What are American Job Centers?
American Job Centers are a source of employment resources for workers, job seekers, and employers. Resources include:
- Training referrals
- Career counseling
- Job listings
- Job referrals
- Recruitment assistance
- Job fairs
- Job restructuring
- Layoff assistance
- Job order requirement development
- Job openings
- Placement assistance
- Re-employment services
These resources can be accessed through staff-assisted service, self-service, and facilitated self-service. American Job Centers focus on helping you advance your career, so if you need unemployment assistance you will need to go online to the Tennessee Department of Labor website and use the Unemployment Claimant e-Services system.
If you are seeking a job as a veteran, you should expect to receive priority with training referrals and job referrals in addition to special employment services and assistance. This also applies to anyone with a disability, youth workers, older workers, minorities, justice-involved people, and migrant or seasonal farm-workers.
Types of American Job Centers
Each American Job Center adapts to the demands and needs of the location it is based in. You can look at the list of centers and the services they offer online on the American Job Center of Tennessee website. American Job Centers offer more services than we can list here, so make sure you find a center near you to see the services available to you.
Comprehensive centers are full service sites where representatives can enroll you in any program. Affiliate centers offer the core programs, but if you need a specific service they might have to refer you to a different center. If you are looking to learn more about American Job Centers, you could use an access point center to use a computer or other materials to learn more.
Some centers are specialized to focus on a particular population, like veterans or those with disabilities. Just because the center is specialized does not mean they will turn you away though. You can call the center before you go if you would like to make sure they will be able to assist you.
Leveraging Job Center Services for Recruitment
Since American Job Centers serve workers through multiple aspects of job hunting and career advancement, it can be an excellent recruitment source for employers.
The first thing you can do with a job center is submit a job posting with specific requirements. From there the center can use the job information such as necessary experience, qualifications, and skills to match you with candidates that fit your parameters.
Job centers have a large pool of candidates to pull from, each with different skills and qualifications that can be filtered to find the best fit for each job listing. In many cases, the candidates have already been screened to ensure that they have the appropriate skills, a clear background check, and good references.
If you are looking to meet multiple candidates, you can attend a job fair or similar event hosted by a job center. A job center can also help you with setting up interviews with candidates from booking a space to host interviews to scheduling interviews for you.
One of the biggest benefits of using a job center for recruitment is that you begin to build a relationship between your company and the job center. This partnership benefits both you and the job center, as you have easier access to qualified candidates, and the job center achieves their goal of supporting someone on their career journey. If you properly maintain your connection to a job center, they are more likely to refer applicants to your company and fill other vacancies that arise.
Training and Development Opportunities
American Job Centers offer education and training opportunities thanks to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA). WIOA is a federal grant that covers training expenses and employment programs to improve the workforce skills throughout the country.
WIOA training programs can be used to fulfill your training needs in two different ways. You could use WIOA programs to find freshly trained employees to fill in job vacancies. By hiring someone who has already been trained, you would reduce the amount of time and money you would have to spend on training.
You can also use WIOA programs to train your current employees to maintain a competitive skill level through the Incumbent Worker Training Program. IWT can reimburse training expenses for qualifying businesses, such as:
- Materials and supplies
- Textbooks and manuals
- Tuition expenses (from a Tennessee Higher Education Commission regulated institution)
- Curriculum development
- Instructors’ or trainers’ salaries (at actual amount or $50/hour max, based on lower cost)
Not all training costs can be reimbursed through IWT. If you are planning to use IWT to cover training costs, here is a list of expenses they will not reimburse:
- Advertisement or recruitment
- Assessment/certification fees
- Travel expenses
- Any items or services that may be used outside of the training program
- Capital equipment
- Trainee’s wages
- Language training (unless specific to terms of employment)
To access IWT funds, you will need to submit an application for your business through your local American Job Center.Your application will need to include training criteria and a budget.
Supporting Employee Retention and Growth
Maintaining your employee retention and growth can play a vital role in the success of your company. When potential employees, clients, or investors look to work with your company, a high turnover rate can act as a warning sign of a deeper issue. By focusing on employee growth, you can reduce your turnover rate and improve your employee retention.
With the help of American Job Centers, there are two ways you can foster employee growth. You can utilize training opportunities provided by American Job Centers to enable career advancement opportunities for your current employees by creating a clear overlap between the promotion requirements and training programs.
The other way American Job Centers can help you support employee retention and growth is through their business support programs. These programs can help you evaluate job requirements, restructure jobs, and manage difficult job orders.
By evaluating all aspects of a position, you can reduce stress and provide extra assistance where needed, or even help one of your employees take the next step into a new position to help them grow. The key to employee retention and growth is to encourage healthy communication about what your employees need to keep learning, and American Job Centers can help get you started.
Job Services For Workers in Tennessee
Within Tennessee, job services are accessed through a website, Jobs4TN. If you do not know which services to enroll for, there is a services matching program virtually on the American Job Center of Tennessee website.
If you elect to use the service matcher, there are a few follow up steps to get started with any job services. At the end of the matching quiz, you will get a QR code that will allow an American Job Center representative to quickly scan it to get a full list of the services you need. You’ll take the QR code with you to your appointment after you have scheduled one online.
In preparation of your appointment, make sure to have your verification documents ready to bring with you, such as both your license and birth certificate or a passport to count as both. You can then go to your appointment at your local American Job Center where the staff will use the QR code to direct you to the correct representative. Your representative will verify that you are eligible for the services, and start enrolling you.
Conclusion
American Job Centers can act as an extensive resource for businesses and workers alike. Knowing how each side benefits from this program can help you set your goals and understand how to maximize your relationship with your local job center.
If you need any guidance on how to get started in your American Job Center partnership, contact Workforce Essentials for support with your local workforce district.
