What I Did:
Reproductive Health Specialist at Planned Parenthood
How I Did It:
I discovered the job listing at the career center at my school and knew instantly the job was for me. The ad read that Planned Parenthood was looking for a young, energetic and bilingual individual to help counsel teens and Spanish speaking clients on family planning.
My role involved performing intakes during visits, taking blood pressure, height and weight and answering questions about birth control options. I soon moved up to being able to run pregnancy tests and give out results.
The best part of the job was helping teens to feel comfortable enough to take their guards down and talk openly about making responsible decisions about birth control--I quickly became the most requested staffer during Teen Tuesdays. I also really prided myself in helping Spanish-only speaking women complete their intake forms (amazingly, their inability to fill out the intake forms--something that many of us take for granted--was often the number one deterrent for these women in seeking birth control and many of them couldn't afford additional kids!)
All in all, it was an amazing experience but eventually the understaffing burned me out. I eventually moved on.
Advice
- As bi-lingual staff, you can often be called upon to work more than others, but it's worth it if you are helping people
- Pacing yourself at a high-demand job is essential, else you will burn out
