By Shoshi Mabina
Boost Mobile hosted a Career Workshop at the Chicago Urban League to announce job opportunities, as well as donate $10,000 to enhance CUL efforts. Of our 93 years of establishment, this is the first time in 30 years we have hosted a career workshop, said Cheryl Freeman-Smith, CUL Director of Workforce Development at the opening of the event. CUL advocates for economic, educational and social progress committed to growing Chicago’s African-American workforce & business community.
In addition to giving job applications and a considerable donation, Boost Mobile gave fifty randomly selected job seekers a prepaid mobile phone. The phones were offered for job seekers to receive call-backs from potential employees during their interview process. Boost Mobile understands that during these harsh times in a recession, not all individuals have a phone number to list on their resumes. All 250 attendees were pre-registered participants coming for job searching skills offered through Taylor Made Industries.
Althea Taylor, Executive Director and founder of TMI, stressed how improper voicemails are deal breakers for job seekers. “Hey yyyaaaa’ll this yo’ girl/boy, holla at me and I’ll hit you back in a minute,” Taylor continued, “This will get a hang up response from employers who do not think you are serious.” TMI gave valuable job hunting lessons and business etiquette protocol tips. Topics included having a standard email address (“for example ibballin@email.com is not professional”), resume writing tips, ways to design a cover letter, how to ask for a reference, when to write thank you letters, salary negotiations and how to work a job fair. TMI also provided one-on-one sessions for attendees to get personalized tips and lessons.
“Take every opportunity that comes your way,” said Boost Mobile Anthony Arguelles, speaking of how he advanced from a mall kiosk representative for Boost Mobile a few years ago to the company’s Regional Marketing Executive. He explained he made himself extra resourceful when he took on varied tasks that were not within his job description. “Hard work pays off,” said Caralene Robinson, Director of Brand Marketing and Entertainment for Boost Mobile. Robinson who’s family is from the Virgin Islands described to me that she came from a working class family and is familiar with people needing to “predict payments in tough economic times” and that “everybody wants to stay connected.”
Boost Mobile, prepaid division of Sprint, offers services with no contracts, credit checks nor activations fees, now has started the “Unwronged” plan. The plan is in response to the sign of the times and that consumers feel helpless and frustrated with other prepaid wireless providers who add in activation fees, overage charges and extra costs for services like voicemail and roaming. Boost Mobile wants to change that by offering Monthly Unlimited, a straightforward pricing plan with no additional Telecom Taxes, activation fees, roaming charges, traveling or long distance fees. Chicagoland job seekers and beyond now have unlimited talk, text, Web and walkie-talkie for $50 with no long-term contracts or dropped calls from mobile services like Cricket.
By Shoshi Mabina
ComEd offers solutions to those needing assistance with their electricity bills, as well as ways to save money and energy. ComEd understands several of the customers they serve are having a hard time paying their bills promptly during these new times of a recession.
ComEd Chairman and CEO, Frank Clark, has chosen to help. Clark, former mailroom clerk for ComEd, is the company’s first Black CEO, happens to come from poverty, faced adversity and racism and fully understands the plight of hard working families struggling to cover payments.
ComEd now offers assistance programs to match every need.
• CARE Power Up provides customers in need with energy assistance grants provided by ComEd and other customers who make voluntary contributions through a match program in which ComEd matches up to the first $100,000 donated to the fund;
• Summer Assistance Program provides $30 for each of the three summers months between June and August,
• Appliance Recycling Program will pay $25 each for up to two refrigerators or freezers, haul them away and dispose of it responsibly - dismantling & recycling its parts;
• Smart Ideas Central Air Conditioning Cycling Program will credit up to $10 during each summer month in exchange for you allowing your air conditioner’s compressor to cycle off-and-on during times of peak energy usage;
• Community Outreach Program works with low-income communities to help with past balances to avoid service suspension;
• CARE Helping Hand is a one time offer with two options: Pay 90% of owed amount and ComEd will credit the remaining 10% -or- pay 25% of owed amount, avoid disconnection and agree to a payment plan on the remaining balance that can be paid over time without incurring any additional interest charges or fees;
• Residual Special Hardship offers a one time grant of up to $1000 with documented hardship issue(s); and
• CHAMP helps active military personnel with benefits including cancellation of late charges, cash and extended due dates.
ComEd serves 3.8 million customers in the northern half of Illinois covering territory within the borders of Wisconsin, Iowa, I 80 and Indiana. The major expense for ComEd is maintaining and repairing existing electrical system. Expenses range from $35 million to $40 million. This includes overtime for crews, assistance from out-of-state utility workers and contractors overseeing 416 poles, 513 transformers and a total of 109 miles of wire and cable. Delivering that electricity requires prompt payments from customers and demands a lot of attention, which requires year round programs to prepare for peak conditions during harsh winters and blazing summers, while at the same time reply instantly when outages occur.
