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For six years, Ashley worked as a Certified Medical Assistant at Wilmington Health. But after years of working there, she felt that she was stagnating and that her skills weren’t being used as fully as they could be. “I just needed room for growth. I wanted to use my skill set on a broader level.”

But after having worked there for so many years, Ashley found that reentering the process of interviewing and updating her resume was proving to be more difficult than she’d anticipated. This was made all the more difficult by the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the interview process for every job she applied to had gone virtual, something that Ashley was not prepared for. “I was clueless about a lot of it.”

When StepUp Wilmington was suggested to Ashley, she leapt at the chance to learn more. “Everyone at StepUp was very helpful, even down to the volunteers. I was thankful that there were people who took their own time to be there and to help me with mock interviews and other things.” Ashley found that the workshops focusing on how to answer questions during an interview were among the most helpful for her. “I used to guess on interview questions, but [StepUp] made me realize that ‘I’ am the answer. I’ve been in many of these situations they ask about, so they showed me how I can use my experience to answer the questions. I got high praises on my resume and interviews everywhere I applied after that!”

Ashley shared that she owed a lot to her Talent Manager, Alicia, specifically. “I have a habit of taking things personally, sometimes. But [Alicia] always told me ‘it’s not personal’ when an interview doesn’t go well. She told me that ‘the job I want will come to me.’ I’m thankful for that because I was ready to give up. Alicia kept me motivated.”

After her time with StepUp Wilmington, Ashley was offered and accepted a position at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. She felt that she’d finally found a good fit. “This position was everything I wanted and how I wanted to work. I can see myself in leadership roles now, whereas past jobs had me thinking I wasn’t ready.”

“I’ve been telling a lot of people about StepUp,” Ashley said. “I just let them know that it’s a program that will show you how to present yourself. In my short week with them I learned so much about myself that I really didn’t know. You just have to put yourself out there.”