CareerOneStop Launches Customized, Integrated Web Site With SDL Tridion R5 WCM Software

CareerOneStop – a U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored national Web portal – has launched a newly-enhanced version of its Web site, based on SDL Tridion Web Content Management (WCM) software. CareerOneStop attracts more than 20 million visitors a year and offers vital career information including salaries, education, training, and job-seeking skills for the U.S. workforce and employers. The updated CareerOneStop Web site creates a single, streamlined system to facilitate frequent updates to both its Web page and applications content, including Web applications from its America’s Career InfoNet and America’s Service Locator Web sites. The production version went live on February 29, 2008. “

With SDL Tridion, we gain the ability to dynamically update and customize our authoritative career information based on topics our users search for most frequently,” said Mike Ellsworth, program manager for CareerOneStop. “SDL Tridion enables us to serve visitors according their individual needs.”

CareerOneStop plans to use R5 software in three upcoming portals to serve young people, employers, and regional economic developers. The new portals will complement existing job seeker and workforce professional areas on the site. According to Ellsworth, organizing the massive amount of career information on the site and repurposing it for each audience was a key requirement used in selecting SDL Tridion. He anticipates that the speed and flexibility of content and application development that SDL Tridion enables will help CareerOneStop serve significantly more visitors in 2008.

CareerOneStop is the first organization based in the U.S. to integrate both traditional Web pages and interactive Web content using the flexibility of SDL Tridion R5 software.  “Customers are often the first to pioneer new uses of our products and this is true of CareerOneStop,” said Erik Aeyelts Averink, president, Products & Solutions for SDL Tridion. “CareerOneStop is taking content integration a step or two further.  After this first release, they plan to not only re-engineer all their Web applications on the new platform, but also to use R5 to repurpose content for use by mobile phones and other media, and to format for compliance with Section 508, the federal regulation for Web site usability by disabled people.  Needless to say, we’re very excited about these developments and plan to help them as much as possible.”

The bottom line for Ellsworth and CareerOneStop is gaining better control over all aspects of content and a more seamless experience for users.  “We want one system where the programmers write code, and our writers focus on user-friendly, up-to-date content,” said Ellsworth.  “We believe SDL Tridion can deliver on this goal, which will open the door to many other Web site improvements as we continue to evolve.”

After three months of evaluation, CareerOneStop administrators selected SDL Tridion R5 software due to high ratings from Gartner Group and Forrester Research, as well as its ability to integrate Web page and application content.

About CareerOneStop

CareerOneStop is sponsored by a U.S. Department of Labor grant to the State of Minnesota. It is a national Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals to foster talent development in a global economy.  Their Web sites were first launched in 1996.  They include:

• CareerOneStop, an information portal providing content about careers including advice on creating a resume, interviewing tips, and what to do when you get a job offer. The portal also helps direct users to a wealth of information including the career, occupation, and industry tools provided by America’s Career InfoNet, the locations of offices to help job seekers provided by America’s Service Locator, and even links to job sites maintained by the states. (www.CareerOneStop.org)
• America’s Career InfoNet helps individuals explore career opportunities to make informed employment and education choices.  The Web site features user-friendly occupation and industry information, salary data, career videos, education resources, self-assessment tools, career exploration assistance, and other resources that support talent development in today's fast-paced global marketplace. 
• America’s Service Locator connects individuals to employment and training opportunities available at local One-Stop Career Centers.  The Web site provides contact information for a range of local work-related services, including unemployment benefits, career development, and educational opportunities. 
• Key to Career Success provides resources for military personnel who are making the transition to civilian life. Among other information, the Web site features a military to civilian occupation translator that allows military personnel to input their military occupation code and be matched to civilian occupations their experience and training might qualify them to enter.