I found GForce by shear grace and I was blessed to find the perfect opportunity!
By Matthew Alexander Rafeedie
It was a dreadfully rainy day in mid-March 2020 when my journey began. At the time I was still at school and the university emailed the student body informing us we needed to vacate our homes, dorms and apartments and go home. Classes cancelled, and shortly thereafter the graduation ceremony, that I as a senior was looking forward to, would be as well.
Fast forward two weeks and I am working at a grocery store in LA bagging groceries and seeing people purchase, on average, $600-700 worth of groceries and toilet paper. One purchase was $1,700! Maybe that is not to those of you who shop at Costco or Sam’s Club, but to me at the time, that was a month’s wages. Nevertheless, while working there, I was accepted into the Coro Southern California Public Affairs Program that began in October of 2020. The program was hosted virtually and I moved to Georgia with my fiancée and her family during this time.
The Fellowship and season I was in was a transformative experience. Not only was I participating in a grueling fellowship program, I was also attending Crossfit classes daily and lost over 30 pounds. It was one of my proudest achievements during that time.
One late December evening, I attended a Crossfit class where I met Greg Gotlin. I cannot remember the specific workout, but I remember that this Crossfit workout included pullups. To be honest, Greg (who had just met me) said something hilariously funny and honest. “You should be able to do a pullup.” Well, not only did he say that to me, he also taught me how to do one, which I had never done before. After the workout, we struck up a conversation and soon I was asking him questions about his business. That night, I went home, and read as much as I could about technology consulting, Infor Lawson software, and GForce Technology Consulting. I quickly followed the business on social media and LinkedIn and took a general interest in their work. I had no intention of working there at first, but soon realized that this may have been a sign from God to look into Greg and his business. So I did!
I followed Greg and GForce for months throughout the remainder of my fellowship. I visited the GForce page often and one day I clicked on the ‘Careers’ tab and submitted my resume. Greg texted me shortly thereafter and set me up with an interview with every single person in leadership at GForce.
I was blown away by the professionalism and respect the team gave me in my interview process. Each interview made clear to me that the culture present at GForce was a culture of support, teamwork, and elevation of one another. It drew me to the company!
Throughout this process, I was also interviewing with several high-profile consulting agencies, crisis management firms, and large retail entities. None of them even came close to the level of professionalism and respect offered to me throughout my interview process with GForce. In all honesty, it is what won me over as a young applicant and I was blessed enough to receive an offer from GForce. I remember when I received that offer, I immediately called Greg and accepted the job and asked him how quickly I could start. I started employment at GForce this last summer and I am beyond excited to be here!
This blog is an open invite to anyone interested in applying to GForce to contact me and ask questions. I also want to express my openness to advising and helping anyone who was in a similar situation to myself when I began my job search. Feel free to reach or email me at mrafeedie@thegforce.com and I would be happy to start a conversation.