If you are unemployed and having trouble finding a job in the current depression; if you are trying to apply for the unemployment insurance; if you are injured in work and trying to get compensation from employer, please try www.laworks.net, the website for the Louisiana Workforce Commission(LWC) . Hopefully, you will find useful information there.

LWC is an organization which aims to lead the development of the system that delivers the workforce Louisiana’s current and future employers need. The website is the platform on which this organization realizes its function as an information provider and intermediate organization that better connects the both parties in the labor market.

Firstly, the website functions as an information center of the labor market. After registration, you can submit your resume if you are a job seeker, you can publicize an open position if you are an employer.

After clicking “Online service” on the left hand side of the webpage, you will enter a new webpage that contains more information and service for both job seekers and employers. After clicking on “Job Search “, you will get access to a number of services such as career service, jobseeker service, education service and etc. For instance, the career service helps the jobseeker first identify his/her skills and then find the matching positions in the job market. This will save the job seeker a lot of time which might have been wasted in applying for jobs that are not suitable for them. Education service provides information such as the training providers and schools, training programs, financial aid for trainings and online learning resources. This is valuable information for jobseekers who would like to equip themselves with more practical skills and knowledge, which in turn increases their employability.

Similar list of service will be visible after clicking on “Post a job”. Such service encompasses a variety of perspectives, like recruitment service, education service, labor market service, government resources and etc. What worth mentioning are the government resources which includes an up-to-date data base of congressional contact information links to more than 200 one-stop career centers, legislative information and etc, which are all valuable and instrumental for employers. The same information can be accessed also by clicking first on “Louisiana Virtual One-Stop” on the homepage, and then on “Jobseekers” and “Employers” respectively.

If you click on the “labor market information” on the left hand side of the home webpage, you will get more information and service available there. For example, you can subscribe to electronic notification for new labor information available online, which saves you time and energy in online job searching yourself. Also other LMI products such as career tools, monthly employment statistics release are available here.

Besides, the website provides information on relative law with respect to the right and obligation of both parties in the workforce market. The most commonly needed information for the jobseekers is that of “Unemployment Insurance (UI)” application. Also on the webpage after clicking “online service”, you can find the information concerning filing a UI claim and a downloadable Unemployment Insurance Appeal form. To learn more about this, you can click on “Unemployment Insurance”. The FAQ part is a good conclusion of common questions and may apply well to individual case. On the page of “online service” find you also notice of tax rate which is important for employers. Information on “Workers’ Compensation”, which is crucial for both employers and employees, can be found in the category of “Workers’ Compensation”. Be you a veteran, relevant information regarding your employment can also be found on the webpage of LWC. Also, pertaining laws and regulations on employment of minors, apprentices, and aliens are also available if you click on “business”.

Special job guidance is designed for the youth in Louisiana as well. By clicking on “Louisiana Youth Works”, you will be exposed to a webpage which has a vivid and lovely look. Tips on crucial things like what to prepare, what is suitable for me, what I still need to learn, where to continue with my study, where to turn to for recourses and how to make the final decision, are all available by clicking on links on this page. I think the young, who are eager to enter the society with little preparation can make good use of this webpage as the first step into their career. The youth is the building power of the society in the following decades, and a good guidance in career selection is of great value if it functions well.

One weakness of the website is that several links are redundant for that they link to the same page. For example, the link from “What’s right for me” on the youth works webpage direct the user to the same webpage as the one he/she would be directed to by clicking “jobseeker” from the Louisiana Virtual One-Stop webpage.

In general, this website serves as a intermediate party between employers and employees, a provider of valuable information and practical resources (or links to relevant resources) in the labor market and a guidance for people who are about to start their career.