Job Service Opens Expanded Computer Lab 2,000-Square-Foot Addition Provides Visitors With Much-Needed Space

Wendy Ardoin is a frequent visitor at the Job Service office in Coeur d’Alene.

The 21-year-old woman, a recent transplant from Louisiana, is looking for a clerical job.

About three times a week, she stops by the office to update her resume, check a job search data base, or fill out an application via the Internet.

Because she doesn’t have a PC at home, access to Job Service computers are a godsend.

Job Service recently opened an expanded computer lab at its 1221 W. Ironwood Drive office.

A 2,000-square-foot addition to the building allowed managers to take a dozen computers out of storage and spread out the monitors they already had set up. Before the addition was completed in late May, the computers were crammed into a small conference room and the lobby.

Clients were sitting “knee to knee,” joked office manager Lee Fields.

“It’s much nicer now,” Ardoin agreed.

While she downloaded a job application, Terry Steele of Rathdrum searched for job openings in manufacturing.

Laura Miles looked for a part-time secretarial job.

The Department of Labor unveiled the computers last year as part of it’s “Idaho Works” program.

Twenty-one of the computers allow job applicants to register their skills and work experience in local, regional, or national job search data bases.

Another 12 computers are set up for doing resumes, cover letters and Internet access.

The computer lab also contains a fax for sending resumes, a mail drop and a copy machine.

“We like to think that whatever they need for the job search, they’ll be able to get it here,” Fields said.

The lab was about half full on a recent morning. It’s not unusual for the computers to attract 80 users in one day, said employment consultant Dave Darrow.

About 12,000 people seeking work registered with Job Service over the past 12 months.

Some people still prefer to sit down with a counselor and fill out the paperwork. But many like entering the information into the computer’s data base themselves, Fields said.

That helps the Job Service staff.

“It allows us to spend more time with the people who really need assistance,” Darrow said.

People can also access the data base from their home computer through the Job Search web page: www.labor.state.id.us.

The office is scheduling an open house Thursday to show off the new addition to area employers.

Part of the addition includes an employer “resource room,” where companies can interview job applicants or look up information on a variety of topics, Fields said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: DETAILS Employer Day Job Service is hosting an “Employer Day” on Thursday. Employers can visit the office’s new computer lab, and attend sessions on unemployment insurance, wage and overtime laws, unemployment taxes and managing employees. The event runs from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the Job Service office, 1221 W. Ironwood Drive. For more information, call 769-1558 and ask for Ext. 340, 313, or 339.