Meet Michael: Pursuing Career Advancement and U.S. Citizenship

“I came here because of marriage. I got married to an American. But when I arrived, I realized that I needed to improve my English to build a new life here.”

When Michael moved from his native Ghana to the U.S., it was to be with his spouse and to start a new life. But Michael quickly realized to enhance his experience and career, he needed to improve his English skills. 

“When I was in my country, I tried some English learning programs, but they were not online.”

As an Amazon employee, Michael is taking full advantage of Amazon’s Career Choice Program and its partnership with EnGen. Career Choice is an educational and skills training benefit for Amazon employees that pre-pays tuition for English language programs, industry certifications, and college classes. The EnGen platform provides real-world, career-oriented English instruction – wherever and whenever a student wants to learn. 

Michael has two real-world goals for growing his confidence and proficiency in English. 

His first goal is career advancement. Amazon’s Career Choice portal connects its workers with new professional opportunities and skills training, such as English upskilling. “When I got the opportunity through Amazon to help me learn,” Michael says, “I decided better knowledge will make me more confident to get a promotion. Amazon really thinks about its associates.”

Michael isn’t alone in this sentiment. Our recent survey of workers who use EnGen shows how offering on-site English upskilling can support companies’ recruitment and retention goals. Eighty-nine percent of workers surveyed said they will likely stay with their company because EnGen is an employee benefit. And 84% of workers said they will likely refer a friend to their company because EnGen is an employee benefit.

Michael’s other important goal is to improve his English language skills in preparation for U.S. citizenship. “Since I’ve started with EnGen’s civic engagement and citizenship programs, they have drawn my attention on how to go about my citizenship studies. For instance, how can I effectively answer the questions in my citizenship interview? They are helping me a lot.” 

While EnGen’s online platform and its context-driven approach has helped Michael continuously practice and improve his skills, the thing he values most about EnGen is its human touch. Along with self-paced exercises, EnGen also provides coaching and 24/7 access to live online classes taught by certified teachers. “My coach is very good to me. I can ask her anything and she explains anything I want. She tries to do anything she can to help me learn. The teachers are all really good as well!”

With over 207 hours spent on the EnGen platform over the last year, Michael is making real progress towards his career and citizenship goals. “The EnGen application and classes are good, because I can really see my progress.”

EnGen partners with Fortune 500 companies, regional employers, educational institutions and government agencies to serve tens of thousands of adult English learners like Michael. Learn how it can work for your organization: https://getengen.com/demo