Margaret graduated from Green River College in the summer of 2015 with an A.A.A. degree. She learned the Microsoft Office Programs, and took both beginner and advanced classes in Access, Excel, Word, Outlook and OneNote, and also learned QuickBooks. After graduating that program, which she took as an update to her B.S. degree, she found employment doing work that did not allow her to use the skills she had learned. When the company she was working with lost a national contract she was laid off on December 31, 2017. After this she knew that she would have to brush up her skills. 

While taking a Strategies for Success class at a local WorkSource office, she attended a presentation about Orion's training programs, given by Kristina Pressley, Orion's Intake & Outreach Coordinator. Margaret was intrigued and came for a tour of Orion's Office Skills & Customer Service program, offered at our Auburn location, and decided to sign up for the training program.

Margaret had been working a flexible, independent schedule, and establishing a routine at Orion was helpful for her. As she progressed through the self-paced tutorials and worked one-on-one with Jeri Lucas, her instructor, she found that the experience she was gaining was the key to unlocking her confidence.

Margaret said, "I was happy to be in a working office environment. On the very first day, I knew that Orion's training program was the right thing for me to do. Once on the path, I knew what each next step was; the structure was valuable and helped me to open up. I trusted the process."

Orion has the ability to customize it's training programs, and tailor them according to the strengths and weaknesses of each person.

"The training program at Orion is unique for each person," Margaret explained. "They have a great team there to support you, and it really makes a difference. The kind words and encouragement I received when working with a mentor made the learning process feel like a positive collaboration. Orion made me feel prepared for the work that I was going to do!"

After completing the training program, Margaret took a short term position at Trillium, assisting them with updating their database and transitioning it from one software platform to another. Margaret is responsible for checking that data has ported over correctly and making manual corrections when necessary. The job is very detail oriented, but Margaret works well independently, and she enjoys seeing the progress that they are making day by day towards completing the massive project.

Once the project is complete Margaret plans to work with Orion's job developers once again to help her with her job search. She is confident in her abilities and is grateful that she will have additional experience that she can include on her resume.

Congratulations Margaret!