By Alex Vigil-Emerson
We had the chance to sit down and interview Alec P. about his experience working for Goodwill while going to school. Alec currently works as a donation specialist at one of our donation centers. He regularly greets donors and sorts donations to that they can be sent to one of our thrift stores. Revenue from donations fund 12 youth and adult programs, over 500 full time jobs, and an employee development program. As part of our employee development program, Goodwill encourages employees to learn new skills and seek education through career counseling and tuition reimbursement. Although Alec has only been with Goodwill for 9 months, he has already utilized Goodwill’s tuition reimbursement to take classes at Pima Community College. The tuition reimbursement program covers half of our employee’s tuition to help make accessing higher education more affordable. Alec isn’t the only one, many of our employees also utilize tuition reimbursement and career counseling as part of our employee development program to set and reach career and educational goals.
Alec is currently studying Computer Administration at Pima Community College and is learning about cyber security, operating systems, and the work needed to make a functioning computer. In a normal day he greets donors, sorts donations, and studies computer science. After graduating from Pima he hopes to find a job in the field of computer science, and Goodwill of Southern Arizona looks forward to helping Alec reach his goals. You can see a video of our interview with Alec on our YouTube channel, Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona.
