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For one job seeker, the sweet sound of success

For months, Tiesha Smith had dreamed of ringing the bell. Sometimes, a week would pass without the sound of it. Then, while sitting in one of her job- training classes at the workforce development agency Philadelphia Works, she would hear it peal.

Tiesha Smith of Philadelphia attended her first day at  Philadelphia Career Works in February and is now starting a new job with Budget Grocer as an administrative assistant.
Tiesha Smith of Philadelphia attended her first day at Philadelphia Career Works in February and is now starting a new job with Budget Grocer as an administrative assistant.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer

For months, Tiesha Smith had dreamed of ringing the bell.

Sometimes, a week would pass without the sound of it. Then, while sitting in one of her job- training classes at the workforce development agency Philadelphia Works, she would hear it peal.

As in It's a Wonderful Life, the sound of the bell meant someone had received wings. It meant someone had landed a job. And now, they were ringing the brass bell in the lobby - "the sweet bell of success" - to celebrate, to let everyone know.

Tiesha wanted to ring that bell.

She wanted to hear someone say to her: "I want to offer you this position."

That's what kept her motivated during all those mornings on the El from West Philly to the job center at Suburban Station. She loved walking in the crush of commuters. The professionals. The students. Even the day-care teachers with their tiny charges trailing them.

But she wanted to walk with them feeling not like an outsider, but like someone who "belonged," she said. "I was looking at people that I wanted to be."

I met Tiesha after reading the Center City District's annual State of the City report last week. It's brimming with undeniably good news: another year of skyrocketing downtown development and rising investment, booming cultural attractions, and headline after headline burnishing Philly's rising reputation.

Of course, stark challenges remain, including Center City's still-sluggish job growth. As the report points out, despite some gains, Philly still lags behind many comparable cities when it comes to building jobs.

Only with more dynamic job growth, the report says, can the change remaking downtown reach neighborhoods where so many people still look in at our changing city from afar. Where so many people want to be part of the progress, if only they could find an opportunity.

People like Tiesha Smith.

Tiesha first came to Philadelphia Works in February, nervous and excited.

The 33-year-old mother of two had job experience, including four years as a billing coordinator at Quest Diagnostics. She left her job in 2010 after a health scare and to raise her children. Now, she was searching for a job that could lead to a career.

During orientation that first day, Tiesha listened closely while others grumbled. She came back the next day, and did not stop coming.

"I knew I had to help myself - that I was the one who had to put the work in," she said.

In resumé class, she realized the formatting on her resumé was all wrong: that employers look for certain fonts, and that she needed a professional summary to highlight the things that make her "sparkle," she said.

In computer class, she learned how to navigate online job applications. She even immersed herself in classes she did not need, such as "Dress for Success." She always came to the center smartly dressed.

She impressed her advisers, Bryan Keele and Lynne Galloway. They offered her an internship, helping teach orientation. In the meantime, Tiesha kept one of her new resumés printed and an outfit ready, waiting.

She got the call Thursday. A produce company at the Food Distribution Center in Southwest Philadelphia was hiring an administrative assistant. After dropping her 3-year-old at day care, she took a train, a trolley, and two buses, and arrived 15 minutes early for her Friday interview.

She told them what she could bring to the position. She felt like she nailed it. That night, the call came, and with it, those words: "I want to offer you this position."

She cried after she hung up. She began work Monday, starting out at three days a week. On Tuesday, she was back at the center, still wanting to help teach orientation when she can.

"I was you in February," she told the students.

She said that on her way in Tuesday, she felt different walking among the rush-hour crowds.

"Today, I felt accomplished," she said. "Now I belong."

With that, Tiesha Smith smiled, and with a crowd cheering her, did the thing she had dreamed of for so long.

She rang the bell.

mnewall@phillynews.com

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