FAIRMONT - It's scary when a person is laid off or their position is eliminated. It's even scarier when their industry is disappearing or a person's job and career skills are limited.

With these realities in the minds of many, there are several programs available that can help dislocated workers finish school or attend college for a more lucrative career.

"To be considered a dislocated worker, a person has had long-term unemployment, at least six months, or is affected by a small layoff," said Vicki Paskey, a family resource coordinator with Minnesota Valley Action Council. "They are discharged without misconduct, qualify for unemployment and could also have low job skills."

Information on the displaced workers programs is available by contacting Paskey at (507) 235-5518.

The programs have helped many of the unemployed, from those who haven't finished high school, to those who have bachelor's degrees.

"In the bigger cities, we've even seen people with master's degrees come in for help," Paskey said.

The workforce staff determines who is eligible for the schooling program. From there, there are several steps a candidate must go through before starting to study for a new career. First, there is an intake appointment, a career counseling process that is a timed test on the person's abilities.

"We need to find out what their best strengths and abilities will be," Paskey said.

A second portion indicates a person's interests and values. The categories are then compared, and usually show in what areas a person would have a good possibility of a successful career.

"We go for occupations in demand," Paskey said.

The workforce staff partners with the Minnesota Department of Economic Development, and also uses the state's labor market occupations tools to determine what occupations are in demand.

Currently, the area is seeing high demand for accounting, medical secretaries auto mechanics and nursing/CNAs.

Once a person decides on a career path, he or she needs to research it. Candidates are required to write a career goal, find want ads and job announcements that prove the career is in demand, and also do informational interviews and surveys with people and employers in that field.

"This is valuable because they learn about what they are getting into for the next few years," Paskey said. "We actually encourage job shadowing, to see what a person in this field goes through every day."

The program's success rate is based on its accreditation. When a student in the programs completes the program and is employed, the program receives credit for the success and is rewarded with more funds.

"This past semester, we were able to get a majority of the tuition and books paid for most of the people in the program," Paskey said. "This fall semester was our biggest number of people in the program yet."

In Martin County, 141 people are participating. There were 104 who started school this fall, while others are farther along.

"We're seeing a lot of people with no post-secondary education, or some people who had some college but didn't get a degree," Paskey said. "We also have a good percentage of people aged 50 and up who are going back to school."

But displaced workers need to remember the program is simply a helping hand, not a free ride to a new career path.

"There is a maximum of 24 months of schooling," Paskey said. "Some trainings are a lot shorter than that."

And while there is reimbursement and help for several areas, from books to supplies, don't count on getting a full-fledged shopping spree.

"There are a lot of safeguards put up to prevent misspending," Paskey said.

Local community colleges are usually the most used option, such as Minnesota West, Iowa Lakes community college and South Central in Mankato. Online colleges can be used if they are certified. But more expensive programs and private colleges usually require the student to pay more out of pocket.

"There is an aviation program at Iowa Lakes one man wanted to attend, but the total fees and costs of that class were $23,000," Paskey offered as an example of where the program draws the line.

Another requirement of the program is applying for student loans.

"They need to apply, even if they end up not qualifying," Paskey said. "There have also been some very generous Pell grants."

Students also cannot drop classes or switch majors without approval.

"People have done that and they end up losing the money," Paskey said.

People in the program are required to be full-time students, carrying at least 12 credits.

"A great majority of the people get very excited about this," Paskey said. "They become motivated to do their best. They want to get a 4.0 GPA. We've had some very good success stories."