Creating Hopes For Careers Nic Counselor Helps Thousands Build Their Dreams

After 10 years of directing child care centers, Gail Laferriere started to wonder if that’s what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

And if she’d ever be able to afford a decent car.

So she went to see a career counselor, who suggested she become a career counselor. The idea didn’t thrill her.

“When you first hear about the right job for you, the reaction is usually not ‘Yes! Eureka! I’ve found it!”’ Laferriere said last week. “You usually have to let it simmer.”

In her case, the idea simmered and caught fire. She’s spent the second decade of her work life running college career counseling centers, including the one she launched in 1994 at North Idaho College.

The NIC center so impressed a representative of American College Testing that she invited Laferriere to speak at an ACT convention last month.

Her topic: “Designing a Quality Career Center/Career Development Program.” She was besieged with questions.

NIC’s center isn’t just about quality, but quantity. The number of students and community members it served is growing steadily. For example, its March 1997 clients numbered about 450, compared to 300 the previous March.

In the last 12 months, 5,657 people sought help.

Some of them read books listing the hottest jobs in the market. Some used the computers to browse for job leads. Some looked through file folders of career information.

“Gail has developed something for every learning style,” said David Lindsay, dean of students.

He’d like to see every student required to spend time there. Even a broad career goal, such as science, can motivate a student to work harder, he said.

“The largest percentage of students who come here are in general studies,” Lindsay said. “They say ‘Yes, I want to go to college. But, man, I just don’t know what to do with it at all.”’

At the career center they’ll be subjected to Laferriere’s rapid-fire enthusiasm along with good materials.

Lindsay recalled how Laferriere visited him after following her husband to North Idaho. She was missing her job as career center director at Oregon’s Clackamas Community College.

“She came in and said, ‘I’m moving to town, you should hire me, you should do this, you should do that. I said ‘Stop! Stop!”’

Laferriere landed temporary part-time work at NIC, then temporary full time. When the position for center director was finally budgeted, she competed for the job and won.

“I was ecstatic,” she said.

Laferriere runs the center with the help of a part-time secretary. She dreams of adding a job placement specialist to the staff.

At 40, she’s still working on her own career, pursuing a master’s degree in counseling at the University of Idaho.

Anyone can come to her for help, from writing resumes to getting the names of local business contacts. The only charges at the center are the $5 testing fees required of non-students. The center offers seven different tests to evaluate skills and/or personalities.

Laferriere counsels teenagers sent in by their parents, to middleagers who’ve been laid off, to retirees looking for a little extra income.

People of all ages are putting a higher priority on fulfillment, she said.

“People used to work for money and have a life after that,” she said. “Now, they want work that is meaningful.”

Simply knowing a trade isn’t always enough to get hired, Laferriere said. Employers are changing, too.

“They want people with a variety of skills, plus integrity, and the ability to communicate orally and in writing … They want people who who can deal with other workers of varied backgrounds - who don’t just tolerate diversity, but appreciate it.”

Some people envision careers that are beyond their abilities. Much more often, Laferriere sees people who sell themselves short.

“People must discover what their dreams are before they can achieve them,” she said. “I give a lot of people hope. That’s a big part of what I do.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CAREER CENTER The North Idaho College Career Center is located in the Siebert Building. Its phone number is 769-7700. Summer hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7:30 to 2:30 Friday.