|
"WORKnet" is Wisconsin's Workforce and Labor Market Information System. This exciting new interactive website is jam-packed with all kinds of useful information on the Wisconsin and Sauk County labor force. There are special sections targeted to job seekers, businesses, and economic developers.
|
|
Advice from Local Employers |
- Recognize development opportunities – know and understand your limitations.
- Communication – Speak clearly. Organize your thoughts. Be respectful. Listen.
- Research available opportunities at the business you are applying for.
- Understand and assess your own skills – Be positive. Know what you do well and what do you do great.
- Prepare for the interview – know specifics about the organization you are applying for.
- Be motivated. Take professional initiative – Maintain good eye contact. Be upbeat and friendly. Maintain good posture.
- Accept feedback and take action – Ask questions. Understand what you can do to improve.
- Be realistic about your career path – know where you are at and where you want to go
- Align skills with the right job opportunity. (If you do not have computer skills, do not apply for a position that requires computer skills)
Back to Top - > |
|
The Resume |
Your resume is your self-marketing, advertising tool with the single purpose of getting you an interview. Your resume should market your relevant skills, knowledge and accomplishments. It should look good, be easy to read and most importantly, create interest in its product…YOU!
One page resumes are preferred for most positions. Two-page resumes are acceptable if the information on both pages demonstrates the skills and/or experience relevant to your area of interest.
Well-designed resumes will be visually appealing and free from any spelling, typographical, punctuation, or grammatical errors. All resumes should be written concisely in an organized format that presents the most important information first. A good resume predicts how you might perform in that desired future job. Here are links to websites with good resume templates:
Back to Top - > |
|
Job Application Guidelines |
- Answer all questions on the application as completely as possible. An incomplete application will not be considered for employment.
- Applications received after the deadline will not be considered unless specific criteria as determined by the Personnel office.
- The most qualified candidates will be invited to participate in subsequent phases of the hiring process. All applicants are evaluated only on job-related factors.
- References should be provided at the time of submitting an application and/or resume
Back to Top - > |
|
Dressing for the Interview |
First impressions are critical to the success of your interview. The moment you meet, the interviewer begins forming an opinion of you. This initial impression is based almost exclusively on your appearance and how you are dressed. While being the “best dressed” candidate may not get you the job, inappropriate dress could very well rule you out before you even have a chance to speak.
This doesn’t mean that you must invest in extremely expensive clothing. What it does mean is that you should pay careful attention to the clothing you do select and make sure it conveys the appropriate image of you as a knowledgeable, skilled individual who can make a significant contribution to the company/position. Dressing appropriately has another advantage as well. When you are comfortable in how you look, you will be more relaxed and confident in your ability to sell yourself during the interview. As you prepare for your interview, keep the following guidelines in mind:
- Dress conservatively, unless you are applying for a position where creativity and the unusual are expected.
- Dress for the interviewer, the company and the position you are seeking, however, even when you are interviewing for a position where you will be wearing fairly casual clothes on the job, choose business-like, professional clothing that reflects the importance you place on the interview.
- Practice good personal hygiene. Be sure your clothes are clean and neatly pressed. Avoid heavy or excessive jewelry and if you wear cologne or perfume, be sure it is a light and inoffensive fragrance and use sparingly.
- Finally, don’t forget to wear a smile. Smiling is contagious and will make you feel more relaxed and helps to get the interview off to a good start.
The Wisconsin Careers Site – Complete a guest tour and complete the Interest Profiler assessment at: http://wiscareers.wisc.edu/Default.asp.
The Job Hunters Bible – Look for tips from the author of “What Color is My Parachute” at http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/index.php
Back to Top - > |
|
Interview Protocol |
The interview is one of the most important components of your job search strategy. The purpose of the interview is, of course, to assess your skills, qualifications and personal style and determine if there is a good fit with organizational needs and requirements of the position you are seeking. It is up to you to make sure the interviewer sees you in the best possible light and to show why you are the best candidate for the position.
This is where research and careful preparation will really pay off. The more you know about the company and the position, the more you will be able to show how you can make a significant contribution. At the same time, the more confident you are about who you are and what you have to offer, the more effective you will be in showing how your particular combination of skills and experience matches the requirements and expectations of the position and the company.
Mock Interviews: The Sauk County Job Center has Mock Interview Workshops available. These are workshops held by local employers that will assist you with skills that are needed by today’s workforce Please contact the Sauk County job Center at 1-608-355-3140 for dates and times.
Back to Top - > |
|
Employer Expectations - Sauk County Workforce Skills Survey Results |
High School students and graduates are a vital part of the Sauk County workforce. In order to ensure that their skills and knowledge sets meet the needs of local businesses and industries, the School District of Baraboo and the Sauk County UW-Extension office conducted a labor skills survey. This brochure highlights the results of the 2005 survey.
