Planning ahead for graduation and finding the job you love? Or maybe thinking about a perfect summer internship opportunity? The race to connect is on. NYS Governor Kathy Hochul (a Syracuse University alum) has just announced a new initiative to connect job seekers to a record 220,000 available jobs, along with tools and training resources. NYS is proactively connecting New Yorkers and students studying here in the state with jobs through recruitment, skill-matching, marketing, community outreach, virtual career services, a broadcast and social media campaign.
Through this new initiative, the NYS Department of Labor will expand existing services to collaborate with additional community partners across the state to educate about no-cost resources available to connect them with jobs.
DOL already offers thousands of virtual one-on-one career services appointments. As part of this partnership, it will add 1,000 additional appointments slots each week across the state and will provide an online referral form for job seekers to complete to request a virtual appointment with a career counselor. People can sign up for appointments here.
In addition to the new series of tools for job seekers, the NYS DOL continues to encourage businesses to take advantage of no-cost recruitment services and hiring incentives available.
Virtual Career Fairs
Job seekers in every region can now engage with businesses in a job fair setting without leaving home, browse available jobs, and connect directly with businesses hiring to ask questions. The Department has also been partnering with other state agencies to highlight and recruit for opportunities within New York State government.
A full listing of career fairs and virtual workshops can be found here. Some of the upcoming virtual fairs include:
- Dec 7 – 11 AM – New York City Virtual Career Fair
- Dec 8 – 11 AM – Central NY Virtual Career Fair
- Dec 8 – 11 AM – Finger Lakes Virtual Career Fair
- Dec 9 – 11 AM – Capital Region Virtual Career Fair
- Dec 14 – 11AM – Western NY Virtual Career Fair
- Dec 15 – 11 AM – Hudson Valley Virtual Career
- Dec 16 – 11 AM – Southern Tier Virtual Career Fair
Media Campaign
In addition to direct email outreach to New Yorkers, the NYS DOL has also launched a broadcast and social media campaign to connect New Yorkers with available jobs. This includes radio, television, social media, and public transit ads.
The Department has also launched a new campaign called “This is Why” to introduce New Yorkers to new career paths including truck driving, manufacturing, and nursing, among others.
No-Cost Resources for Job Seekers
NYS DOL offers many no-cost resources to assist New Yorkers looking for work, including:
- New York State Job Bank and JobZone: Now topping a record 220,000+ available positions, the Job Bank website allows New Yorkers to browse open jobs by location, job title and company name. Additional job search and career development tools are designed to help individuals plan their future, organize their job search, develop resumes, and explore careers.
- Virtual Workshops: Daily live webinars on relevant topics like resume writing, job search and interviewing techniques.
- Career Center Services: Learn from the experts and gain access to career counseling, resume development and job search resources offered virtually via phone or video conference. NYSDOL has launched a holistic virtual career center platform and New Yorkers can make an appointment here. Additional resources can be found here.
- Coursera: Based on results from a recent Business Survey, NYS DOL has worked to prioritize the top skills businesses say are most in need and make online training courses available for free to unemployed New Yorkers. More than 56,000 people are already using online training through Coursera, which offers thousands of courses in skills relevant to high-demand industries, to upskill and explore other career paths.
- SUNY Training: NYSDOL is working to connect job seekers to SUNY’s broad spectrum of learning opportunities provided by SUNY both online and in-person.
- Registered Apprenticeship: Job seekers interested in proven training for a wide range of trades (manufacturing, construction, information technology, child care, teacher, etc.) can learn about paid on-the-job and classroom training available through Registered Apprenticeship programs.
- Part-Time Hiring Opportunities Job Bank: In the wake of COVID-19, NYS DOL revised its Partial Unemployment Insurance system which now bases unemployment insurance benefits on the number of hours actually worked over the course of a week, instead of just the number of days worked. Under this new system, unemployed New Yorkers can get back to work in a part-time capacity without the risk of losing their UI benefits. To compliment this change, NYS DOL launched a website now listing 27,0000+ part-time jobs in New York State which job seekers can sort by location, job title and company.
No-Cost Resources for Businesses
Additionally, NYS DOL offers many no-cost resources to assist businesses looking for workers. If you’re a legally incorporated startup you can take advantage of these programs, including:
- Access to Millions of Job Seekers: NYS DOL has no-cost programs and services to save businesses time and money. Businesses can post jobs on the NYS Job Bank through indexing from your existing site, self-post or with staff assistance. In addition, they can access the NYS Talent Bank with millions of qualified job seekers to meet current hiring needs.
- Career Fairs: NYS DOL’s Virtual Career Fair platform allows businesses to engage with job seekers without leaving their office. They can provide resources, list their jobs, chat, review resumes and make hires all through one platform.
- Tax Credits and Hiring Incentives: NYS DOL provides businesses a direct connection to available federal and state tax credits and other hiring incentives.
- Training Funds: Training funds are available to help upgrade worker skills or bridge skills gaps for new workers. In July, the State launched the second round of the Workforce Development Initiative funding, making $48 million available to help New Yorkers find quality, well-paid jobs and to meet the short and long-term workforce needs of businesses.
- Labor Market Information: Access to the most current and accurate data available on labor supply, wages, occupational projections, commuting patterns and jobs.
- Registered Apprenticeship: Businesses can build a supply of skilled workers while increasing productivity and reducing turnover through hands-on work experience and classroom instruction.
- Shared Work: Helps employers avoid layoffs by letting workers receive partial Unemployment Insurance benefits while working reduced hours.