CareerForce Challenge Winners

As announced on the What's New with CareerForce webinar on November 5, we have our winners of the CareerForce Challenge!

Clara Wegscheid, Rural Minnesota CEP Job Counselor and Career Lab Consultant from CareerForce in Fergus Falls, put up flyers promoting CareerForce programs and services at the M State college campus in Fergus Falls (at left). This is just one example of the dozens of outreach activities Leading CareerForce partner Rural Minnesota CEP engaged in from sharing information at food distribution locations and "trunk or treat" events to intensive individual outreach to encourage registration on MinnesotaWorks.net and application for the Dislocated Worker program.

Leading CareerForce partner Duluth Workforce Development is putting an insert (at right) promoting CareerForce programs and services in utility bills going out to city residents. Duluth Workforce Development also reached out to local libraries to provide updated CareerForce materials for library users to view and take home with them. Plus, Duluth shared CareerForceMN's social posts and generated good engagement.

DEED Communications helped with design of the utility bill insert and is available to help with design of similar CareerForce promotional materials. Email Laura Winge at laura.winge@state.mn.us if you have a design request.

Realizing not everyone has access to jobs posted online, staff at CareerForce in Fairmont keep a regularly updated listing of local jobs on a display board outside their office. CareerForce staff also shared flyers promoting programs and services throughout their community at laundromats, food shelves and other locations. Plus, CareerForce staff are reaching out to job seekers who have contacted them recently to see if they are registered on MinnesotaWorks.net and to let them know about training assistance and other employment supports available through the Dislocated Worker program. In addition, CareerForce staff reached out to employers in Fairmont and surrounding areas who have jobs posted online but don't have them listed on MinnesotaWorks.net and encouraged these employers to post openings on Minnesota's official job bank. 

We're sharing a new fillable sign template that your location can customize and post on your doors or other places customers can see it.

You may also wish to update your outgoing phone message to reflect how you are offering services if your location is not currently offering in-person services. Here's suggested language:

For the locations that DEED operates, please update main phone line voicemails to the following:

“Hello, CareerForce in <CITY> is helping with job search, resume writing, employer services and other support over the phone and online. However, our office is not currently open for in-person appointments. Please leave a message and let us know how we can serve you.”

For staff phone lines, please update voicemail messages with:

“Hello, you’ve reached <NAME> with CareerForce. We are currently helping customers with job search, resume writing, employer services and other support over the phone and online. Please leave a message and let us know how we can serve you.”