Back to Top - > |
|
Barriers to Future Employment |
Remember in today’s technology, there are several resources that your future employer can go to, to find the very best employee. Depending on what career path you are choosing to take, your past decisions may block you from taking that path. Below are examples of web sites that employers may use to screen applicants:
Access to the Public Records of the Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP)
This website (WCCA) provides access to certain public records of the circuit courts of Wisconsin. The information displayed is an exact copy of the case information entered into the Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) case management system by court staff in the counties where the case files are located. The court record summaries viewed here are all public records under Wisconsin open records law. http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl
USIS provides a wide range of security solutions to its many government and commercial customers. The company is committed to being the leading provider of screening and security-based information and service solutions to its customers in the government, law enforcement and first responder, commercial, and litigation support markets.www.usis.com
eScreen offs a comprehensive library of products and software which automates and accelerates the hiring process for the employer, the donor, and the clinic. eScreen is revolutionalizing the drug testing industry with an electronic web-based network. www.escreen.com/products.html
FIDELITEC – Investigative Intelligence for Employers
Fidelitec provides risk mitigation and investigative services to organizations and the legal community. Fidelitec serves a broad range of businesses, not- for-profit organizations, school systems, law firms, accounting practices and investigative services.
http://www.fidelitec.com
Back to Top - > |
|
Importance of Critical Thinking Skills |
Raymond S. Nickerson (1987), an authority on critical thinking, characterizes a good critical thinker in terms of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and habitual ways of behaving. Here are some of the characteristics of such a thinker:
- uses evidence skillfully and impartially
- organizes thoughts and articulates them concisely and coherently
- distinguishers between logically valid and invalid inferences
- suspends judgment in the absence of sufficient evidence to support a decision
- understands the difference between reasoning and rationalizing
- attempts to anticipate the probable consequences of alternative actions
- understands the idea of degrees of belief
- sees similarities and analogies that are not superficially apparent
- can learn independently and has an abiding interest in doing so
- applies problem-solving techniques in domains other than those in which learned
- can structure informally represented problems in such a way that formal techniques, such as mathematics, can be used to solve them
- can strip a verbal argument of irrelevancies and phrase it in its essential terms
- habitually questions one's own views and attempts to understand both the assumptions that are critical to those views and the implications of the views
- is sensitive to the difference between the validity of a belief and the intensity with which it is held
- is aware of the fact that one's understanding is always limited, often much more so than would be apparent to one with a noninquiring attitude
- recognizes the fallibility of one's own opinions, the probability of bias in those opinions, and the danger of weighting evidence according to personal preferences
This list is, of course, incomplete, but it serves to indicate the type of thinking and approach to life that critical thinking is supposed to be. Similar descriptions of critical thinking attributes are available in the very extensive literature of critical thinking. See, for example:
- Teaching Thinking Skills, 1987, edited by J. B. Baron and R. J. Steinberg
- Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking, 1985, edited by A. L. Costa
- The Teaching of Thinking, 1985, edited by R. S. Nickerson and others
- Critical Thinking, Fifth Edition, 1998, by B. N. Moore and Richard Parker
- Critical Thinking, Second edition, 1990, by John Chaffe. These books are representative of the genre.
See http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html for more information.
Back to Top - > |
|
Job Center of Wisconsin |
Job Centers of Wisconsin is the state’s on-line job center, designed to provide resources for both Job Seekers and Employers. In this section targeted to the Job Seeker, you will find information on looking for jobs, planning a career, wages and occupations, training, and other assistance. http://jobcenterofwisconsin.com
Back to Top - > |
|
WORKnet - Career Exploration |
Worknet is Wisconsin's on-line Workforce and Labor Market Information System. This exciting interactive website is jam-packed with all kinds of useful information on the Wisconsin and Sauk County labor force. This section drills down into Hot Jobs providing information on demand, skill sets, training requirements, and wages.
http://worknet.wisconsin.gov/worknet/homece.aspx?menuselection=ce
Back to Top - > |
|
WISCareers |
Wisconsin Careers is an easy to use comprehensive website that responds to the individual and encourages a self-directed and engaged approach to career development and job-seeking. Access to this site is available through all Sauk County middle school and high school counselors, the Sauk County Job Center, MATC Reedsburg, and UW Baraboo Sauk County. Examples of Assessments are Career Skills, Transferable Career Skills, Workplace Skills, and Interest Profiler. http://wiscareers.wisc.edu/Default.asp
Back to Top - > |
|
Career Placement – Alumni Services |
Check with your university or college alumni association for additional employment resources. For example, the Wisconsin Alumni Association offers career mentor opportunities and an alumni job board. www.uwalumni.com |
|
UW-Madison Continuing Studies Adult & Student Services |
Adult and Student Services Center (ASSC) offers information
about programs and services for nontraditional and
non-degree Special students, as well as local adults considering a
career change. Our office can assist you with the student
application and enrollment processes, educational workshops and
additional services for adult students. Through individual
appointments, assessments, and career workshops, the Adult and
Student Services Center can help you discover a path to more meaningful and satisfying career. http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/info/
Back to Top - > |
|
WORKnet – Wisconsin’s Workforce and Labor Market Information System – Job Seeker |
WORKnet is Wisconsin's on-line Workforce and Labor Market Information System. This exciting interactive website is jam-packed with all kinds of useful information on the Wisconsin and Sauk County labor force. This section devoted to the Job Seeker contains information on Employer Search, County Snapshots, Occupational Search, Wage Comparison, Job Center of WI, Related Links, and a Guide on how to use this module.
