Indiana awards job matching system contract to Monster

Indiana government officials have awarded a multiyear, $2.8 million contract to Monster Government Solutions to create and host a modernized job matching and recruiting system.

The new system, awarded by the state’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD), is expected to be operational by late 2006. It will replace an outdated online system that provides a limited list of job openings statewide. The contract includes four years of hosting, maintenance and upgrades.

“Many employers prefer to post jobs on their own Web sites, in newspapers or in trade journals,” Ron Stiver, DWD’s commissioner, said in a written statement. “We have a large pool of candidates looking for jobs, and it is imperative that we list as many jobs as we can on this Web site, while also providing efficient search tools. This will enhance the prospects of both job seekers and employers.”

Although the two sides have not yet developed strategies and details for the new system, Roy Templeton, a deputy commissioner and information technology director at DWD, said the department wants a Web site with a private-sector appearance. Applicants and employers should feel that they’re using a private-sector site rather than a government one, he said.

“We really drive people away from just the way it’s structured,” Templeton said. “By capturing the spirit of the commercial site of Monster, we will change the look and feel of the system…so people are more satisfied with the process.”

The current registration process on the government site is cumbersome for job seekers and employers, Templeton said. It requires job seekers to fill out a long form to satisfy federal reporting requirements before they can input their information and start their job search, he said. The new site would require applicants to fill out the federal requirements at the end of the process.

State officials also want to raise satisfaction ratings for the job search process. Currently, 69.2 percent of job seekers say they are satisfied with the system, while 74.2 percent of job providers feel that way, Templeton said. The system has about 690,000 applicants, but only about 160,000 are active, he said. It has nearly 39,000 job orders – in which employers specify the type of applicant they’re looking for – and almost 71,000 job openings, he said.

Templeton said state officials want to improve the reporting architecture. He said they will extract data from the Monster site and send it to the federal government to satisfy its reporting requirements.

Monster will also build additional functions for applicants and employers, some of which will be free while will require an additional fee. For example, Templeton said, for an extra charge, employers could conduct real-time background checks on applicants.

Templeton said appropriate-use agreements will be in place to ensure applicants’ privacy and data security