In May 2019, Jenecia Lawson had one thing on her mind – to become an active member of her new community. After relocating to Oregon from Florida, Jenecia came around to the idea of looking for employment, beginning her career path exploration journey with Dirkse Counseling and Consulting’s Discovery Specialist, Tara McIntosh. 

Discovery is a person-centered process for individuals like Jenecia to help identify their unique talents and contributions and help define their work interests through a wide range of activities, such as job shadows or informational interviews. With Jenecia’s interests and skills in mind, Tara connected with Dirkse CC’s Director of Business Development and Amplify! Events, Cindy Bahl, to have Jenecia participate in work experiences or job shadows, and to perform informational interviews.  Having been active in the Portland metro area for over 22 years, it was easy for Dirkse CC to tap into the great partnerships with businesses in the community such as the Beaverton Downtown Association and Portland Badge & Sign.  

Kevin Teater, Executive Director of the Beaverton Downtown Association, was eager to have Jenecia come in and lend him a hand doing data entry. Through this work experience, she was able to learn a new task and gain new skills, while Tara observed Jenecia’s work performance and identified her strengths and weaknesses. Michael Carlson, owner of Portland Badge & Sign also provided a work experience for Jenecia, where she worked side-by-side with the office assistant, Alyssa learning how to greet customers, make phone calls, process payments, and file and shred documents. Alyssa also made time to sit down with Jenecia for an informational interview, helping her see if a job like this was the right fit for her. 

When Discovery Specialist, Tara asked Jenecia what she likes the most about the Discovery process so far, she said that she loved the variety of tasks that she’s experienced, especially the ones in an office setting. After completing Discovery, Jenecia hopes to get an office position where she can keep herself busy and brighten her new coworkers’ lives with her exuberant personality.