The new year brings new opportunities. Beyond just searching Indeed for new postings or making a Linkedin profile, there are a lot of other things you can use to improve your odds of finding your next position. If you or someone you know in the area is looking for work, check out these services to find your next employment opportunity.
BRAINFUSE JOBNOW!
Access live online tutoring, writing labs, group collaboration classrooms, resume writing assistance, high school equivalency, U.S. citizenship test preparation and more. Please note Google Chrome is recommended when using this resource.
One of the most valuable aspects of this resource is resume help. After submitting your resume, one of the trained professionals from the service will look over your resume and recommend any changes to improve appearance, content and formatting. I submitted my own resume, which made me much more confident when applying for my current position.
LINKEDIN LEARNING
Learn business, creative and technology skills to achieve your personal and professional goals with thousands of expert-led online video tutorials.
Formerly Lynda.com, get all of LinkedIn Learning’s content free through the library. They have a lot of tutorials on specific business and computer skills, as well as an extensive library of interview prep videos.
DATA AXEL REFERENCE SOLUTIONS
Research millions of U.S. and Canadian businesses by industry, sales, business size, location, and consumer and lifestyle data to create marketing lists and conduct competitive analysis.
This service lets you search for useful information on businesses. I had a patron come in requesting to know all the new businesses in Bolingbrook that opened in the past year. With the U.S. New Businesses database, I could easily find this information. I could also see a heat map of the results for a general idea of where most of the businesses were located. This is an excellent resource for reviewing local companies and learning more about them.
ILLINOIS JOB LINK
Illinois Job Link is a web-based, job-matching and labor market information system. Their local offices offer free career counseling, job search support, resume writing and interview coaching. They provide specialized support for veterans, young adults (18–24), older workers and people re-entering the workforce. They also fulfill unemployment insurance requirements and provide access to more than 140,000 open positions in Illinois. If you’re interested in accessing services from Illinois Job Link, I recommend creating an account.
WORKFORCE SERVICES DIVISION OF WILL COUNTY
The Workforce Services Division of Will County is located at 2400 Glenwood Avenue in Joliet. It is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. WSD serves as the one-stop operator for the Workforce Center of Will County. Includes a local job board, career scholarships and training, and the Mobile Workforce Center, bringing employment services to you at several locations.
ILLINOIS WORKNET
Utilizes partnerships and technology to expand seamless and real-time access to workforce development resources aimed at individuals, employers, and workforce/education partners across Illinois. Includes a list of local providers, a job finder, and layoff assistance.