Marisol Quesada became a member of the AJCC network in 2012. When she entered the South Metro Career Center she had no formal education —but what Marisol did have was strong motivation and a great drive to succeed.
After extensive labor market research and informational interviews with San Diego employers, Quesada decided that she wanted to pursue a certificate in web design. She believed the proper training program, combined with her administrative background and experience helping with web design at her husband’s startup company, would transfer well into a career in web design.
“When I finally knew what direction I wanted to take regarding a training program, I immediately got the support I needed,” says Quesada. “It was a great experience and a great program. Best of all—I successfully completed the program and received my certificate of completion!”
Quesada successfully completed her UCSD Extended Studies certificate training program for web design in May 2014. After her training, she began volunteering her services to organizations she found through networking at the career center. She created flyers and banners for the Centro Cultural de la Raza at Balboa Park and supported other programs and events to help the community and gain experience.
She is now happily employed at Citibank’s Community Development Division as an administrative assistant. As she set out to do, Quesada was able to combine her transferrable skills and new web design training into a career.
Quesada feels strongly that without the help of the career center and the supportive funding, which enabled her to complete the training program, she would not have the career she does today. “I’m happy to say that I feel very fortunate and thankful for the opportunity to participate in the services offered at the career centers,” says Quesada. “The program has allowed me to continue learning new skills and to know that no matter what, you can go as far as you want!”