I wrote this for an in-house blog, but I think it's something that a lot of libraries are thinking about, so I decided to share it. It was a very valuable community connection to have made, and I like to think that we can become more of an informal partner.
Why I visited the Job Center
I had wanted visit to Job Service, so that we, as a staff, could better understand their services and how we could play a role in helping people who use the agency. I also wanted to see if we have a role in a community where many people do not have minimal skills for jobs that increasingly call for tech skills. We see a lot of job seekers who lack basic internet skills and wanted to know how the Job Center worked with these people. I got in touch with Kathleen Olson, Employment and Training Specialist at the Job Center, who arranged for me to visit on March 2.
What is the Job Center?
Kathleen started my visit by explaining that the Job Center is not just one office or organization, but a one-stop shop that houses and partners with numerous other organizations that work with various segments of jobseekers. The umbrella organization in the state is the
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development which oversees two Job Centers in each of the state's eleven regions. La Crosse is part of WDA #9, an eight-county area in Western Wisconsin.
I asked Kathleen to walk me through a first visit for someone looking for employment services. First off, everyone who uses the Center for any reason, signs in at the reception desk. A new visitor is required to fill out a Resource and Referral Form. The first side gets your personal information and asks what sorts of information you want. It covers a broad range of categories, in addition to employment-related resources, including GED, food assistance, housing and domestic abuse. The second section narrows down your specific circumstances for job referral (criminal record? homeless? senior? at-risk youth?) The form also asks what agencies you are already working with. The back page allows people to register for one-on-one assistance.
What services does the Job Center offer?
Once someone is established as a client they can get as much or as little help as they want. Some people use the Center as an information source and mostly go for computer access so that they can look for jobs or housing, do interest inventories, work on computer skills and resumes, and apply for jobs online. This group of people is referred to as "job-ready." For the most part, they have the hard skills (those needed to do a given job) and the soft skills (job hunting etiquette, interview skills, and even something as simple as personal hygiene) and are not in need of assistance or other services.
Clients who receive direct services often lack hard or soft skills or both. Within the Job Center are offices for other agencies that can help people with specific problems. Steve Johnson from Independent Living Resources is a
Disability Navigator who keeps office hours at the La Crosse Job Center. He works with job seekers who have disability-related barriers to finding employment. He also works with other Job Center agencies and outside employers. Often, his clients have multiple barriers to employment. He works with a lot of mentally ill clients who, as a result of their illness, have become homeless or have a police record. Some of his clients are veterans who struggle with not only physical disabilities, but with PTSD and addiction.
Some of Johnson's clients also receive services from the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP). I spoke with DVOP specialist David Wolf who not only has office hours in La Crosse, but who works with
incarcerated veterans to make sure they have the needed skillsto look for work after their release.
There are numerous other grant-based programs that provide training and/or employment for targeted groups. There's a complete list of programs and partner organizations
here. There's also a transportation program that helps people buy used vehicles with no-interest loans, get a voucher for auto repairs and receive reimbursement for specialized, disabililty-related transportation needs. More information is available at
Transportation Connection.
Not grant-funded and available to all clients are workshops including
Job Club, Jump Start Your Job Search, Basic Resume Writing, Job Seeking, Advanced Resume Writing and Interviewing. You can use services without setting foot in a Job Center office via JobCenterofWisconsin.com. This is a free resources that allows job seekers to search for employment opportunities in Wisconsin and adjacent, out-of-state counties. With the website, you can create and post a resume, write cover letters and reference pages, apply for jobs, and save your searches.
Here are some specifics about computer use and other services at the Job Center office:
- Computers are first come/first served, with no timing or time limits. If people are waiting, computer users are asked to be considerate of others and move along.
- Computers are to be used only for job searching or skill development. The receptionists do casually monitor use and give reminders about guidelines.
- For a fee, clients can send or receive faxes ($1/page), print (first 10 pages free, .15 after that), and purchase resume paper and envelopes, larger manila envelopes and floppy discs.
- All computers have Winway resume software loaded on them. Winway is much easier to use than Word.
- There is typing tutorial software to check out.
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Job Center does not offer any productivity skill-building training (basic computer use, keyboarding), but refer people to Western Technical College or other community training opportunities.
The philosophy at the Job Center is that people need to learn to do for themselves. They believe that learning how to do things on your own is part of the employment process. They do not fill out forms, do resumes or do anything else that a patron can do themselves. They do offer limited one-on-one coaching with clients to review and critique resumes and letters. These are not "how do I make a resume," sessions, but review of complete documents that are in pretty good shape to begin with.
Many of the services and programs offered through the Job Center are grant-funded, so it's good to check the website or call to see if a particular program is still available. Because there is no full-time web person, it's a good idea to call for verification of programs and the training schedule. Services will likely get a boost because of the stimulus bill.
How my library can help
As a result of this visit, we've come up with the following responses:
The best way we can help is to refer people to the Job Center.
We can also help by offering training in basic computer skills. We're working on getting this going. Staff tried to offer training sessions a few years ago, and they never jelled. My hunch is that this is the perfect time to try them again.
I have an idea for offering less structured, open practice sessions for jobseekers, in addition to specific training sessions. Rather than promoting it, we could start out by having the Job Center refer clients and see how it goes.
Soon, we will be making Mavis Beacon typing software available for in-house check-out at the Reference Desk. We will be looking for other training software as well. (Share ones that you know about and have used!)
Staff members from Reference are encouraged to attend training sessions and workshops at the Job Center as observers.
If your library is adjusting or adding service in response to the economy, please link to your posts or leave comments here.
