Site helps unravel employment web
State's iMatchSkills making it easier for employers and workers to find each other
By Anna Sowa / The Bulletin
Published: October 01. 2006 5:00AM PST

At the end of June, Kevin Seaton knew he'd need help recruiting workers for the roughly 40 positions he had open at Izzy's Pizza, which opened last month in Redmond. So the general manager bought banners advertising the positions, took out newspaper ads and contacted the Oregon Employment Department.

To his surprise, Seaton attracted more than 100 applicants by the end of August - and few had seen his advertisements. Instead, the Employment Department provided the applicants through its free Web service, iMatchSkills.

Using iMatchSkills, Employment Department staff screened applicants and arranged interviews for workers to fill Izzy's openings for cooks, dishwashers, bartenders, servers, hosts and managers at wages ranging from the state minimum of $7.50 per hour to $10 per hour.

"I didn't have to do anything," Seaton said. "I've got more people than I can give hours to."

Those are words that few Central Oregon employers have uttered.

With the region's low unemployment rates - Deschutes County's hit 3.9 percent in August, its lowest since the 1960s - employers are finding themselves in an increasingly competitive employment situation.

That means workers have their pick of the job crop, economists say.

Service-level positions like those offered at Izzy's are some of the hardest to fill because they typically fall on the lower-end of the pay scale, according to the Employment Department. That's why more employers like Seaton are getting creative in their recruitment efforts - and that includes cyber-recruiting.

The two-year-old service, iMatchSkills, is a valuable tool for employers and job-seekers, but some may not know it exists, said Laurel Werhane, business and employment services manager for WorkSource Central Oregon.

Through iMatchSkills, employers can list, modify and close job openings; view applicants' resumes online; and search for candidates based on skills, occupations or a combination of both. Employers can do this themselves or have the Employment Department staff do it, free of charge, Werhane said.

Job-seekers can browse job listings and choose how they want employers to contact them; match themselves to jobs based on their skills, occupation choice or other combinations; and set job preferences like wage, part or full time and work-site locations. Additionally, Employment Department staff will register and match jobs to applicants for free.

Depending on how employers arrange their postings, job listings can be posted locally, statewide or nationally, Werhane added.

"Since (iMatchSkills) is skill-based, it gets to the details of a candidate's experience, education and preference," Werhane said. "Since it is Web-based, it is available for job-seekers from other states who are interested in relocating."

That's how Vancouver, Wash., resident Jeni Bruckler started her job search in August.

Bruckler, 48, has been looking for a job in Washington or Oregon to fit her qualifications in tending and conditioning horses. Bruckler tried unsuccessfully to find a job in Bend using iMatchSkills. She would need a solid lead to justify the time and money to drive from Vancouver to Bend, and back, to interview, so she broadened her search to include larger metropolitan areas.

She recently received a couple of leads in Portland and Vancouver through iMatchSkills, which lifted her spirits. She said she couldn't have done it without the Web-based service.

"Being unemployed, with no money coming in, you don't want to be driving around a lot looking for jobs," Bruckler said. "By just going online, it helps you look for work and save money, gas and time."

Not-so-secret weapon

Werhane said iMatchSkills is the ideal tool for employers who don't have time to conduct a thorough job search or who operate small businesses with no human resources departments.

The service originated in April 2004 as part of Gov. Ted Kulongoski's WorkSource Oregon initiative, Werhane said.

More than 9,000 job listings exist on the service, of which 714 are in Central Oregon, Werhane said.

Every month, employers use iMatchSkills to review more than 5,000 job-seekers, including roughly 300 per month in Central Oregon.

Donelle Snider has been the purchasing manager for Chase Doors in Redmond for the past 20 years. She hasn't hired anyone without the Employment Department's help in the last five years.

This month, she hired a warehouse worker with the help of iMatchSkills and Employment Department staff.

The department worked with Snider's schedule to arrange interviews. That one-on-one help is invaluable to regional employers, especially those with manufacturing businesses, Snider said.

"I've found a lot of labor employees are not as comfortable with using personnel agencies," she said. "With the employment division, people feel more comfortable - there are no fees involved, it doesn't scare people away."

Chase Doors, an Ohio-based door manufacturer, employs 70 to 80 people, Snider said. Wages start at around $10 per hour for full-time workers.

Snider believes many Central Oregon businesses could benefit from iMatchSkills, as a way to pull workers from throughout the Northwest.

"We have people moving into this area who are matching up with employers," Snider said. "A lot of people (work) in the (Willamette) valley and want to live in Central Oregon, so through the Web site they can see what positions are open."

Anna Sowa can be reached at 383-0304 or at asowa@bend bulletin.com.

Published daily in Bend, Oregon, by Western Communications, Inc. Copyright 2006.