Workforce

Idalia Andrade pursued a degree in liberal arts, but after graduating she felt burnt out from the education industry and started a new career path in hospitality. The change reenergized Idalia because she likes to help people and she enjoyed…

Annita Sampson began her career as a receptionist / secretary in 1982. She was quickly promoted to banking representative, and then client services manager, and then department manager, and she continued up the ranks in the organization. There was no…

Michael Almazan studied finance at Roosevelt University in Chicago and after graduating, enjoyed a career as a financial analyst with Allstate. Almost five years after settling into his role, the business unit he was working with shifted their operations out…

Approximately 72 percent of hiring managers believe it’s important that recruiters and hiring managers know job seekers’ pronouns. Additionally, as we become a more inclusive society having a workplace that normalizes the use of gender pronouns can make a world…

While the world is slowly returning to a new kind of normal, there are some changes that might be here to stay. For example, the pandemic has greatly impacted how employers connect with potential hires. Now, instead of getting to…

Dane Watkins had been out of work for over 26 weeks and felt he was unable to re-enter the engineering field due to lack of project management certifications. “I was laid off, and felt helpless and that I couldn’t do…

When Noelle Hardy was laid off from her previous job, she connected with National Able Network (Able) to help her transition to a new career pathway. She attended an orientation session to learn more about resources that were available to…

After spending eight years in retirement, Lorry Charak wanted to get back to work. Although he had a lifelong career in commodities trading and sales, Lorry wanted to pursue a new career path this time around. His daughter, who was…

Job hunting can be stressful, and even more so in a world where we rely on virtual first impressions. For older job seekers with years of experience, the good news is that your resume can be a wonderful first impression…

Six years ago, I got a chance to work with a leader in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). We were in a group workshop talking about the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which measures cross cultural agility on a scale from…

Margit Altstadt had been working in the department of health in Champaign, Illinois for several years until she was laid off at the age of 62. “It was hard to find a job at that age,” she said, but that…

When Keith Tody began looking for employment at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic he attended a fair at Truman College on Chicago’s north side. There, he met Elliott Esparza from National Able Network (Able), who told Keith about IT…