A Perfect Match

Step one – tap your shoes on a sticky mat to remove rogue dust. Step two – place cloth covers over your shoes. Step three – put a hair net over your hair, or beard, if applicable. Step four – pull a disposable lab coat over your clothes and snap the front completely closed. Step five – wash your hands thoroughly. Step six – sanitize your hands when they have dried completely. Step seven – enter the work space of Kelly Ngu.  

“Working in the sterile room is the best part of my job because we get to wear lab coats and build packs for our clients,” she says. Ngu, who is a production assistant for Global Resources International (GRI), spends her days recording inventory for thousands of packs. Each pack that Ngu checks contains sterilized materials for medical facilities around the world. From gloves to gauze pads ordered by hospitals, Ngu is responsible for ensuring the quality and quantity of each pack before it is sent to the warehouse, where she then prepares it for shipping.  

Before joining the team at GRI, Ngu was referred to Goodwill of North Georgia’s Workforce Development Program from her vocational rehabilitation counselor. For three months, Ngu worked in Goodwill’s Oakwood store as a greeter and on the sales floor, where she developed customer service skills. “I’m shy and get nervous. Going to the career center really helped me with my interviewing skills,” she says.  

After working closely with employment specialist Carol Griffin for three years, Ngu learned to come out of her nervous shell during interviews. “Kelly has a really great personality and work style, but would shut down in an interview and employers couldn’t see in an interview what I already knew. We had to find that perfect match,” says Griffin. Both Griffin and Ngu were determined to find that perfect match and after three years of job searching, GRI was the answer.  

From being nervous and shy to securing employment at a job she’s passionate about, Ngu is thankful for Goodwill’s continuous support. “Goodwill helped me get the job I have today,” she says. As an appreciated member of the GRI team, Ngu’s supervisor Angela Mandujano says, “She’s a very hard worker and she loves her job.” Always having a smile on her face and a resilient work ethic, Ngu is excited and hopeful to continue developing her career with GRI.