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- Jolene Wilkens, employment and training supervisor, spoke about the services Wisconsin’s job centers provide and how job seekers can take advantage of them.
- The physical locations remain an important resource for those who lack internet access, need a quiet place to work or need face-to-face assistance.
- Staff at the centers can help people write resumes and practice answering interview questions.
- Job seekers can also take free skills assessments to see what other types of work might interest them.
Looking for a job can be grueling and frustrating.
Though Wisconsin’s job market generally favors job hunters, with more openings than unemployed people to fill them, it can be hard to know where you fit in — or simply where to start.
The state’s Department of Workforce Development runs dozens of job centers across Wisconsin, each staffed with people trained to help you in your quest for work. Wisconsin Watch talked to Jolene Wilkens, an employment and training supervisor at Sheboygan County’s job center, about the services Wisconsin’s job centers provide and how job seekers can take advantage of them.
“We want to meet the person where they’re at, but we do a lot of cheerleading and bringing that positive attitude,” Wilkens said. “We’re here to support you. We’re not here to make this process more complicated.”
Here’s what to know.
Find your job center
Wisconsin has job center locations across the state. Find the closest one to you using the map below.
This map doesn’t include all of the department’s affiliate or satellite locations, such as job centers in correctional facilities.
While the number of people visiting job centers varies widely among the different locations, more people have used their virtual services online in recent years, Wilkens said. The Sheboygan location where Wilkens works typically sees between 60 and 80 visitors each week.
While the department offers many of their resources online, the physical locations remain an important resource for those who lack internet access, need a quiet place to work or need face-to-face assistance for any reason. Getting to know people individually also helps staff make personalized recommendations or watch for jobs that are a good fit for someone, Wilkens said.
“There’s a lot of folks that prefer to come in person and have that personal touch, and some of that is just the support they receive. You build a community,” she said.
What to bring with you
Depending on the services you’re looking for, you might need to bring documentation or identification with you. Here’s a list of things visitors often need:
- Driver’s license or ID.
- Social Security card or number.
- A list of your last 18 to 24 months of work history, if applicable.
- Your cellphone, to set up two-factor authentications.
- Paper to write down your login information or to take notes.
- A resume, if you have one.
- Direct deposit or checking information.
What to expect when you show up
When you walk into a job center for the first time, you should expect to answer a list of questions from the employees.
They’ll want to know:
- What work experience do you have? (It’s OK if you don’t have any.)
- Have you enjoyed that work? What kind of work do you want to be doing? (If you don’t know, they’ll help you figure it out.)
- Do you like your resume? (If you don’t, they’ll help you change it.)
- Are you having trouble securing job interviews after applying? (They might want to take a look at your resume.)
- Are you securing interviews, but having trouble landing jobs? (They’ll probably want to work on interview skills with you.)
Finding the right fit
If you’re not yet sure what kind of work you can or want to do, job center staff can help you figure it out.
Staff will recommend taking the Occupational Information Network’s (O*NET) quiz to help understand your interests and the things you enjoy doing. The quiz asks you to rate how much you’d like different activities — such as building kitchen cabinets or teaching a high school class — if they were a part of your job. Your answers help the application suggest careers you might enjoy.
You can also access the quiz here.
If you know what kind of jobs you want to do, or you want to see different jobs you’re qualified for, staff will recommend using a tool called Skill Explorer. The program asks you to input your job, education or training experience and produces a list of occupations and industries that your skills may transfer to. Skill Explorer also contains information about wages, job openings and projected growth for each occupation.
You can also access the tool here.
“Sometimes it’s not recognizing all the transferable skills that you already possess and being able to move those industry sectors,” Wilkens said. “Other times, it’s identifying, ‘I like what I do, but it’s not my passion. I want to upskill and go to something else.’”
If you want to return to school or job training to pursue a different career or to move up in your industry, staff will connect you to the Department of Workforce Development’s training arm. From there, career counselors help you track down the right educational program — and assistance affording it.
You can begin browsing training programs here.
Getting the job
After settling on what kind of work you’re after, job center staff will focus on helping you secure the job.
First: the resume. Most job applications ask for a document summarizing one’s education, work experience and skills. Building one shouldn’t be overwhelming, Wilkens said.
Job center staff are trained to help people put together resumes that help secure job interviews. They also use a tool that creates a resume after asking you to answer prompts. When users log a job title, it suggests additions based on the profession’s occupational outlook, a federal compilation of data, information and predictions about jobs.
Wilkens encourages people to be open to changing up their resume or being challenged.
“You ask 100 people how to do a resume, and you’re going to get 100 different answers,” Wilkens said. “Just because you worked in one industry for 10 years, and then you did a 180 and went into a different industry, and now you’re looking at yet another, doesn’t mean there aren’t skills in there that we can transfer and highlight.”
You can access the department’s resume building tool here. It plans to roll out a new and improved version of the tool in the next year.
Job center staff will help throughout the interview process by scheduling mock interviews and helping you answer practice questions. They can also create an account on InterviewPrep, a tool that allows you to see how you sound responding to interview questions and get feedback from staff.
Staff can also help you choose between job offers by comparing the wages or cost of living between different locations.
Other services job centers offer
Unemployment and job loss resources
People commonly visit job centers to get assistance filing for unemployment.
“You can’t walk into an unemployment office, so you come into a job center,” Wilkens said.
Staff also complete an “assessment of needs” when people visit for unemployment help. They ask questions to understand if a person is experiencing housing scarcity, food insecurity or other struggles, so they can direct them to free community resources.
“Somebody will come in feeling really defeated and disheartened about losing their job,” Wilkens said. “We have resources for that. Helping people realize all the things that they brought to the job and why they were able to retain that job for so long, really helps reframe and start thinking and looking at things glass half full.”
“There are a lot of positives,” she said. “You didn’t just go to work and make widgets … You showed up promptly every day. You worked as part of a team. You were dependable and reliable. You adhered to safety standards.”
Support for people with disabilities
The state’s job centers have a Division of Vocational Rehabilitation that helps people with disabilities obtain and keep work.
The division can connect people to diagnosis and treatment, transportation assistance, interpreter services and help with job search and placement, among other services.
Job fairs
Job centers often host or collaborate with local employers on job fairs and hiring events. You can view a list of upcoming hiring events coming up across the state here.
Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with Open Campus. Find her on Instagramand Twitter, or send her an email at mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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