At just 18 years old, Karoll Cortez was trying to become fully self-sufficient, which is hard enough for anyone in today’s world, but especially for someone so young with no trade or college education.
“Time goes by while you work a job that sustains you but doesn’t necessarily fulfill your career goals,” she says. She applied for teller positions at Wells Fargo several times, disappointingly to no avail. “I wondered if there was relevant experience I was lacking,” she says.
Trying to make ends meet, she worked at In-N-Out Burger, which provided Karoll with the opportunity to get her feet wet working full-time and try to cover her minimum living expenses. Five years later, she landed an assistant manager position at Starbucks, which helped cover her expenses, but not her career aspirations.
She eventually enrolled in community college part-time for several semesters. However, with her full-time work, it became too difficult, and she had to put college on hold.
As she looked for new opportunities, she remembered an advertisement for JVS SoCal’s BankWork$ program, the eight-week free career course in finance would eventually change her life.
“I had seen it before when I was job hunting. At the time, I disregarded it. I mistakenly thought it was something that cost money or had some kind of catch,” Karoll explains, “but this time, it really got my attention because it offered training in the banking skills I needed.”
Hopeful about a promising new path, Karoll enrolled in the BankWork$ program and started her path to a new promising career that would open doors to new opportunities and challenges.
BankWork$ improved Karroll’s interview skills, enhanced her consumer service knowledge and her communication skills. As part of the program, she took advantage of JVS SoCal’s partnership with financial institutions that interview graduates after completion of the program.
After graduation. Karoll received two offers from banking institutions, accepting a bank teller position at Bank of America.
She says the knowledge and skills she acquired were supremely useful in her new role, commenting, “Everything I learned in the BankWork$ program is what I do now!”
Following her aspirations, she finally enrolled at Long Beach City College to further her education as part of her career advancement plans. Unfortunately, she had to undergo surgery, which forced her to study remotely. At that time, due to the costs involved in her surgery, she couldn’t afford to buy the equipment she needed.
As part of the regular follow up provided for BankWork$ graduates, she shared the challenges she was facing. Thankfully, the JVS SoCal staff was able to connect her to apply and receive an Impact Grant from the JVS SoCal’s Women’s Leadership Network (WLN), which are available to women enrolled in our programs. The WLN is a donor group that helps women in career crisis or transition, including women launching their careers. Through this grant, Karoll was able to purchase a laptop as well as a desk, printer and Internet access. Her employer’s college reimbursement program pitched in for tuition and book expenses.
“My employer is affording me the opportunity to do part-time night education,” Karoll says. She plans to go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business management. She has since been promoted to Relationship Banker. She is energized by her future career prospects, hoping to further advance her career at Bank of America.
In the meantime, she is proud of the progress she has made and is grateful for the help she received along the way from JVS SoCal and others. Karoll says, “To the supporters of this program—thank you. Everything you do is just awesome, helping people like me who need it.”
Are you interested in helping others like Karoll to carve out their perfect career path? Learn more here.