Hi-Tech Help For NJ’s Jobless [AUDIO]

The New Jersey State Department of Labor's Jobs4Jersey.com began as a website that offered job-seekers and employers a single portal through the maze of previously scattered state and federal programs established to assist them both.

Labor commissioner Hal Wirths says the site has been expanded and that should be welcome news to New Jerseyans who have been jobless for a long time and are nearing the end of their unemployment benefits eligibility.

"We have added a new service we call 'OnRamp,' giving job-seekers a robust job-search engine that uploads and creates resumes to present their profiles to employers across 2,400 job-search sites," explains Wirths. "Today, we have more than 66,000 people floating resumes through OnRamp. The number of jobs available from week to week varies, but as of last week, about 121,000 jobs within New Jersey were in the job bank, with about 284,000 jobs total when you include available employment within a 50 mile radius of the state."

OnRamp uses an artificial intelligence to match job-seekers with employers based on skills, not just job titles. Job-seekers are alerted to opportunities via e-mail, and they may constantly update their resumes or create several different resumes, accentuating their skills for different jobs.

"The full potential of 'OnRamp' is soon to be realized as we expand its service for employer use in the coming weeks," explains Wirths. "The employer module at 'OnRamp' will give New Jersey businesses an improved ability to fill key positions by finding the specific skills-set and talents they need in prospective employees. Employers will be able to do much more than merely post their job listings."

The OnRamp service is free.

Wirths says Jobs4Jersey.com already helps employers to more easily access the training services and Rapid Response teams we offer to assist them. It provides an easier and more active way for New Jersey residents to link to our employment services, including Veterans, persons with disabilities, ex-offenders, out-of-school youth and people on General Assistance and the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.