Illinois Business Journal - One-Stop Centers match job seekers with employers seeking workers

Bringing employers and job seekers together, One-Stop Centers are combining a number of job placement, training and career counseling services, making convenience the name of the game.

One-Stop services for individuals include labor market information, job referrals and training. Employers are offered a number of human resources services such as recruitment and pre-screening of job applicants, job and industry growth trends and forecasts, and valuable labor market information.

The centers also provide unemployment insurance, recruitment, counseling, outplacement, training and information services.

The One-Stops in Illinois originated under the America's One-Stop Career Center System through The Illinois Employment & Training Center Network and are currently funded under the Workforce Investment Act.

David Stoecklin, program administrator for the Madison County Employment and Training Department, said the One-Stop Centers offer a number of services to help individuals in their job search. Also at no cost, the centers aid businesses in finding the workforce to meet their employment needs.

All of the Illinois locations offer an automated Illinois Skills Match, a job matching system sponsored by the state.

"With Illinois Skills Match, businesses enter available jobs and people who are registered will have skills bounced off what's needed for those jobs," Stoecklin said.

Community colleges and vocational schools team with the centers to offer training and retraining. Other partners include the U.S. Department of Human Services, which provides public aid Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (commonly known as welfare). Some centers offer Dress for Success, The Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (technical assistance to industry) or energy assistance, depending on the location. Each One-Stop has a management team called the One-Stop operators that is staffed locally by participating organizations.

"No matter what sort of job you are seeking at any level, there is a service for everyone," Stoecklin said. "We see a wide cross-section. Developing the centers has been about a five-year process and we have been refining them ever since."

One-Stops are essentially driven by common sense, he said. The nature of the employment and training business is such that multiple agencies were not housed at the same site. In contrast, the One-Stop layout is much more convenient for businesses and individuals.

Connie Port, planning and marketing specialist with Madison County Employment and Training Department, said the beauty of the One-Stops is that they are there for everyone.

"The centers serve all residents of the community in some capacity," Port said. "Anyone who is looking for a new job, looking to change careers, wants a better job or brush up his or her resume for the future can find help. Businesses can find employees, training opportunities and important information."

Port said there is a great deal of information and services at the One-Stops that people do not realize are there until they walk in and find that there's much more than they expected.

"A portion of the services are universal for all residents and there are more specialized services geared toward people who meet certain eligibility requirements," Port said. "These include training dollars that are for economically disadvantaged or dislocated workers."

Computers loaded with self-serve software programs are available for individuals to brush up their resumes and then have them reviewed by staff. Having clients perform most of the work themselves keeps costs down.

There are a number of Web sites, Port said, that the One-Stops can provide to both individuals and businesses with information and job listings.

Bill Gagen, manager of the employment and training services division with the St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department, said the department is a partner at the One-Stops in Belleville and East St. Louis. The department also administers several other One-Stops, including an office at Southwestern Illinois College and ones in Waterloo, Chester, Nashville and Carlyle.

"In addition to matching employees with employers, we provide any training service on a state-approved list of training," Gagen said. "We also provide supportive services such as transportation and child care while the candidates are in training. Businesses benefit from labor market information that is available, from the Illinois Skills Match that can help find qualified workers for specific positions and from customized training programs for their employees."

The centers also provide employers with basic screening and testing and in some offices, space may even be provided for conducting job interviews.

"A large part of what the One-Stops offer is retraining when a worker has been laid off or displaced," Gagen said. "We help that worker find new jobs by providing information on what's available. Training is provided depending on what he or she wants to do. It's the customer's choice."

Recommendations for training may be provided by skills assessment, aptitude tests and by discovering what the workers' skills and interests are.

"But basically, they pick what training they want," Gagen said. "We can help point them in the right direction and help get them back in the job market. As part of our statistical analysis, we are required to get laid off workers 90 percent of their pre-layoff wage. Sometimes that can be a struggle for people who have worked in factories for a long time, making a high wage, or in the airline field where pilots were making a big salary."

Although the centers can't be everything to everybody, he said, they do strive to have something for everyone. Current estimates show about 3,000 to 4,000 people visit the Belleville and East St. Louis One-Stops each month.

"But when it comes to actually providing individual training accounts, the number is about 600 to 700 per year," Gagen said. Others who come through the door may look at resume how-to books, collect information about the job market or access the Illinois Skills Match computer.

Barb Davis, president of Phone Masters Ltd. in Wood River, said she has utilized the One-Stop Center in Alton for a customer service training seminar that she thought was excellent.

"I was impressed by the fact that they customized the program to provide examples specific to our business and used role playing and other helpful techniques," Davis said. "Afterward they also provided me with documents for customer service tips to help as I hire new employees."

Davis said she has also gained referrals from the One-Stop for potential employees to fill existing job openings at her company, and the center has provided top-notch service.

"It's nice to have a resource like the One-Stops available," Davis said. "The staff is very helpful and knowledgeable."