full swing—if you’re interested, apply today!
In New York City, our Fellows have been teaching clients throughout the boroughs, developing new curriculum for their classrooms, and working one-on-one with clients on their resumes and career goals. Liz, our 5th Avenue Fellow, recently looked back on the first 4 months as a Work First Fellow. Read on to see what she’s learned so far:
Liz teaching clients during a LinkedIn Workshop
A 4-Month Fellow Reflection
By Liz Cottle
I am currently the Manhattan fellow at the 5th Avenue location of America Works. Every day, I teach classes to about 30-40 clients on Employment Skills topics, Customer Service, and Financial Literacy, in addition to conducting relevant research on employment policies. The first day of orientation we were all told that a year will fly by. At that point I was skeptical, but here I find myself already one third of the way finished with quite possibly the most rewarding and challenging position I have held yet. Although there is still time and work to be done, I find it noteworthy to mention what I have taken away from this Fellowship thus far.
Lesson 1: Find Confidence in Knowledge
Personally, the hardest part at the beginning of this fellowship was mustering the confidence to stand in front of a room, filled with adults sometimes two or three times my age carrying backgrounds, stories, and experiences unbeknownst to me. In my first few classes, I remember feeling unsure of myself and the topics I was teaching. I came into this role with extensive professional development experience, and lucky for me, much of it was transferable to the America Works population.
Even with this background, 35 pairs of eyes attempting to determine if I could be trusted made me feel like I couldn’t be. However, the more I explained critical topics for employment, the more confidence I found in myself and my ability to deliver it to a room full of skeptical adults. Four months into this fellowship, I now feel beyond comfortable standing in front of the classroom and my confidence in these topics has made my clients feel more confident in themselves.
In learning this lesson, I had to come to terms with not knowing the answer sometimes too. This has led me to refine my skills in asking questions and critically developing solutions when they are not readily available. Although some may argue this lesson is not directly applicable to positions other than teaching, I think the act of developing confidence in a topic and creating an area of expertise allows one to take more risks and place higher value on knowledge going forward.
Lesson 2: Be Assertive and Establish Boundaries
This role inevitably opens the door to a plethora of personalities which does wonders to keep each day different and interesting. Yet, while maintaining daily intrigue, a room full of personalities requires assertive behaviors and rules, two aspects of classroom management I feared the most. I have been forced in this Fellowship to stand up for myself and maintain order, be that in the classroom or with my schedule.
Almost all of the clients I interact with have been respectful, friendly, and eager to learn, but there are instances when classroom behaviors, conversations, or requests for help have gotten out of hand. I have always striven to please everyone and ensure that no one’s feelings get hurt, but I learned in this role how important it is to first and foremost stand up for myself and my own mental capacity. As I slowly started to adopt assertive behaviors, I found the respect I received from clients begin to increase. The more value I placed on my time, the more value they saw in it. I made sure throughout this whole learning process to continue to show care, interest, empathy and respect to each one of my clients, even if I had to tell them “no”, or ask for a behavior change.
Although this is still a process for me, I am proud of the mutual respect I have developed so far with clients and strive to keep that a priority in my work. I am grateful for the push towards assertiveness as I believe it has made me a better trainer and is positively permeating in all aspects of my life.
“I made sure throughout this whole learning process to continue to show care, interest, empathy and respect to each one of my clients, even if I had to tell them ‘no’, or ask for a change in behavior.”
Lesson 3: Small Steps Go Farther
I believe that most people sitting in my classes want to change their situation. However, I see quite a bit of stagnant behavior, in that some clients do little to actually make gains or improvements. At first, I was confused by this discrepancy. The words of motivation clients said did not align with their actions. However, the more I taught classes and interacted with clients, I started to understand how overwhelmed they are.
The circumstances I see are just scratching the surface, let alone the vast confusion that is job searching. I began to lay out small steps; little accomplishments that clients could achieve tomorrow, or the next day, relevant to finding employment. When they had someone telling them “this is what you do next,” I saw a huge increase in initiative and motivation to accomplish those steps. In addition, offering my support and guidance as an option that they could take advantage of spurred many to set up meetings with me.
I am an advocate for well-written, functioning resumes and believe achieving this goal is a crucial first step in the job search process. Once clients had a starting point, my calendar quickly filled with resume critique appointments. I have learned to not fix their resume or cover letter for them, but to give clients the tools they need to do it themselves. At the end of each meeting, I am sure to outline another set of small steps to keep the momentum moving in the right direction. I know most clients want to succeed and I genuinely believe simplifying this process into manageable pieces allows them to strive further for that goal.
Lesson 4: Truly Listen
This last takeaway of truly listening encompasses all the previously mentioned lessons, in my opinion. I wouldn’t be the first to say that the situations of many of my clients are convoluted, stressful, and unclear. At several points in this process, they may find themselves unsure what to ask for, or what their next steps should be. It is critical to hear them—to listen to their stressors, their goals, their suggestions, and their questions. Not only does the act of listening make clients feel valued, but it more often than not allows for the ability to unearth the real concern or problem they are facing.
For the past 4 months, I have been trying to truly listen. What I have heard so far has prompted me to tailor my teaching style and topics. Clients are constantly asking me for help with professional development skills. So, I began teaching classes on how to interview, how to write a resume, how to write a cover letter, and how to write professional emails. These classes have quickly become my most popular as I open up the space for clients to learn and practice these crucial skills.
I have found that when clients feel confident in their resume and application documents, it sparks increased confidence in the interview, which of course opens up a greater chance for hire. I learned all of this by hearing what made them nervous and brainstorming ways to reduce that. My goal for the last two thirds of this fellowship is to continue to grow and adapt with my clients, first and foremost by listening to what they need and then determining how I can help.
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