Web site that linked employers, job-seekers to close

A two-year-old initiative that sought to improve the ways that employers and jobseekers found each other will close down at the end of June.

The Web site, itsaboutjobs.com, is a casualty of declining funding from the federal Department of Labor to Nevadaworks, the Reno-based nonprofit that coordinates development of the workforce in northern Nevada.

The program developed by EmployOn Inc. of Cleveland would have carried a price tag of $120,000 next year, says John Thurman, the interim chief executive officer of Nevadaworks.

The sophisticated job-search site has allowed jobseekers to post their resumes, posted openings from employers, and assembled job postings from other online sites.

It's also provide analytical tools that scanned keywords and made suggestions to jobseekers about other positions that might match their skills and experience. A candidate seeking a job as a chief executive officer, for instance, might have been referred to openings for chief operating officers as well.

The site also has allowed jobseekers to see how their skills stacked up against others in the field.

About 5,100 jobseekers have registered on the site during recent weeks, and it was generating as many as 1,200 hits a week during its early days of operation.

Nevadaworks said employers who posted their openings only on itsaboutjobs.com should make copies and post them on other employment sites. Nevada Job Connect provides a listing of third-party sites www.nevadajobconnect.com.

Executives of Nevadworks said, too, they have their fingers crossed that the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation might offer the itsaboutjobs.com service statewide.

The closure of itsaboutjobs.com doesn't affect NevadaEmployerHelp.com, a site that provides assistance to employers in screening, recruiting, training and human resources.

Nevadaworks executives said they are working with nonprofits in northern Nevada who might take over leadership of NevadaEmployerHelp.com as federal funding continues to decline.

Because of the funding cuts, Nevadaworks said it also will end the contracts with three women who served as liaisons for the agency in rural Nevada.

Lucina Lewis had worked in eastern Nevada, Donna Wiedner in Douglas, Lyon and Churchill counties and Michelle Robinson had worked in communities along the Interstate 80 corridor.