Using the labour market information system:
a job seeker's experience
Sally Martin has just lost her job as a computer network specialist. She goes to the local employment centre in Paradise, where she lives. In addition to filing an application for unemployment insurance benefits, she enters information into the job seekers database -- her standardized resume -- on a template, under the supervision of an agent at the centre. The information can now be retrieved by employers, CECs, and other placement agencies.
While she is at the employment centre, Ms Martin scans the vacancies proposed by employers locally, or on a wider basis if she is interested in moving. She makes a note of interesting vacancies and of ways employers should be contacted. Among the possibilities, the EIS offer catches her attention. Soon after getting in touch with Anthony Smith, she is hired and begins her new job. She removes her resume from the database.
Comprehensiveness of labour market information
Local labour force development boards, which will be formed soon, will reflect the involvement of the community in decision making about training and, more generally, labour force development. This is a major step toward establishing a system that best serves the interests of the community.
Although we ruled out the possibility of making registration of vacancies with the public service agencies compulsory, we looked for ways to ensure that the clients of labour market information receive a comprehensive picture of the job market. The best way to achieve comprehensiveness is by demonstrating that the system is valuable to all participants and that, for employers, using it is a good business practice.
Useful identification of employment opportunities cannot take place unless employers clearly articulate their human resource needs. Human resources planning is a sound basis, not only for the identification of immediate job opportunities, but also for the identification of emerging employment trends.