The Job: An Update

I’ve also had some inquiries about my job. After three weeks, I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of everything (well except maybe the accounting stuff, but that’s even improving.) We’ve had to interview candidates for a key position within the organization that has been vacant for a couple months and we had to let go one of the employees go (a very big deal when there’s only 10 employees to begin with). Other than that, things are going as expected.

The aspects of my job may not be blog-worthy, but the organization itself certainly is. The after school programs are split up into two separate levels. The first level teaches basic academic, leadership and business skills. Once a youth graduates from the first program, they are eligible to apply for the second program. In this program, the kids actually run a t-shirt screening business. They have to do all the marketing, accounting and production work. While each section has a full-time program manager, the programs are actually run entirely by the youth. They sort through applications, select candidates for interviews, conduct the interviews, and make the final decision of who gets accepted into the programs. The Crew Leaders are phenomenal people. They helped interview the candidates for the vacant position, and they asked the hardest questions and made the sharpest, most astute comments about all three candidates. The things they got from a mere handshake (and we do emphasize the importance of the “business handshake” from the start of the program) was incredible. If people feel disheartened by today’s youth, they need to spend a day with these kids, they will change the minds of any skeptic.

For the last couple weeks, youth have been coming in for interviews and the first round of applicants will come in next week for a probation period before the final cut is made. All 60 kids who are accepted into the programs will start on February 6th. That’s when things will really get interesting. In the meantime, I’m still learning the ropes and helping the fundraising director keep our new 13 year-old intern busy. So far, so good, with a little drama thrown in for good measure, but then again work would just be boring if there wasn’t a tidbit such things here and there. More to come.