Narrative: a. 2.

As funding allows, the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL) will continue to promote the professional development of its staff, leveraging state, agency, and, as applicable, federal grant funds to enhance the skills of its workforce. CTDOL will continue to pursue professional résumé writer certification for all appropriate American Job Center staff utilizing agency staff for training and test preparation. Associate Community Service Representatives on the career path to Career Development Specialist will be afforded the opportunity to obtain the credentials required for promotion to this classification. Employment Service Staff, including Business Services staff, will continue to have the opportunity to attend workforce development events such as the Conference on Serving Adults with Disabilities as well as any other relevant training, in an effort to enhance their skills. To build capacity, CTDOL will train American Job Center staff to facilitate a variety of standardized employment readiness workshops. In addition, in-service training courses offered each fall and spring by the Department of Administrative Services may be made available to Employment Service staff to enhance computer, communication, writing, public speaking, presentation and supervisory skills.

The responsibilities of Employment Services staff in the American Job Centers include: assessing customer needs, addressing potential barriers to employment, assisting customers in the development of a work search plan, conducting employment workshops, one-on-one résumé critiques and career counseling and providing appropriate referral to employment services to facilitate a customer’s return to work.  These tasks require staff to have well developed presentation skills for the delivery of workshops, written communications skills to document case management activities and advanced resume writing skills to deliver high quality resume critiques. Employment Services staff serving the employer community must assess training needs, analyze labor market information, identify desired skills and abilities and address the recruitment needs of employers. They must possess knowledge of the Connecticut Department of Labor’s (CTDOL) programs and services for employers, as well as those offered by other agencies and organizations in order to seamlessly cross market to employers all available options throughout the entire workforce system.