JOBS FOR ALL

Who says it’s hard to find a job? Jay Rowell, director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, met this week with local business leaders and officials from the Salvation Army in Springfield to showcase Illinoisjoblink.com, a free job board run by the state featuring both private- and public-sector job listings. As of October, the unemployment rate in the Springfield metropolitan area was about 7 percent. Meanwhile, an impromptu search conducted this week showed more than 470 jobs available in Springfield, ranging from truck drivers to mechanical engineers. The free service also scans other job listing websites, bringing the total number of job listings for Springfield to more than 2,170. Among the Springfield employers listing on the state-run site are Bank of Springfield, fishing tackle manufacturer Cast Industries, and Hospital Sisters Health System, which operates St. John’s Hospital. The Joblinks service has just shy of 40,000 job listings statewide with more than 70,000 resumes posted by job-seekers in Illinois. Many of the jobs listed require college degrees, but some do not. While actually getting a job is another question, finding one to apply for is at least easier.