BankWork$ Helps One Woman Gain Confidence and Fulfill Her Dreams

Soha came to the United States four years ago from Beirut. While she lived in Lebanon, Soha enjoyed having a career in customer service and accounting. Upon becoming an American citizen, Soha hoped to combine those two skills to become a bank teller, but at many banking jobs she applied for, she was continuously told she lacked the necessary experience.

Soha refused to give up! One day she went to her local bank to deposit a check and asked the teller what she needed to do to make her dreams of working at a bank come true. The teller gave Soha a flyer for Goodwill of Colorado’s BankWork$ program.

Soha attended an information session about BankWork$ and met with the Program Manager and Instructor, Kelly Hargrove, shortly after. When they met, Soha told Kelly about her past experience and why she was interested in going into banking. Kelly could feel her excitement and knew Soha would be a fantastic student.

When the BankWork$ class started Soha was shy and hoped Kelly wouldn’t call on her in class. As the program progressed, Soha built relationships with other cohort members and learned the banking material which gave her the confidence to speak up and fully participate in class. Despite working two jobs from 5:30 am to 8:00 pm daily, Soha worked hard in the BankWork$ program and earned her Colorado Bankers Associate certificate along with an interview with Bank of the West.

Part of the BankWork$ curriculum helps students prepare for their interviews. With that support Soha impressed the hiring manager and is now a Teller at Bank of the West. While this was certainly what she wanted, Soha was nervous about starting her new job. She called Kelly the week before and Kelly told her, “Just be yourself. You have the right training and will do well. I am very proud of you.”

Two weeks later Soha found herself becoming confident as a teller. “Things started getting easier,” Soha said “I realized that everything I learned from my training with BankWork$ was very useful in performing the various tasks at my new job.”

Soha is continuing to thrive as a teller and is grateful for all Kelly and BankWork$ provided her. We wish Soha the best with this next chapter in her banking career!

Here at Goodwill, we believe in the power of work. If you’re interested in learning more about the BankWork$ program and applying for our next session, visit our website today or contact us at Ph: (303) 386-2936 Email: Bankwork$@goodwillcolorado.org