Pros
Austin Goodwill has ALOT to offer. I did not know this before I began working for Goodwill, but the retail stores fund their Workforce Development Programs. In fact, Goodwill's mission is to "put people to work." Goodwill aims to work with people that possess barriers to employment and help them find jobs. There are 3 major departments within the Workforce Development Program at Austin Goodwill: Job Source, Youth Services, and Community Rehabilitation Services. Each program is designed to help a specific population in the community work towards their employment goals.
Pro's of working at Austin Goodwill within Workforce Development :
- youthful culture
- accepting culture - everyone that works in Workforce Development truly cares about implementing Goodwill's mission and the population that Goodwill serves
- a lot of trainings and free CEU's
- decent pay for a non profit
- will hire people right out of college, so you can get case management experience - even if you don't have a social work degree
- pretty good benefits. Also, most Workforce Development employees have company paid cell phones that you can use for personal use as well.
- Employee Assistance Program for employees that need help with counseling, budgeting, etc.
- Partial tuition reimbursement if you want to get your Master's Degree
- Constantly growing/changing environment
Cons
You can feel overworked / underappreciated at times. Also, there is not very much room for advancement. Many department coordinators and managers have been at Goodwill for a long time and do not want to leave. I get the feeling that most people use Goodwill as a place to get a few years of Case Management experience and then move on.
