I am Andy Yeager. I was nervous when I first came to Goodwill. The first thing I did was take a tour of the plant. My first job I got to do was hitch pins. I really liked them and thought they were very hard, but after a while, I got used to them, and Irene even called me “The Hitch Pin Machine” because I could do them so fast. I also got to learn bolts. I really like it to do them, and it became one of my favorites.
I met lots of clients. We had classes together, we ate together in the cafeteria and worked together most of the time. Then I wasn’t nervous anymore. We took classes like forklift safety, dishonesty, socializing on break, 10 ways to keep your job and many others. My favorite class was socializing on break.
Our supervisors helped us learn many new jobs like hanging clothes, using the pallet jack, hangers, hex screws, kitchen helper, sorting plastic hangers and rubber banding them. My all-time favorite job was being material handler.
I had skill trainers and employment specialists help me with writing out my job applications. They would also help take me to my job interviews. When I would get stuck, they would help me with what to say in the interview.
Kevin came to find me where I was working on the floor to tell me I had gotten the new job with Goodwill on 100th. My family was really happy to hear that I had gotten the new job. I was nervous again to start in a new building.
On the first week, I had a job coach named Jordan. He was a good helper and very patient with me. Everybody there helped me when I had a question or needed any help. My favorite thing to do on my job is break glass.
I have had two visitors from the main office, Kevin and Andrea. Kevin came to see how I was doing, and Andrea helped me until Jordan was able to return.
I feel like this is my job now, and I am not nervous any more.