Passion Restored: Leticia’s Story

Back home in West Africa, Leticia* worked with children and families as a government social worker. When Leticia’s work endangered her life, she fled to the U.S. with her two-year-old son. Leticia worked at a fast food restaurant to pay her bills and provide for her child, but her dream to work with children and families remained. Unfortunately, Leticia didn’t know where to start – until she was enrolled in AsylumWorks’ employment program.

Working in partnership with AsylumWorks staff, Leticia identified a variety of jobs that aligned with her personal and professional needs, goals, and priorities. She learned hard skills like how to re-write her resume for an American employer. She also learned soft skills like how to leverage her existing network here in the U.S. to help her advance her career goals. This is how Leticia learned about a job opening for a second-grade teacher’s assistant at a school near her apartment. Leticia knew this job would be a good fit for her, but also needed to ace the interview. For the next two weeks, Leticia diligently worked with staff to prepare. 

The night before her job interview, Leticia reviewed her notes from her last meeting with her job coach. The next day, she woke up nervous but confident in her ability to answer the interviewer’s questions. Leticia arrived 15 minutes early for the interview. She spoke clearly and concisely and used her ‘story bank’ to answer performance-based questions. Leticia left the interview feeling hopeful. Two days later, she was hired for the job! 

*Name was changed to protect the identity of the client.