The Jersey Department of Labor has formed a partnership with the state's 19 community colleges - to offer a reemployment and eligibility assessment program for the long-term unemployed -those collecting benefits for at least 26 weeks.

Assistant jersey Labor Commissioner Mary Ellen Clark talk with job-seekers at Mercer Community College
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During a news conference at Mercer County Community College, Assistant Labor Commissioner Mary Ellen Clark said the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment program is designed "to bring them in, do a reassessment, provide them with new resources and tools… we're encouraging job-seekers to utilize what the state has to offer - if they need more services, if they need additional training, brush up on resume or interviewing skills we refer them back to the One Stop or here at the community college and we also offer job-seekers what we call labor market information - where the jobs are - whose hiring, what types of jobs are available, what are the credentials that you need to get those jobs."

She also said "there are a number of resources and tools here - people can finish their degrees if they haven't already done so or take a technical course or get a certification, or brush up and meet other job seekers in a positive environment…many people are employed in jobs that don't exist anymore in New Jersey - they may have moved elsewhere or they just don't exist, so they need to think differently perhaps about a career…you cannot not have computer skills - I mean even in Target, Lowes, Home Depot have online applicant tracking systems - so everyone has to be computer literate."

Pat Donohue, the President of Mercer County College, says partnering with the Labor Department makes a lot of sense because "we train people, we provide education, we help them learn how to do their job better - in this case how to find a job more effectively…a real important part of our mission is being sure that our community has the trained qualified workforce that our companies, our businesses need to be successful."

 

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