Goodwill Program: Youth Job Connection

“Youth Job Connection helped me with interview and resume skills. My confidence level was very high after going through the Youth Job Connection.”

If Jillian Duke could, she would fast forward past high school and college. The 17-year-old knows she is ready to be an adult.

A self-described “nerd” who studies all the time, Jillian enjoys mapping out her life and views her work experience more like a college course than a paycheck or a job.

Watch a video featuring Jillian and Youth Job Connection

In summer 2008, Jillian went to Goodwill’s Youth Job Connection for help finding a better job. The Youth Job Connection is a job center where Charlotte youth get assistance with interview and resume skills and the job search process. Jillian says she benefited from the interview workshop, especially the parts about “posture and how to act” in the workplace.

Jillian did get a new job as a sales associate at Justice Just For Girls, a popular clothing store for girls in the 7-14 range.

“Youth Job Connection helped me with interview and resume skills. I learned how to conduct myself in an interview, how to flip questions so I can give a better answer, and I learned how to work on my resume and what to put on it,” Jillian says. “My confidence level was very high after going through the Youth Job Connection.”

Now, Jillian is currently paying for car insurance and rarely asks mom for money anymore. More importantly, she says she enjoys work, especially on days when she gets to throw a birthday party for one of her tween customers.

“You get to do their hair and makeup. When they tell you it was the best birthday party they ever had, it makes you feel good,” Jillian says.

She especially enjoys working alongside her boss during her shifts. She describes it as “a mentorship.”

“She is strict, but thorough. She wants to make things better,” Jillian says. “It makes me not want to make the same mistakes again. I look up to her a lot.”

Jillian plans to continue working at Justice Just For Girls until she graduates from Providence High School in 2010.

Her next step: hopefully studying at UNC Chapel Hill, East Carolina or Hampton University. Her career aspirations: becoming a pharmacist or physical therapist.

Jillian’s parents, Dion and Jeff Duke, both finished graduate school. It’s no surprise that’s also on her list of things to do.

“I don’t have an option. That’s how it is.” Jillian explains. “Most teens don’t even know what graduate school is.

“Everyone at school says I am the most mature person. They call me ‘the mom’ of the group. I just know where I want to go, what I want to do.”