A When Tabitha Miller showed up to prepare for her job interview at a prestigious Breathitt County bank, her Workforce Investment Act (WIA) career adviser noticed something new and unnerving about her appearance.
  
A pierced nose.
             
“I said, ‘Tabitha, what did you do?’” laughed Theresa Noble, who also serves as the director of the WIA Adult Program at Middle Kentucky Community Action Partnership (MKCAP) in Jackson.
  
“I told her, ‘You have to get that out of your nose because you are going to a professional job interview,’” Theresa recalled.
  
Tabitha snickered at the suggestion, but complied.
  
“She took it out and never did put it back in,” Theresa said.            
  
Watching the well-groomed, neatly dressed 21-year-old file paperwork and answer phones, it is easy to see she has taken that and other lessons about professionalism to heart. Tabitha has now worked for Citizens Bank and Trust of Jackson as a bookkeeper for about two years, and she credits the guidance the WIA program and Theresa gave her in helping her land the job she wanted.
  
“I really do like it here,” Tabitha said. “Without them (Theresa and WIA), I don’t think I would be working here.”
  
Theresa said Tabitha came into the WIA Adult Program a bit adrift, with only a vague idea that she wanted to do secretarial work.
  
That is a tall order for a 19-year-old with little job experience and no college degree in job-scarce Breathitt County, Theresa said. But she had a hunch Tabitha might be able to fill that order with a little help.
  
“When I saw her, I saw potential. And I knew she just needed a chance,” Theresa said.
  
Prior to contacting Theresa, Tabitha had tried attending the Lees College Campus of Hazard Community and Technical College in Jackson for a semester, but decided it was not for her and dropped out. Theresa said that is a gap that WIA can help bridge.
  
“Some kids are college bound and some will never be college bound,” Theresa said. “But that still doesn’t mean they can’t be successful.”
  
Having been a participant in the WIA Youth Program during high school, Tabitha remembered MKCAP’s WIA programs upon leaving college and decided to see if they could help her find a good job.  
  
MKCAP delivers WIA programs locally under contract with Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP). The MKCAP office on Main Street in Jackson is also an Access Point for the JobSight network, a collaborative partnership of workforce and training agencies administered by EKCEP in 23 eastern Kentucky counties. MKCAP also serves Wolfe, Lee, and Owsley counties.
  
Theresa first had Tabitha complete a skills survey through JobFit, EKCEP’s online job-matching service. Although that survey showed Tabitha would be a good fit for an office environment, Theresa could not find such a job for her right away.
  
To help her gain general job experience, Theresa placed Tabitha at the local Family Dollar for six weeks through the WIA Work Experience Program. A Work Experience placement allows participants to earn while they learn essential skills.
  
While Tabitha worked in retail, Theresa worked her contacts. She was able to convince Citizens Bank and Trust to let Tabitha work there answering telephones as part of a second WIA Work Experience placement although the bank had no full-time jobs available.
  
Before her job interview, Theresa went over interviewing techniques with Tabitha such as maintaining eye contact and being polite and honest.
  
She also gave Tabitha instruction about proper on-the-job behavior such as being on time and reliable, and avoiding absenteeism and gossip.
  
“The number one thing they really seemed impressed with was that she was not a gossiper,” Theresa said. “And she’s a worker. You can’t place a person in a job who really doesn’t want to work.”
  
In addition to the career advice, WIA also provided Tabitha $500 to buy work clothes appropriate for an office environment.
  
Theresa said bank officials immediately took note of Tabitha’s work ethic and attitude. They were so impressed that they created a position for her after her six-week Work Experience placement ended.
  
Frances Gabbard, assistant vice president at Citizens Bank and Trust, said there was “gold” in Miller that simply needed refining.
  
“She’s an excellent worker. She never complains,” Gabbard said.
  
Tabitha said she was very happy to find out she would be hired full time.
  
“It was great,” she said.

Tabitha said she loves the people and the environment at the bank. She is still answering phones, but she is also now working on statements, scanning loans, proofing, filing, and doing “basically just whatever needs to be done.”
  
Without WIA’s help, Tabitha said she would have had a hard time finding a “decent” job.
  
“Jobs are really scarce. I knew they had helped other people and I was hoping they could do the same with me. And they did,” she said.
  
Tabitha advises others who find themselves in situations similar to hers to visit their local WIA office.
  
“WIA is a great program. If they are looking for a job and are serious about getting one, they should definitely apply for it,” she said.
  
Theresa said Tabitha’s story is a great example of how WIA can help a person with potential get a “foot in the door.”
  
“They need to be able to come in, take the assessment, find out what they would be good at, and be given a chance to try for it,” Theresa said, “because Tabitha would have never walked into that bank without us. There wouldn’t have been a job there.
 
“But given the opportunity everything worked just like it should have,” Theresa added. “It all fell into place.”
 
For more information on Workforce Investment Act services available in Breathitt, Wolfe, Lee, and Owsley Counties, contact Theresa Noble at Middle Kentucky Community Action Partnership at 606-666-2369.