How Life Experiences Prepared Alex for NHCO

Ten years ago, I decided to step up my job search. I worked as a customer support person for a small website design company in Pittsburgh for four years. After leaving, I taught Tai Chi part-time and learned the karate style Tang Soo Do at Pro Martial Arts in Cranberry. My Tai Chi teacher, with whom I had studied for 25 years, had recently died -- a student traditionally moves forward and teaches others.

 How does a computer guy teach Tai Chi? Start by publishing an E-book about your art! I broke the various "movement arts" into chunks that one could learn at a measured pace. The final E-book was titled Playing Tai Chi - Sash Exploration. This template allowed me to give each student an overview of what they could expect from my classes.

 While on my job search, I finished volunteering with Just Harvest as a Tax Preparer - my first exposure to working for a nonprofit. I recently moved to Allison Park and found the employment services on NHCO's website, as presented by Jewish Community Center (JCC). I attended a resume workshop at the Suburban General Hospital in Bellevue, which coincidentally housed NHCO's North Boroughs office.

I later noticed that NHCO was looking for an information technology person to handle the computer systems and telephones. I was ready to get back into IT after spending 17 years working in IT for two global law firms before moving to the North Hills, and I began my work with NHCO in April 2014.

You might be surprised that my first real job in Pittsburgh after graduating from college was landscaping for five years. The ensuing 17 years of IT work was helpful, but the landscaping experience prepared me for the operations side of my NHCO job. I learned what volunteers & contractors need to do in caring for NHCO's grounds: weeding, trimming hedges, transplanting plants in the spring, digging french drains, roofing, and installing wiring networks. An average IT person could do that, but I had those skills in my background.

 My past experiences prepared me for my time at NHCO. My desire to always help others prepared me to exemplify NHCO's motto, "People Helping People."