For one Jamestown Business College graduate, possibilities brought about through a single internship have been endless.
In 2010, Kayla Bohall graduated from JBC with a bachelor's degree in business administration and a management concentration. When an internship opportunity arose at The Resource Center, Kayla knew that this was a chance to apply her degree.
"I have a four-year degree and I needed to do something in my field," said Kayla. "My dad works for The Resource Center and he heard that they needed an intern for Street Jam, so he recommended me. So I interviewed and was hired basically right away. I worked two days a week during the day, I made phone calls, did promotional things, made posters; I did a lot of different things."
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Kayla Bohall
Kayla spent six months working with The Resource Center and the TRC Foundation which, though separate entities, both provide service and support people with disabilities to become independent, productive, participating members of society.
While interning, Kayla became aware of an opening for an administrative assistant in Filling the Gap Inc. and applied for the position. According to Kayla, Filling the Gap is an affiliate company of The Resource Center which is now housing the special events that used to be run by the TRC Foundation, such as Street Jam and Step Up for Autism.
According to Steve Waterson, director of community relations, marketing and development, Kayla was awarded the position largely due to the experience she had gained through her internship.
"A full-time administrative assistant position became open within Filling the Gap and Kayla applied for it," he said. "I was involved in the hiring process and it came down to Kayla and one other person. And quite frankly, the fact that she was already familiar with the department and had been there six months is what led to her being the person to get the job. She's been indispensable with Street Jam and some of our other events like the Laurel Run and the TRC Golf Classic."
Waterson also explained the value that Kayla provides from a technological standpoint.
"What's also nice about having Kayla around is that she's young and has a lot of technology skills, allowing her to do things that take people like me a lot longer to do," he said. "So we're always very impressed with how quickly she can throw things together for us."
Kayla feels that her internship experience helped greatly in preparing her for the duties of an administrative assistant. These duties include: preparing board packets for board meetings, board meeting minutes for multiple organizations and returning calls to sponsors.
"I'm still doing some of the same stuff that I did as an intern," she said. "There are some days where I have meeting after meeting and I have to go from one mindset to another, so it's just constant change. So (the internship) definitely did help prepare me for this job and jumping, literally, from one thing to the next."
According to Mary Shelley, human resources administrator and coordinator of recruitment, Kayla's success story is an example of a relationship between JBC and The Resource Center that has existed for more than a decade.
"The relationship was there prior to my beginning in this position," she said. "JBC is one of the first places we call when we have an opening within our finance department or any clerical support position in any department. The internship is something we have been pursuing more aggressively over the past few years. There are just many different avenues for people to get their foot in the door and grow with the agency."
"The Resource Center is always hiring," said Waterson. "If you can get your foot in the door here as an intern and are looking for a career but aren't set on what it has to be, watch that job posting board and the fact that you're already there certainly helps."