Summary

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) is using O*NET as one of several data sources in a new, skills-based Job Match System. The system will help IWD staff improve their services to both employers and job seekers. Like several other state workforce development departments, IWD is trying to improve its ability to find skilled candidates for job openings listed by employers. At the same time, the new system will help job applicants identify skills that make them viable candidates for available jobs. That's where O*NET comes in. 

The O*NET database was not designed, nor is it supposed to be used, as a job selection or matching tool. However, in this Iowa system, O*NET is used appropriately to help job seekers identify skills they already have and describe them in terms employers understand. Ultimately, skills-based searches can open up opportunities for employment that an individual otherwise might not have considered or sought. 
 

How is O*NET being used?

Staff at Iowa Workforce Development wanted to improve their capacity to provide timely and appropriate referrals for jobs posted by employers. They envisioned a computer-based system that could run skills-based searches to identify viable candidates. They first looked for a commercial software product that could find candidates with skills needed for specific job openings. They chose one that is compatible with the software they use to keep track of their applicants' case management services. The system they selected allows IWD staff to scan applicant résumés for skill words that match skills words in employer job orders. After it scans the applicants' skills, the system ranks possible candidates according to how closely their skills match the job order skill requirements. 

IWD is using several data sources in customizing their job match system. To help applicants identify and describe their skills in appropriate terminology, IWD staff turned to O*NET. The O*NET KSAs (knowledge, skills, abilities) are useful both in identifying and describing applicants' skills in résumés entered into the IWD information system. Staff say that many IWD applicants are seeking entry-level jobs but do not have many, if any, "hard" skills. However, they do have "soft" skills that are needed in various entry-level positions. O*NET is especially useful in helping them identify and describe these "soft" skills. 

The IWD System also employs O*NET titles. For example, if a news reporter comes in seeking a new line of work, IWD staff might look under the O*NET occupation Reporters and Correspondents to identify hard and soft skills the reporter is likely to have. These skill words are used in résumés so that scanners will find them when scanning for jobs that have similar skill requirements. 
 

Who is your target population?

The IWD Job Match System is designed to help both employers and job seekers in Iowa, including entry-level and more experienced job applicants. 
 

What kind of results is O*NET helping you to achieve?

O*NET skills information is used to help entry-level and other job applicants identify and describe skills they already have that may help them qualify for existing job openings. This IWD system will enable staff to identify quickly all potential candidates in their applicant pool for referral to employers posting job openings. 
 

What are the related program initiatives?

IWD will use its new system for participants in Worker Profiling Re-employment Services (WPRS), the JOBS component of Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSET), Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), and Wagner-Peyser programs. 
 

Is your product, program or service available for others to use?

Iowa uses commercial software products generally available to interested firms or organizations. The O*NET 3.0 database and O*NET OnLine are available at no cost to the public and can be used to help applicants identify and describe their hard and soft skills. 
 

What other strategies make your product, program or service successful?

Because employer requirements are becoming more specialized, IWD wants to develop staff who are familiar with the language and skills generally needed in key fields. Thus, IWD is reorganizing its job match system around "practices" (such as medical and health care occupations) rather than offices or types of jobs (e.g. professional/clerical). In the future, many staff members will specialize in serving clients within a specific O*NET occupational group. IWD expects to use O*NET as a professional development resource for helping staff learn about new occupational "practices" or specialties. 
 

Contact information.

Lynn Paustian 
IT Specialist V 
Iowa Workforce Development 
1000 East Grand Avenue 
Des Moines, Iowa 50319