No-cost Illinois JobLink service boasts nearly 92,000 statewide job postings; more than 51,000 resumes
CHICAGO - April 4, 2012. In his latest effort to boost the Illinois economy, Governor Pat Quinn today announced a new help-wanted system that makes hiring easier and more cost-effective for businesses and job seekers. Illinois JobLink, developed by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), allows businesses to post job ads and individuals to post multiple resumes at no cost. The system currently has nearly 92,000 total statewide job postings, and more than 51,000 resumes posted. Illinois JobLink also helps IDES emphasize its role as an employment agency and shed the outdated "unemployment office" notion.
"Connecting qualified job seekers with employers with job openings is one of our most important tasks as we work to increase economic growth in Illinois," Governor Quinn said. "During a difficult economy, Illinois JobLink is helping workers market their job skills and allowing employers to find the help they need with success, at no cost."
Employers in Illinois including Aon, Chrysler and Ford, have used Illinois JobLink to search for resumes and potential employees. Comparable private job boards can cost employers hundreds of dollars, and studies show that businesses prefer the key word search function to find employees with the unique skills that are needed. Using Illinois JobLink (www.illinoisjoblink.com), employers can create want-ads that require specific skills or search resumes using keywords such as salary, educational attainment and location. In turn, job seekers can create multiple resumes that emphasize varying skills.
"Hiring is time-consuming and expensive for employers. Illinois JobLink makes hiring easier by allowing employers to focus in like a laser on job seekers that possess the unique skill sets that employer needs," IDES Director Jay Rowell said. "It also helps our working families identify what job best fits their needs and puts them in a better position to pitch themselves to multiple employers at one time.
Illinois JobLink also pulls want-ads from Indeed.com, the largest employment site in the United States. Indeed.com collects postings from thousands of websites, including newspapers, associations, company career pages and job boards. Nationally, more than 550,000 jobs are available on Illinois JobLink.
While the Illinois JobLink service is available to everyone, including those who are currently employed, individuals collecting unemployment insurance are required to participate in Illinois JobLink. Illinois JobLink replaces the previous Illinois Skills Match system - individuals and businesses with Skills Match accounts should update their profiles, which were automatically migrated to the new system. Resumes should be set to public to ensure maximum exposure to businesses.
The state's comprehensive approach to helping match job seekers with employers is complemented by Illinois workNet® (www.illinoisworknet.com), a workforce development system administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). Illinois workNet utilizes partnerships and technology to expand seamless and real-time access to employment resources, including assistance with hiring and training employees, recruitment services, and tax incentives to keep local Illinois businesses competitive. As of January 2012, the Illinois workNet portal has more than 234,000 individual, workforce and business accounts.
IDES works with employers to fill vacancies in several ways. Hosting job fairs, providing interview space and connecting job seekers with ready-to-hire employers is critical to the Department's mission. Providing soft-skills training to job seekers, such as skills assessment, resume review and interview techniques can be combined with other training courses available through more than 60 workNet centers across the state. This multi-agency, collaborative approach identifies the skills needed by businesses and helps job seekers obtain the skills needed to meet those needs.
