US Department of Labor announces Tools for America's Job Seekers Challenge

Online job search sites invited to submit products to Web 2.0 platform

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the kickoff of the first phase of the "Tools for America's Job Seekers Challenge." The challenge will connect workers with online career resources, and offer businesses and other organizations an opportunity to showcase their best products. Providers of online job search engines, job boards and career exploration sites can learn more and submit their products at http://www.dol.gov/challenge/.

"We know there are hundreds of job search and career sites out there, and we are looking for both established providers and innovative new entrants to the market to showcase their best products by joining the challenge," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "We want to be sure that job seekers have every tool available to them as they search out promising careers in growing industries around the country."

The competition will occur in three phases. During phase one (Dec. 3 to 18, 2009) developers are invited to submit their online job search sites, job boards, career exploration sites and other tools by visiting http://www.dol.gov/challenge/.

During phase two (Jan. 4 to15, 2010), job seekers and workforce professionals are invited to review the sites and provide feedback. Phase three will begin on Jan. 18, 2010, when the department will share the tools receiving the most positive feedback with the public. An alphabetical list of all tools that were submitted during the contest also will be provided.

The national network of nearly 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers will help connect job seekers to the online tools. Not only will these job seekers have an opportunity to access multiple online career resources, but companies taking part in the challenge will benefit from the influx of traffic to their Web sites. More than 20 million individuals seek out employment services annually through the One-Stop system.

Sites submitted must be free to users. Tools with a fee may be submitted as long as they include a demonstration period that allows the tools to be reviewed free of charge during the challenge.

For more information on the range of Department of Labor employment and training services, visit http://www.doleta.gov.