Evergreen Goodwill is on the hunt for passionate workers who are ready to fill a variety of roles in retail, production/donation processing, material handling and much more. Several opportunities are available in the North Puget Sound area, with multiple positions available to people 16 and older.

Working at Goodwill provides countless learning opportunities with room for growth within the organization and beyond. No matter where you end up, Goodwill is here to support all of your career endeavors.

Amber, a supervisor at Evergreen Goodwill’s Ballard location, has risen through the ranks over the past nine years. Setting off to Washington state, seeking new opportunities and experiences beyond what was available in the small, Northern California town she grew up in, Amber arrived in the Seattle area and soon after found herself working as a retail sales associate with Goodwill.

She then gained experience working with textiles and moved into Evergreen Goodwill’s production team. Sorting through donated items and materials, she found great passion in that role and now serves as a production supervisor.

In this story, you’ll learn more about Amber’s background and why she believes Goodwill is a great place to work.

What would you tell people about why you enjoy working at Goodwill?

“It’s more like a family than just coming to a place to work,” Amber said. “I lost a friend … a couple years ago, and Goodwill actually stepped in, … and they offered the counseling sessions.”

“It’s warm and inviting, most people are in a happy mood,” Amber said.

Amber also went into detail on how Goodwill looks to find a place for all of its employees that plays into their skills and interests.

“We ask [job candidates] questions like, ‘What are your hobbies?’” Amber said. “Maybe somebody likes to work alone, we have our production team. … If they like working in a bigger group, our textiles has four tables, so they can talk. Maybe they like to move around a lot, we have the tagging.”

“Maybe somebody has a certain hobby – they really love electronics, and they like building electronics and they have a lot of knowledge about electronics – we do have an electronics station, so somebody could [be a good fit],” said Amber “Or maybe somebody’s really into fashion, then we have our textile department, and they get to learn different brands.”

“We definitely try and find accommodations for people, we try not to turn anybody away,” Amber said.

Why is diversity so important in the workplace?

“It’s just about respecting everybody,” Amber said. “We’re all different, and that just makes us unique, and it’s fun to learn about everybody.”

“I know for our store, specifically, like our textile department, we have people from all around the world. We have at least six different countries [represented], five different religions, four different languages,” Amber said. “You just really get the diversity, and you get to learn like where everybody’s from and the differences.”

What are your plans for the future?

“Right now, I’m just taking on more of the administrative stuff, so learning DayForce and scheduling. Who knows, maybe in the future I can go to the corporate office and learn administrative [skills],” Amber said.

What is your hope for Goodwill as an organization?

“To grow,” Amber said. “With the economy and inflation and stuff like that, just to make sure that we’re still serving the community, and we’re putting out the best products for people to buy.”

If you’re interested in applying for one of our open positions or exploring the career options we have available at Evergreen Goodwill, visit evergreengoodwill.org/jobs-at-goodwill.