Simon's Story

“Without the resume and getting my driver’s license back, I never could have gotten the job.”

Sometimes, it really does take a village (or in this case, the combined talents and services of MAM’s Employment Services team) to find meaningful employment…

Simon* is an irrigation technician. With over 10 ten years of experience installing and repairing sprinkler systems for both private and commercial clients, there isn’t much he doesn’t know about the trade. He is also a single father whose employer drastically cut back on his hours as a result of Hurricane Harvey, and therefore cut into his ability to provide for and support his family. After receiving some rental assistance from the Family Services Department, he came to Employment Services to improve his job prospects.

Meeting with a job coach revealed a couple of things. He was hampered in his job search by the lack of an impactful resume, very few on-line job search skills and no driver’s license as a result of his inability to pay an outstanding fine for a minor traffic violation.

The very first thing MAM did was to help Simon rewrite his resume with a strong summary statement that zeroed in on his tenure and expertise as a skilled tradesman. Second, he met with a computer coach who helped him research several job opportunities and make on-line applications using his new resume. Within a matter of two weeks, he had multiple interviews and 6 job offers. Success was imminent, but he still had one obstacle to overcome – a valid driver’s license.

Irrigation technicians are required to have a valid driver’s license so they can drive company vehicles to and from the various job sites. The cause and amount of the outstanding fine for Simon’s traffic violation were researched and MAM was able to use some of its allocated resources to pay the fine. With a valid license in hand, Simon was able to accept one of the job offers and is on solid footing to becoming self-sufficient and without the need of further assistance.

Simon’s success shows how the MAM Network of Services can be utilized to accomplish meaningful life changes.