Job development resources

Job Research All Rights Reserved Page 1 of 2

W O R K P L A C E I N C L U S I O N & S U S T A I N A B L E E M P L O Y M E N T

Job Placement Specialist

Job Research

Introduction It may be necessary to train customers on performing job research and conducting a job search. Though the Job Placement Specialist will be assisting with these aspects, it is important the customer learn to perform these tasks and to do their part in searching for employment. Consider these aspects of job seeking skills to be a life lesson every person should learn.

Labor Market Performing a job search is not as simple as looking in the newspaper or signing up for a job search website. Homework must be done in order to fine-tune the job search so customers maximize their efforts. Labor market research can provide pertinent information about the career being considered in connection to the region, county or city. Labor market information also provides your customer with labor and economic related trends that can help in making decisions about employment goals. What information can be obtained through labor market research?

• Job availability for a certain area • Level of demand for specific jobs or job categories • Potential wages and benefits for various occupations • Job types that are not being filled in a certain area • Business trends that will impact a labor market • Employment and education related resources

Match Customer's Skills and Interest to Occupations and Jobs Part of the research process will be devoted to identifying a customer's skills and interests, and matching those with the available jobs or potential jobs for a specific geographical area. This is why job research is so important. Without researching job availability and the outlook for those jobs, it will be difficult to complete this skill and interest matching. Whether the Job Placement Specialist is mentoring, teaching or directly assisting with this task, a procedure should be established. The following procedure is an example:

1. Identify the customer's skills and interests by creating a list from the documentation received from the DARS counselor, from your interview with the customer or by the assessments the customer completed with you.

Job Research All Rights Reserved Page 2 of 2

W O R K P L A C E I N C L U S I O N & S U S T A I N A B L E E M P L O Y M E N T

Job Placement Specialist

2. Use a tool to help search for jobs that use that skill, such as the O*NET Online Database -- Skills Search.

a. Review results list with the customer and explore the occupational

categories that match the selected skills.

3. Determine the customer's interest in specific occupational categories. 4. Research within your area to find potential employers who hire that occupation.

Use the labor market tool from the Texas Workforce Commission website.