http://worknet.wisconsin.gov/worknet/homejs.aspx?menuselection=js
Back to Top - > |
|
Test Prep Review |
Your Source for free on-line practice tests, including GED, the Compass Test used by MATC for placement, ACT, SAT, and many, many more. http://testprepreview.com
Back to Top - > |
|
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development – Layoff – A Guide to Assistance |
This web site provides information on programs to help workers and employers when staff reductions, business closings and mass layoffs occur. Assistance is available to all unemployed workers and additional help may be available to "dislocated workers." You may be a "dislocated worker" if you have been laid off, received a notice of termination or layoff, or were self-employed and are now unemployed due to economic conditions or natural disaster.
http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dislocatedworker/default.htm
Back to Top - > |
|
Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards – Department of Workforce Development |
Apprenticeship is a structured system of training designed to prepare individuals for skilled occupations. It combines on-the-job training under the supervision of experienced journey workers with related classroom instruction. Apprentices who successfully complete the prescribed number of hours of training in an apprenticeship program become certified skilled workers. A written agreement between the apprentice and the apprenticeship program is registered with the Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards, Department of Workforce Development. http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/apprenticeship/
Back to Top - > |
|
MATC Smart Start – Clusters |
Career Clusters are 16 identified career areas that have related occupational groups that require common knowledge, skills, and talents. The clusters include hundreds of occupations and include information about suggested high school preparatory courses and MATC degrees and certificates that lead to these occupations.
MATC Smart Start – Clusters (PDF)
Back to Top - > |
|
Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) – Wisconsin Job Watch |
A new, monthly publication from COWS, Wisconsin Job Watch provides a snapshot of the effects of the recession on Wisconsin jobs. http://www.cows.org/pdf/ds-WIJobWatch-May10.pdf
Back to Top - >
|
|
Columbia & Sauk Entrepreneurs’ Resource Guide |
Designed to assist those individuals who want to explore self-employment. Thinking of starting your own business or need help with an existing small business? Starting up and developing a new business can be both exciting and challenging. Many different local programs and resources are available to help guide you through the different pieces of the start-up process. The vast majority of the resources listed in this guide are located in Columbia and Sauk Counties. http://www.scdc.com/docs/guide.html
Back to Top - > |
|
WIA Title I Opportunity Grants |
Opportunity grants are awarded in an effort to help low-income individuals improve their skills at technical colleges, earn certificates or degrees, and pursue career pathways to better jobs in high demand occupations, including registered apprenticeships.
WIA Opportunity Grants - Federal Poverty Line 2009 (PDF)
Back to Top - > |
|
Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin |
The Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin, Inc. serves a six-county area to make positive economic change in the local area and beyond. It is a one-stop workforce development connection for businesses, workers and leaders in Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Marquette and Sauk counties. They also work with people and organizations throughout the region to make our area a better place to work and do business.
Their role is to build bridges and forge partnerships that strengthen the workforce, they are driven to deliver solutions that work for businesses, workers and communities. WDBSCW support the global economy yet retain a quality of life that forms the foundation of an area in which profitable businesses want to locate and skilled workers want to live. Through strategic partnerships, they strive to deliver best-in-class programs combined with cutting edge solutions that deliver success.
http://www.wdbscw.org/
Back to Top - > |
|
South Central WI Job Centers, Come Here First |
South Central WI Job Centers are central locations for people looking for employment and businesses that need help finding qualified applicants.
We are a partnership of government agencies and community-based organizations with a common goal: to make our communities a better place to live by improving job opportunities through economic support, training and education.
With service in Baraboo, Madison, Jefferson, Wisconsin and in other locations by appointment, there is always a Job Center in your area
http://comeherefirst.org/
Back to Top - > |
|
Mapping Green Career Pathways: Job Training Infrastructure and Opportunities in Wisconsin |
Mapping Green Career Pathways: Job Training Infrastructure and Opportunities in Wisconsin outlines key components of the state’s workforce development systems - including but not limited to apprenticeship and technical college pathways - that could be aligned and expanded to support an emerging clean energy sector. The report was prepared by the Apollo Alliance and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) and released in February, 2010.
http://www.cows.org/pdf/rp-mappingreportWI.pdf
Back to Top - > |
|
