Name: Hayden Pack
Year: 2020
Trade: Office Administration
Certifications: Microsoft Office 2016 Specialist, IC3
Current City and State: Charleston, WV

Before coming to the Charleston Job Corps, I was bouncing from job to job, mostly in food service, trying and failing to dig myself out of debt. Having been diagnosed with a spinal disorder a year prior, the work was taking its toll on my health and I am still feeling the effects today of pushing myself beyond my body’s shrinking limits back then.

I came to Charleston Job Corps to study office administration, hoping to land a job that wouldn’t require as much physical labor as what I had been used to doing. I attempted to take part in a few extracurricular activities, but aside from work-based learning, my schedule didn’t allow for much.

I am now employed at AT&T’s corporate center in Huntington, WV as a Customer Retention Specialist. My employer is covering my tuition for me to attend Marshall University next year, at which I plan to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in corporate strategy or marketing, before going on to Texas A&M for a master’s degree.

Job Corps helped me achieve my current position by providing me with qualifications and teaching me how to better design my resumé.
My life since attending the Charleston Job Corps has improved significantly. I am slowly but surely paying my debts and rebuilding my credit, and my income has increased exponentially. I can now finally consider my place of employment a career and not just a job.