Before coming to Maryland New Directions, 23-year-old Nasir had held a variety of jobs, but hadn’t found anything stable. As a new father, Nasir knew he needed a career to care for his one-year-old daughter, but he had never written a cover letter and needed help with his resume and interview skills. A friend of Nasir’s who works at the Port of Baltimore told him about MND’s Maritime Transportation Distribution and Logistics (MTDL) Training program and he decided to sign up. “I see a lot of people in my neighborhood who are out of work and struggling with poverty,” Nasir says. “The MND program gave me something to look forward to.”
On September 4, 2015, Nasir graduated from MND’s three-week MTDL training program. Looking back on his experience, Nasir says he learned a lot about the interview process, his hard and soft skills, his transferable skills, and writing a resume. “I feel more aware of how important it is to focus on my career passions and desires,” he says. Nasir especially loved MND’s Connections Friday events. He felt inspired by the career journeys of the business professionals who visited and encouraged that he wasn’t alone. Nasir likes the transportation industry and sees the railroad as a good place form him to find a career. As a first step, he recently secured a full-time job as a Warehouse Worker and is looking forward to moving up and supporting his daughter.