Virginia Career Works
Have you ever been to Kyoto?
“Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse [is] a family-owned restaurant serving a variety of sushi, hibachi, & Japanese cuisine.” My girlfriend is a pretty picky eater but loves the shrimp hibachi with fried rice. As a hibachi restaurant, it is a bit expensive for the average person to go regularly, so we go every few months on dates. Many people go to Kyoto for birthdays and anniversaries, and families often enjoy the performances from the chefs that come with hibachi-style meals. While I honestly do not love the high intensity of the restaurant, the saying “happy wife, happy life” motivates me to bring her when she’s extra good (she told me that I couldn’t say that, so don’t tell her that I did).
Anyway, why am I talking about Kyoto when this blog is about nonprofits? Well, it is pretty common to be seated with other groups when eating on the hibachi side of the restaurant. Depending on the group you are sitting with, your dinner can consist of constant chitchat, a few comments here and there, or just kind smiles and a, “Have a nice night.” Grace (the girlfriend) and I went to Kyoto the other weekend and were sat with a family who was celebrating their son’s birthday. The family consisted of a mother, a father, a now-nine-year-old son, a younger daughter, and a grandmother. We were sitting closest to the grandma and she spoke to us on and off throughout the dinner. We shared pleasantries, learned that it was her grandson’s birthday, and also talked about tattoos (she had a Baltimore Eagles tattoo… respect) before turning our attention to our food. It wasn’t until the end of our dinner, while waiting for our checks, that we began talking with the mother.
The mother, who we now know as Paula, shared that she and her husband both attended and met at Bridgewater College. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology and he graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration. Grace is graduating this December with a bachelor’s in psychology, so we excitedly talked about that and asked her what she did for a living. That was when we learned that …drumroll please… she works at a nonprofit! Oh, what a beautiful small world we live in! I, of course, then gave her my elevator pitch and told her that I was very interested in talking more about her career. After meeting Paula at Kyoto and exchanging information, she very graciously agreed to an informational interview. And now, here we are!
Paula Woods
Paula Woods works at the Shenandoah Valley Region Virginia Career Works. Paula is currently the Job Seeker and Provider Coordinator under a grant with Network to Work within the organization. Virginia Career Works is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging connections between job seekers and employers. With specialized services, the organization offers assistance to all types of people, including the youth, the elderly, students, individuals with disabilities, and more. She has worked with Virginia Career Works for over four years and has had around six roles, often shifting titles depending on the grant she is working under. In her current role, Paula directly works with job seekers.
“We bring in job seekers, get to know them, and assess what they might need. Then, we connect them with the resources they might need to get job-ready and connect them with employers that work with us.”
Paula was originally hired to work with youth, ages 16 to 24, who had additional identified barriers. These barriers included single parents, justice-involved, disabilities, and more. These barriers are decided federally and programs for people with them are given additional funding.
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“I loved that, it was really great. There’s a lot of funding in that area, so I was never really told no. I could pay for things for my jobseekers. I sent a lot of them to trainings for welding, CDL, and nursing.”
She then took on adults without these identified barriers. From there, she became a program manager and then a program director.
Before this organization, Paula worked in various roles. After graduating from Bridgewater with a degree in psychology, she was not entirely sure what she wanted to do. She found a job working in a residential group home for men with disabilities. Although she only worked there for one year, she learned valuable information about
​ Medicaid and case management. She then moved to the Community Service Board, working there for a few years, and handling substance abuse prevention, gang prevention, and suicide prevention. After that, she moved to public schools and worked as a behavior specialist.
Despite the difficulties she faced in this job, she continued to develop her skills in communication, case management, and documentation. She stayed in that role until the COVID-19 pandemic, then worked at the Bridgewater Equestrian Center before finding Virginia Career Works.
Key Takeaways
My conversation with Paula was filled with laughter and jokes. While she has had (and has) very serious and sometimes difficult roles, it is clear that her passion and joy for helping others remain present. She emphasized that passion and dedication are more than necessary when working in the nonprofit sector.
When asking her for advice, she gave the following:
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Pay close attention to details
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Be open and listen
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Have good organizational and communication skills
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Take initiative
While Paula is not in a traditional communications role, her experience and career advice were incredibly interesting and informative. Not only that but her attitude and outlook were incredibly inspiring. Paula has utilized strategic communication in every role she has had. Her final piece of advice?
“Don’t ever say that you can’t do something. Don’t say you can’t go for that job. Don’t say that you don’t have enough experience. Always remember that the way you sell yourself is the way others will see you.”
