LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – It can be a challenge for stay-at-home parents and those unemployed that are looking to reenter the workforce.
Katie Kirby has been a stay-at-home mom for the past three years and is ready to get back to work, but it hasn’t been easy getting a job.
“I would spend anywhere from 2-5 hours a day putting out applications and for every 100 applications, I would say I would get about five responses back and only about two of those led to an interview,” Kirby said.
Before becoming a parent, she was a hairstylist and successful business owner.
“I was a little surprised and a little disappointed because I know I have a lot of skills, I was a regional director for a regional company, and I was with one company for 18 years,’ she added.
She’s now looking for a new career.
“My body physically has a hard time doing hair, I have torn ligaments in my foot, body issues, back issues so because of that I can’t go back into doing hair,” she said.
After seven months of no luck, Kirby reached out to the College of Southern Nevada’s Workforce and Economic Development. The department recently got a state grant to help 75 people find jobs in Nevada.
“Help individuals move into a new career pathway, whether it is up scaling, changing career paths, serves for individuals who are underemployed that are unemployed. veterans, individuals with disabilities,” Jonathan Hernandez, a Senior Specialist, Navigator with DWED said.
Kirby is about to complete a paid internship with the Personal Injury Academy, which provides intake and case management for personal injury law.
“Coaching Pros academy is a certificate program, it is 8 weeks long, and at the end of the 8 weeks if you pass the final, they do job placement,” she added.
Her goal is to get hired.
“The competition is just so tough out there, and I hope employers can stop overlooking you know people who have been out of the workforce a little bit or looking to change careers,” Kirby said.
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