Desziree Shambley is excelling at Atrium Health as a Senior Research Associate at the Leon Levine Pediatric Research Center. But just a few years ago, the mom and wife was looking for something new in her career.
“I was at my job working in healthcare for about four to five years. It was an entry-level job, and I just wanted to add some skills to advance my career within healthcare,“ Desziree said.
Although Desziree holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health from North Carolina Central University, she desired more in her career and turned to Goodwill for help. Desziree enrolled in Goodwill University’s Data Analyst training program, which she learned about through LinkedIn.
“We started off with the skills of Microsoft 360 as a whole from Excel, and I use that on a daily basis here in my current role. We also learned other detailed tasks like Python and Power BI SQL,“ she explained.
In addition to tuition-free training programs, Goodwill participants also have access to free wraparound services, such as working with a Career Navigator and Employer Engagement Specialist, who help Goodwill participants land jobs. For Desziree, her Career Navigator, Robert Perry was very instrumental in helping her update her resume, which helped her land a job with a new employer less than two months after completing the Data Analyst training program with Goodwill.
“He [Robert] gave me feedback that I have the skills, I have all the information needed,” Desziree explained. “I never really had a person outside of a friend to review my resume, and the resume that I was using before – I wasn’t really getting as much feedback from jobs. So that made a big difference for sure.”
Once her resume was updated, Robert referred Desziree to Goodwill’s Employer Engagement team. Through their business contact at Atrium Health, Desziree’s application, resume and experiences were shared with Atrium’s hiring manager for consideration. After multiple rounds of interviews, Desziree landed the job!
Desziree is quickly excelling in her new role, which she’s been in since August 2023. She’s hoping to dive more into the research aspect of her field and has already had the opportunity to learn more.
“I have had the opportunity to shadow some of the staff that has been in research for a lot longer and learn some of the terminology and research and get an idea of how it works,” something Desziree really appreciates.
Taking the time or having the funds to go back to school can be challenging. Goodwill University’s 14-week, tuition-free Data Analyst training program accelerated Desziree’s education and has allowed her to pursue the life she wants to achieve. She is now making more money and working for one of Charlotte’s top employers.
Training programs like the one Desziree took are available free of charge to the community, thanks to purchases and donations at Goodwill’s 35 retail locations and more than 40 donation sites, in addition to corporate, community and philanthropic donations.
Desziree encourages much of her network to tap into the resources at Goodwill and has even recommended the program to some of her colleagues.
“Goodwill is definitely sticking to their mission and giving back to the community,” Desziree said. “Just seeing that there’s not only this course, but other things [courses] out there that may interest someone.”
If you would like to help fund Goodwill’s programs and services that we offer to the community free of charge – like the ones that helped Desziree on her pathway to prosperity – consider dropping off your gently used donations at one of our locations or making a financial contribution.
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