Job Coaching Helped Jacquie Johnson Return to Work

She was able to connect with a temp agency, something she counted on only as a stopgap. But Jacquie puts her all into everything she does, so she got offered an assignment fairly quickly. Still she was discouraged: She didn’t like the work at all, and was ready to give up on the temp agency altogether. That’s where Sherri really proved her value; she pushed Jacquie to stick with it and said, “You don’t know what doors it might open.”

After that, Jacquie got an assignment as an administrative assistant with a psychiatry practice, right downtown in Chicago. She liked the people, and everything was going well. Then, less than three weeks after she started, COVID struck, and Jacquie figured her luck had run out again. But her professionalism was shining through, and the practice decided to set her up to work at home. She hadn’t felt that valued since she’d been caring for her mom.

Still, the job was a temporary one. When she got offered a permanent position elsewhere, she felt she couldn’t turn it down, even though she felt very much at home with the psychiatry practice.

So she told the practice she was leaving. They begged her to stay: “What do you want?” They liked her so much that they offered her a permanent position. “I’d never had an opportunity to choose where I wanted to work,” says Jacquie. And Sherri was right there to guide her, helping her weigh the pros and cons of each job. Her good feelings about the psychiatry practice sealed the deal, and she accepted their offer.

Jacquie credits both Sherri and another career coach at the Workforce Partnership for helping her focus on what really mattered. “They got me back to myself,” she says.

Learn more about BACK TO WORK 50+ and register for a workshop. 

Read more stories about how our programs have helped people find hope, and about the volunteers who give so much of themselves to help others.