Ginger Murphy Finds Success at StepUp and Duke Credit Union

“I told my friend, ‘Thank you for telling me about StepUp!’”

By Stephen Crupi / Photo by Erin Roesch

After spending five years taking care of family members, Ginger Murphy wanted to find a new job. She had a background working in banks, but she realized that the process of searching for and obtaining employment had changed since she had last looked for a job. So she attended StepUp’s 32-hour Employment Readiness Workshop in order to engage with people dedicated to helping her with her job search.

“I wanted to get back out into the workforce,” Ginger recalls. “My friend told me about StepUp, and I really enjoyed the workshop. The workforce has changed dramatically, and StepUp gave me lots of tips.”

One of the most important modules during the workshop for Ginger was the “Bridging the Gap” session, in which participants are trained on how to discuss gaps in their employment history during interviews. “The Bridging the Gap module helped me to be able to say what I had been doing during that time,” Ginger says.

“With workshop, I also enjoyed the process of having to get up to go somewhere, having to be prepared for the next day.” Ginger notes. “It got me back in the mindset of working.”

Having completed the workshop, Ginger began to look for jobs. “I was sure eventually something would come up,” Ginger states. “StepUp was a great encouragement, because it can seem like people don’t find jobs, and that can be intimidating. StepUp helped build up my confidence.”

One of the employers Ginger applied to was Duke University, a StepUp referral partner, and Ginger was offered a job working as a teller for the Duke Credit Union. As Ginger had previously worked in banks, she finds her job at the credit union to be both similar and different.

“I have the background and skills from working in banks before, but the credit union is a whole different system,” Ginger explains. “The credit union is smaller and more personal.”

Working at the credit union, Ginger hopes to learn as much as possible about its operations, and she has thought about how she can advance in her field in the future. “I might do something different like auditing or accounting someday,” Ginger says.

Her goal for right now though is simple and practical. “I want to buy a new car now,” she says with a smile.

“Everyone I know is just happy I got the job,” Ginger says. “Everyone was confident, but I had been a little uneasy. StepUp is a plus. It helped keep me focused. I told my friend, ‘Thank you for telling me about StepUp!’”