Gateway JobSight Connects Morgan Countian Colby Stahley with Teleworks USA, Leading to His First Job in the Digital Economy
It had taken some time, but Colby Stahley was ready to enter the workforce.
Colby Stahley
It was October 2020 in Morgan County, Ky., Stahley had just heard about Teleworks USA for the first time, and he thought that maybe the concept of working from home was just right for him and his situation.
“It was a good way to work from home,” Stahley said about how he initially heard of Teleworks USA. “That’s all I knew. It sounded like something I could do.”
A division of Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), Teleworks USA identifies and develops legitimate remote-work job opportunities with multiple national and global companies. Teleworks USA’s team of expert managers also helps prepare people for the jobs by upskilling them in customer service and technical support workshops, helping them craft strong résumés and hone their interviewing skills, and assisting them in applying for available remote-work positions.
At the time, Stahley said he was overcoming issues including anxiety that had previously prevented him from holding a job. But by November, he began working with Valrey Easterling, an expert career advisor at Gateway Kentucky Career Center JobSight in West Liberty to enter the workforce for the first time.
A partner in the Kentucky Career Center JobSight network of workforce centers, the Gateway JobSight provides Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) services in Morgan and Menifee counties under contract with EKCEP. Those services include programs for adults, dislocated workers, and youth who may need assistance honing skills such as résumé building or networking with local employers, or who need assistance being retrained or going to school.
In this instance, Gateway was also able to connect Stahley with staff at Teleworks USA to see about him preparing for and landing a legitimate work-from-home position.
Stahley’s first step was reaching out to Tracie Spencer, administrative coordinator with Teleworks USA. Spencer assisted him with the necessary paperwork to get signed up with the service and it wasn’t long after that he began directly applying for jobs with partner companies, including Sykes.
“I talked to her in email and by phone a few times, and then I just went on the ball and did anything I had to do and I started applying,” Stahley said. “I got hired probably two weeks after all that. It was pretty quick for me.”
In just a couple of weeks, Stahley was working his first job in customer service and fraud detection for Sykes, a job that he could work from home via a broadband internet connection. After working through the company’s peak season, Stahley said he was ready for a change and worked with Teleworks USA again to apply for a position with Concentrix, a company specializing in customer engagement and business performance. And it wasn’t long before Stahley had landed his next position.
“I got that job within a week or two,” he said.
Stahley recently completed his initial training with Concentrix, which he described as both informative and helpful in getting acclimated to his new job in customer service, and is looking forward to continuing his work-from-home career.
With an interest in learning everything he can about tech and computers, Stahley said working from home for companies that employ and utilize tech to complete their work was a natural fit for him, as was working from home in general. The ability to create his own work environment, use his own equipment, and not be tied to a physical, brick-and-mortar location remains very appealing.
“I love the hours and everything like that, and I don’t have to get up and get ready, as crazy as that sounds,” he said. “I didn’t even know that was possible until I heard about Teleworks. It made it more inviting for me.”
Stahley said he would definitely recommend working with Teleworks USA, and has mentioned it to others and urged them to look into it. And, he added, with the training program available you don’t have to be the most computer savvy person to be able to work from home.
“It could be for anybody who’s willing to put in the time and learn anything new, they can do it,” he said. “And it’s legit work, and you get paid pretty well for it.”
To learn more about career assistance options available through your local JobSight, visit jobsight.org.
To learn more about Teleworks USA, visit teleworksusa.com.
A partner in the Kentucky Career Center JobSight network of workforce centers, Gateway Kentucky Career Center JobSight provides Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) services in Morgan and Menifee counties under contract with the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP). Those services include programs for adults, dislocated workers, and for in-school and out-of-school youth who may need assistance honing skills such as résumé building or networking with local employers, or who need assistance being retrained or going to school. Find out more at 606-743-3133 or by email kcc@gatewaycaa.org.
EKCEP, a nonprofit workforce development agency headquartered in Hazard, Ky., serves the citizens of 23 Appalachian coalfield counties. The agency provides an array of workforce development services and operates the Kentucky Career Center JobSight network of workforce centers, which provide access to more than a dozen state and federal programs that offer employment and training assistance for jobseekers and employers all under one roof. Learn more about us at http://www.ekcep.org, http://www.jobsight.org and http://www.facebook.com/ekcep.
