MEMORANDUM

Date: February 13th, 2015

To: Davin Wait, Instructor
From: Katie Martinez, Student
Subject: Information on Applicants Organization
We are required to research a position that we are applying for in an
organization/company and be able to center our job packet resume and
cover letter. The position I am applying for is a Shelter Care Attendant for the
organization of YouthWorks in the Fargo location. I am looking for a part-time
summer seasonal position or internship through this organization. Please
view the screen shot of the YouthWorks job description attached as a photo
for the email or visit provided email address to the YouthWorks website to
view the job posting. The website is located at the end of this document.
I originally discovered this organization through the non-profit fair hosted at
NDSU at the memorial union. This was the first time that I had heard about
this organization in the Fargo community. I had the chance to discuss with
the representatives about if the organization provided opportunities for
summer internships. The booth gave me information regarding the
organization and I obtained a business card of who would be best person to
contact regarding internships. With the informational pamphlet regarding the
organization and the business card of Jessica Fleck I immediately went to the
website to learn about this organization and find the necessary skills for the
position. After looking through the website I emailed Jessica Fleck about
potential internship opportunities.
By going to the YouthWorks website I had to chance find information about
the organization. YouthWorks is a nonprofit agency that offers services for atrisk youth and is only located in the Bismarck-Mandan and Fargo-Moorhead
area. The skills that are listed for this position include: being a positive role
model for youth, outgoing and compassionate personality that can engage
with youth in crisis, supervision of behaviors, and a degree in social work or a
related field preferred. The skills that make me applicable for the position
have been developed through my previous experiences at NDSU. This
organization requires an extreme amount of personal interactions,
interpersonal skills, and an open mind to diversity. Dealing with the at-risk
youth culture is a hard task, but I have been trained to handle a vast amount
of student crisis within the residence hall and I will be able to successfully
transfer those skills to this organization. All of the stated skills make me a
solid candidate that will help me fit into this organization. What I would be

doing with this organization for the Shelter Care Attendant would include
providing supervision for youth at its Attendant Care program and Short-Term
Care and Assessment Center.
The Programs that are included in YouthWorks that make me interested in
the organization included but are not limited to the list below:

Individuals at-risk of becoming a runaway

Homelessness
Juvenile offenders
Youth with anger issues
Youth that are failing school, suspended, or expelled from school

I am a criminal justice major with a minor in human development/family

science and my future professional goal includes working with juvenile
offenders and at-risk youth. This organization has different long-term
positions open to applicants. The organization also has different criteria for
qualifications of the position in which my resume and cover letter go more in
depth of my related skills. Being able to reflect on this assignment, I
understand that there is an opportunity to build professional reflection of
myself on paper. With that in mind, I have the chance for the organization to
be able to fully understand my developed skills.
Writing a resume and cover letter is challenging but by utilizing the NDSU
career centers resume and cover letter guidelines I have been able to find
ways to articulate my skills on paper and in a way that both skeptics and
skimmers will be able to interpret my skills. With all of the provided
information, I focused on centering my cover letter and resume on necessary
skills. These are skills that the diversion services focus on, which is the major
objective of this organization. I have taken a corrections course for my
criminal justice major and this has given me an insight to learn more about
qualifications that diversion services need and must have in order to able to
interact and help an offender/at-risk youth. I chose words within my
resume/cover letter that were provided in the job description in case the
employers were looking for word triggers that could automatically rule out
candidates. The action verbs I picked for my resume resonate the necessary
qualifications and the action verbs were supplemented with the skills and
tasks.
Lastly, when researching this organization I was curious as to how does this
non-profit organization raise money and receive funds for their cause? This
organization has a highly designed website that gives viewers a chance to
donate money. Another way, recently the organization participated in Giving
Hearts Day which opens donation up to the public and has volunteers help
raise money. The YouthWorks organization raised an outstanding figure of
$23,000 for their cause during this one day.

If you have any follow-up questions regarding the assignment or are

inquiring more information on the organization please feel free to contact me
at katrinia.martinez@ndsu.edu.
The YouthWorks website that describes the job posting is
http://youthworksnd.org/about-us/job-opportunities/.