For years, Jeff’s resume looked a certain way. To an outside observer—and sometimes even to his wife—it looked like job hopping. But Jeff wasn’t running away from hard work, and he wasn’t lazy. He was just searching for something he couldn’t seem to find: meaning.
“I was working jobs because I needed a job to live,” Jeff recalls. “I hadn’t enjoyed doing something in a long time. I can’t remember the last time I stopped looking for a job.”
Originally from Haiti, Jeff moved from New Jersey to Columbus in 2025. Unemployed and looking for a fresh start, a friend suggested he check out Goodwill’s career training opportunities. Jeff initially looked into getting a CDL, but when he browsed the Columbus program list, something else caught his eye: Information Technology.
Jeff had always been naturally gifted with computers. He decided to enroll in the intensive, 15-week CompTIA A+ Certification course. It wasn’t easy.
“I can tell you that those 15 weeks were hard,” Jeff says. “It was difficult to wake up every day and come here. At some point, you are learning so much and it can be overwhelming.”
But Jeff pushed through, graduated, and quickly landed a short-term contract job at Micro Center. After that role concluded, he moved on to a professional help-desk position. He was learning so much out in the field that he regularly volunteered to come back to his old Goodwill classroom on his days off, eager to share his real-world experiences with the new students.
Shortly after starting his help-desk job, Jeff got a call out of the blue from Fred, the program’s hiring manager. Jeff actually hesitated to call him back at first, worried Fred was going to pressure him into signing up for the next advanced class. He never could have imagined what Fred actually wanted to say.
An instructor role had opened up at Goodwill, and because of Jeff’s talent and natural leadership during his time as a student, Fred wanted him for the job.
“Reading people is kind of my thing,” Fred says. “I saw something in Jeff early on, back when he was still a student in that classroom. I knew I was making the right call — and he’s proven me right every day since.”
Jeff didn’t hesitate for a single second and immediately sent over his resume.
“In my whole life, that’s the first time I got a job before I even applied,” he says. “That was the happiest moment of my life.”
Jeff’s natural aptitude for technology and his genuine love for helping people had finally collided. Today, Jeff is the one standing at the front of the classroom at the Brice Road Job Training Center, teaching afternoon and evening cohorts. He works patiently with diverse populations, giving special attention to students who come in with absolutely zero tech background. He watches the lightbulb go on when they finally understand how to fix a laptop, and he listens proudly when they come to class and say they were able to fix a tech issue for their families.
Since stepping into the role, Jeff has gone on to earn his CompTIA Network+ as well — still leveling up even as he teaches, modeling the same growth mindset he asks of his students.
“I have been gifted with the gift of learning easily, and I want to share that gift with others,” Jeff says.
For the first time in his life, Jeff’s relentless search for the right career has finally found its answer. Headhunters still reach out to him on LinkedIn with other IT job invites, but for now, his heart is in the classroom.
Because when you finally reach “it,” you stop looking.
About Goodwill Columbus
Goodwill Columbus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has served the Central Ohio community for nearly 85 years. With more than 1,000 employees, Goodwill Columbus is one of the region’s largest job providers, employing individuals with diverse backgrounds. Goodwill Columbus has 12 retail stores, a last-chance outlet, an ecommerce facility, 8 attended donation centers, 5 I/DD service locations, and free job training services at The South Front Street Job Training Center, The Jerry Hammond Center, The Reeb Center, and 14 Columbus Metropolitan Library locations. The organization is a proud member of Goodwill Industries International, a network of over 150 community-based organizations throughout the United States and Canada that sell donated goods to create job opportunities and training in local communities.