Building on the Christie Administration’s hands-on approach to creating jobs by helping businesses in New Jersey, the State’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development today launched the “http://careerconnections.nj.gov/careerconnections/” website to more quickly link New Jersey job-seekers and employers.

Through http://careerconnections.nj.gov/careerconnections/, the Department of Labor has created a virtual one-stop to bring people searching for work together with the businesses at the forefront of New Jersey’s economic development. Employers and job-seekers alike will find the new website to be a quick and easy portal to the vast and previously scattered assortment of state and federal data, weblinks and programs designed to assist them both with training, financial assistance and advice.

“As we work to help New Jersey businesses grow, we must at the same time concentrate our efforts on assisting our valuable workforce find meaningful employment opportunities,” said Governor Chris Christie. “The Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s website can help connect the businesses that are creating these jobs to the New Jerseyans who want them by bringing the same one-stop approach that we’ve used at more than 30 One-Stop Centers throughout the state.”

Designed to be an easy-to-use navigation site, http://careerconnections.nj.gov/careerconnections/ will guide people to some of New Jersey’s best online tools for finding work, finding skilled employees and connecting to the many programs established to aid businesses and workers alike. As part of the Department of Labor’s main site, it supplements our work by focusing on New Jersey’s paramount concern: generating jobs and helping our key business sectors to remain competitive in the current marketplace.

Some of the features found at http://careerconnections.nj.gov/careerconnections/ include:

FOR JOB-SEEKERS:

• Interactive Job Bank: a resource offering information on over 165,000 jobs inside the state and another 410,000 jobs within a 50 mile radius of New Jersey
• Career Assessment: a government link that guides people in assessing their skills, job interests, educational needs and the likelihood of finding a job in the fields they explore
• Talent Networks: workforce programs provided through employers and educational institutions that help transition workers from disappearing job sectors into potential careers in such growing areas as life sciences and green industries
• Training: learn about educational opportunities, financial aid, training grants, apprenticeships and the state's Consumer Report Card to evaluate training providers
• One Stop Career Centers: Information on the location and services available at more than 30 regional Department of Labor offices that offer job-seekers access to computers, phones and copy machines

FOR EMPLOYERS:

• Interactive job bank: a data bank where businesses may instantaneously post job opportunities and search the resumes posted by job-seekers
• Expert advice: a portal to the state’s Business Representatives who help companies with needs consultation, employee recruitment services, new and incumbent worker training grants, hiring incentives and government navigation
• Grants: information on Customized Training Grants and Literacy Grants that help companies remain competitive by improving the workplace skills of their existing workers and open the possibility of expanding their operations by training new workers
• Incentive programs: from tax credits to funding through several On-the-Job training programs that give employers financial assistance to expand their staff and ultimately their business operations
• One Stop Career Centers: learn about how our more than 30 regional offices are not just for job-seekers, but also for business owners who need help building their future

“We know more than half of the people involved in a job search in our state are surfing the Internet for positions, whether it is from home, at our many One Stop Career Centers or at a local library,” said Harold J. Wirths, commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. “This website is a means to more quickly steer them to businesses in need of skilled workers, and hopefully we can get those businesses growing as we put people on a path toward full-time employment and a new career.”

The new website, http://careerconnections.nj.gov/careerconnections/, is up and running today, waiting to serve New Jerseyans.