Meet Rolanda
Ohio - Meet Rolanda
Workforce Success Story Submitted By: Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board
Workforce Challenge
After working seven years as a research associate at a university, Rolanda found herself without a job when funding was cut for the study that employed her. Like thousands of other dislocated workers from Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Olds turned to the SuperJobs Center, the city-county One-Stop, to see if she was eligible for funding to learn a new skill.
Workforce Solution
Rolanda knew she was interested in the pharmacy tech program being taught at Cincinnati State. “I wanted some stability in a new career,” said Rolanda. “I didn’t want to be laid off again.” Dryden Jones, Health Business Manager at Cincinnati State’s Workforce Center, says: “This is an in-demand occupation as many jobs are available in retail pharmacy as well as claims processing and data entry for insurers.”
Rolanda's Career Coach at the SuperJobs Center worked with her to help her enroll in the class, and she was on her way to a new career. “I absolutely enjoyed the class,” said Rolanda. “Our instructor kept the class going, and made the complicated material fun and simple.”
Outcomes & Benefits
Rolanda passed her certification board exam, and she worked as a temporary pharmacy tech while she searched for full-time positions. In May of 2011, she began to volunteer at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, where she worked at both the out-patient and in-patient pharmacies. That paid off when She was hired in March 2012 to staff the out-patient pharmacy.
“I love working at the VA,” she says. “Being a pharmacy technician is a very satisfying and rewarding career, helping patients get well."
Have questions?
