My Goodwill Story: Rosemary

When Rosemary came to the U.S., she was met with a massive culture shock. She had moved to Hawaii, but with English as her second language and no previous work experience, she needed support to find the right job.

Goodwill Hawaii (Honolulu) began helping Rosemary with her job search and gave her options for different types of training that she could pursue for a long-term career. In the meantime, Rosemary needed a starter job. She began to look for work in retail or the cleaning industry.

Initially, Rosemary was concerned about finding a job with her current level of English skills. That’s until she heard that English wasn’t the first language for Lori, the Goodwill team member that she was working with, either. It gave Rosemary renewed confidence that she could succeed.

Learning New Skills 

With Lori’s support, Rosemary was able to create her first professional résumé, sign up for an email account, create an account on Indeed.com, complete job readiness training and enroll in Hawaii Literacy to further improve her English.

Thanks to her efforts, Rosemary found a full-time, stable job with benefits at a local grocery store. She expressed her gratitude for the experience and the new sense of community that comes with this role.

However, this isn’t the end of Rosemary’s journey. She wants to pursue phlebotomy training next year in hopes of breaking into a field that she finds interesting.

We’re excited to see what’s next for Rosemary and know that her determination will get her far. For anyone looking for career support, reach out to your local Goodwill career center. You never know what new opportunities might open up for you.