How Jasmine Turned a Chance Encounter Into a Career in Banking
This year, Association House celebrates 10 years and 50 cohorts of Financial Careers Training (FCT). To mark the milestone, we sat down with one of our most recent graduates, Jasmine, to hear what the program meant to her.
Jasmine never planned to leave college. But when financial hardship made it impossible to continue, she had to step away and found herself looking for work with no clear next step. She was applying for jobs she wasn’t especially excited about, just to keep moving forward.
Last May, after one of those interviews, she headed to the Harold Washington Library to read, as she often did. Instead, she walked into a job fair where Association House was recruiting for FCT. “I had no idea a job fair was happening.” she says. "I just sort of wandered in."
She picked up a flyer and got in touch with us. “I had never thought about going into banking, or any career program like this one.” After a phone conversation with career navigator Beatrice and instructor Luz, she was accepted. “They made me feel comfortable. They made me feel like I was safe and that I could actually learn from them.”
In college, Jasmine says, big classes meant little individual attention. FCT’s small cohort changed that. “I felt comfortable and safe and seen,” she says.
“Luz treated us as adults. Class was always more of a conversation than a lecture.”
The practical support mattered just as much. Luz and Beatrice helped Jasmine rebuild a résumé, and coached her on interviewing, including how to talk about her professional background rather than her personal story.
"Before that part of class, my résumé was honestly terrible!" she told us with a laugh. "But understanding what interviewers are really asking, choosing the right clothes for the right settings, showing your experience effectively on a résumé: nobody teaches you any of that. In this class, they did."
Stipends, gas cards, and professional attire helped remove more barriers for a motivated student like Jasmine. Site visits to BMO and Bank of America showed her what the work really looks like. “Those field trips were the days that were just like, wow, this is a great experience. I’m so honored to even be here.”
After graduating, Jasmine met with a Wintrust recruiter, and the preparation paid off. “It felt natural. We connected right away, and I knew how to answer the questions.” She was offered a full-time teller position at the Hyde Park location she’d hoped for, with conversations already underway about a future move to relationship banker.
Jasmine now encourages others to take the leap, including her cousin—now enrolled in the newest cohort—who worried she wasn’t “good at math.”
Her message: “I know it's banking, but you don’t have to be scared of not being good with numbers. The support you get is going to build your confidence. You just have to be open, willing, and put in the work.” Even after graduation, her Career Navigator Beatrice still checks in. “She’s still making sure I’m okay.”
Jasmine’s story is one of 50 cohorts’ worth of stories, built over 10 years by a program that meets people where they are and stays with them after graduation.
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Interested in joining the next cohort? Learn more about Financial Careers Training and apply today at associationhouse.org/fct.
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