The Northwest Arkansas Council’s new and improved website for connecting students and jobseekers with employers and training programs is now live.
The overhauled CareersNWA.com consolidates the Council’s workforce development and talent attraction initiatives into one streamlined tool that includes a resume builder and thousands of local job listings sorted by industry – along the same lines as a site like Indeed or ZipRecruiter, but tailored to Northwest Arkansas.
Together, these more robust features can help local residents and newcomers launch their careers or take them in new directions, said Joe Rollins, the Council’s workforce development director.
“The availability of skilled talent is the top factor for businesses’ investment decisions,” he said. “CareersNWA is just one more way we’re connecting the people looking for work with the jobs that need filling.”
The relaunch coincides with the Dec. 1 Onward Ozarks panel focusing on workforce development. The event will include Rollins as well as speakers from NorthWest Arkansas Community College, the University of Arkansas Global Campus and Upskill NWA. Online registration is still open and brings chances to win a $100 Walmart gift card.
The site’s homepage offers four tracks – students in high school or post-secondary education, jobseekers, local companies and educators – with resources specific to each group. Students can find open apprenticeships and internships, for example, while educators can help certify students’ resumes and find career-prep curriculum.
Jobseekers and employers can both join the Northwest Arkansas Talent Network, which channels certain open positions to the people seeking them and vice versa. Employers can sign up to get involved with workforce development projects as well.
The website folds in FindingNWA and the Life Works Here initiative, which aim to bolster the region’s profile nationally and give outsiders an overview of local quality of life and cultural amenities. Over the next year, a video series will highlight a variety of job opportunities and training programs in the region at such places as Northwest Technical Institute and J.B. Hunt Transport Services.
“Our placement for jobs is 100%. Most of our students are employed before they graduate,” Debra Walker, director of nursing programs at NWTI, said in a video, describing the progression of nursing training available there. She went through similar education early in her career, she added.
“It was life-changing; it was life-changing for my children. They were able to see what education is able to do for you.”
Learn more at careersnwa.com.
