IT Award Nomination Minnesota

Minnesota IT Award Nomination: CareerOneStop

Contact Information of Individual Submitting Nomination

Nominator: Blake Chaffee

Email Address: blake.chaffee@state.mn.us

Agency Name: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

CareerOneStop

CareerOneStop’s library of more than 30 data and application APIs have provided states and commercial entities with labor market information via more than 15 million data requests per year. API users are enabling sites such as Minnesota’s CareerForce, OhioMeansJobs, LinkedIn, and CareerBuilder to display COS information on their sites. COS’ most recent API enables developers to validate the coordinates of any US location by inputting city, county, MSA, ZIP code, or state. This capability is cannot be found anywhere else. COS offers APIs for several other types of national labor market information including licenses, locations of American Job Centers and DOLETA program grantees, Workforce Investment Boards, unemployment insurance, and education and training. APIs are also offered for unique workforce information that COS collects including the most comprehensive databases of industry recognized certifications and professional associations, as well as a compendium of state workforce resources. In addition to offering data APIs, COS offers application service APIs such as a service that identifies skill and knowledge gaps between two occupations, a skills matcher, data about the industries in which workers in an occupation are employed, and an API that returns all the data from COS’ Occupation Profile.

Describe the series of accomplishments the nominated state has made in information technology over multiple years.Response (400 word limit).

Since its inception in 1998 as the first nationwide career information website, CareerOneStop (COS) has had a history of innovation. Most recently, COS developed an AI chatbot (with more than 2.4 million interactions to date), developed an Alexa skill (“Alexa, find me a job”), created 500 new career videos covering 805 O*NET occupations that are now used by many states, released a secure version of the site for use inside prisons, and developed a mobile app, a web portal, and a specialized job search for service members transitioning to civilian life. COS special-audience portals include GetMyFuture for young adults, mySkills myFuture for career changers, Credentials Center for uses wishing to enter or move up in their careers, Disaster Recovery Services for victims of natural disasters, a ReEmployment portal for laid off workers, workers with a criminal conviction, workers with disabilities, and the Business Center devoted to the needs of employers. COS offers a commercial scholarship database which it augments with its own research. The COS Job Finder lists jobs from across the US from the NLx, CareerBuilder, Indeed, and America’s Job Exchange job banks. All COS resources are available in English and Spanish.

Identify how the nominated state has contributed to the greater workforce development community as well as his/her individual state.Response (400 word limit).

CareerOneStop works closely with and contributes to the national Analyst Resource Center. An ongoing collaboration involves creating standards for the construction and management of LMI APIs. COS contributes and updates our certifications data and assists other ARC data efforts such as the license database and the creation of a non-proprietary, validated Cost of Living database. The COS program director sits on the NASWA Workforce Information Technology Support Center steering committee to advise on efforts to create a library, state technology profiles, solutions marketplace, procurement portal, and the forthcoming business analyst training. COS sponsors and often speaks at 15 or more workforce conferences a year. COS’ Workforce Advisory Group’s comprises national experts in workforce development from across the nation. COS worked with DEED on two DOLETA grants to create statewide social media training. The second grant created CareerForce, DEED’s career information website. We consulted with the architects of the CareerForce website especially around their use of COS Web APIs (also available to the public and used by workforce, education, and private entities) in the creation of the site. COS’ use and advocacy of its content management system of choice influenced its adoption not only by DEED but statewide.