Basic Registration and Job Search Guide for Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Workforce Development System

Basic Registration and Job Search Guide for Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Workforce Development System (CWDS)

 

CWDS Homepage: http://www.pacareerlink.state.pa.us/

 

PREFACE: It will be assumed that you have already done some research into what the content of your resume information will consist of, such as job descriptions, educational history etc. If you have not, the resume information that you input on the CWDS website can be modified at any time later, and the website can accessed from any computer with an internet connection. The CWDS website allows you to create multiple resumes, as well as having capability to upload a resume file saved on your computer or on a Flash/USB drive, or 3.5 inch floppy disk. Please Note: The system will NOT ALLOW you to upload your own resume file unless at least one part of a “manually entered” resume is present on the system. When entering information on any screen on the CWDS website, entries with a Red Asterisk MUST BE COMPLETED or the system will not allow you to advance to the next screen. Avoid using the “Back Button” on your web browser, instead use the “Back” button on the webpage whenever one is offered. Assistance on the website is available by clicking the Help Link on available on each screen OR by calling or visiting your local CareerLink® Office.

 

  

PART 1: BASIC REGISTRATION (Create a Keystone ID/Password and Contact Info)

1. Navigate your web browser to www.pacareerlink.state.pa.us , on the right side of the webpage, under the Keystone shaped Log In box, you will need to click on the link that says “New User?”

2. Click the radio button to indicate that you are an “Individual Seeking Services” then, click on the “Continue” button found beneath the Enrollment Options box to advance to the next screen.

3. Input your first name, last name, full social security number and date of birth using the 4 digit year into the appropriate fields, then click on the “Continue” button below the box.

4. IMPORTANT: If the system tells you that you have previously been registered on the CWDS system, STOP and contact your local CareerLink® to gain access to your previously existing account. CareerLink Staff can provide you with your Participant ID Number, which will allow you to obtain your Keystone ID & change your Password using the Forgot Password & Forgot Keystone ID links.

5. If you DO NOT have an existing account you will now input some basic information about yourself into the CWDS system. To avoid problems later, please complete ALL ENTRIES in this section, even if they are not marked with the red asterisk mentioned earlier. Then Click “Save and Continue”

6. On this page you will create your Keystone ID (User Name), account password, and three separate Hint Questions & Answers that allow you to reset your password should you ever forget it or it expires.

7. IMPORTANT: The Keystone ID must be between 6-10 letters, numbers or combination of letters and numbers. Passwords must be AT LEAST 8 total characters and meet “Complexity Requirements”. Passwords require 3 OUT OF THE 4: Capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers & special characters.

8. Examples:

• 135Willow (GOOD. Has capital& lowercase letters and numbers)
• VanHalen! (GOOD. Has capital & lower case letters and a special character)
• Password (NO GOOD. Meets only 2 of 4 Password Requirements)

 

 9. Click “Save & Continue” If the Keystone ID, password and hint questions & answers were created successfully, “Account Created Successfully” message & Participant ID Number will be displayed.

10. IMPORTANT: At this point, write down your Keystone ID, account password and your Participant ID Number. Staff CAN NOT look up or change Keystone ID’s or Passwords for you, and CareerLink® Staff will need your Participant ID in order to locate your account in CWDS.

  

PART 2: CREATING A RESUME IN THE CWDS SYSTEM

1. Input the Keystone ID and account password you just created into the “Keystone Key” log in box located just to the right of the “Account Created Successfully” text box.

2. Click the “Log In” button and you will be presented with the mandatory Civil Rights Information text. Please Note: This statement will only appear during your first time log in.

3. Click the box next to “I have read and understood the above statement”, then “Save & Continue”

4. Scroll to the bottom of the “Create Program Referral” page and click on “Skip” button option.

5. You are now looking at your CWDS Account Homepage. This will be the starting point of your future Log Ins on the CWDS system. We will now begin create a resume on the CWDS system.

6. Click on the link titled “Resume” in the “Quick Links” box on the left of your screen.

7. The resulting screen is your Resume List that will display all of the resumes that you have created manually and/or uploaded. At this point there are no previously created records.

8. We will deal with uploading a resume file later, so at this time click the “Create” button

9. The system will require you to give the resume a name in the “Resume Details” box.

10. Below the “Name of Resume” line is a “Resume Template” drop down box offering you three choices in the layout of your CWDS resume. The default choice is the Experience Resume that will list your most recent employer at the top. The Education Resume places your educational history at the top of your resume, and the Skills Resume will list your Skills Summary at the top of your Resume.

11. The Experience Resume is best for most people. The Education Resume is best for recent graduates or persons seeking their first job in a field they have just received training in. The Skills Resume is best for persons with widely varying job experience, or people who have worked in the same career field for many years, but have worked for several employers in the same or similar job titles in that time.

12. In the “Contact Information” box, click the box next to each field for the contact information you want appear on your resume when it is printed, or when you apply to positions on the CWDS website.

13. The Objective section is OPTIONAL. If you decide to use an objective statement, it should be specific to the field or occupation that you are seeking employment in, rather than a generic type of objective.

14. Click on “Create a Work Record” in the Work Record section. The “Work Record Details” screen will now open. All fields with an asterisk are mandatory. The “Responsibilities” field is where you will type OR cut and paste the description of your duties and responsibilities for that position and employer.

15. IMPORTANT: If you are interested in employment in similar position to the one you just described, click on the box to the right of “Include Work History in Job Match” This will make creating your individual job matching profile, which will be covered later, much easier as this information will be carried over into that section of your account.

16. Click “Check Spelling” when you have completed all fields, correct or ignore any errors identified by the system, then click on “Save and Add Another” if you have more employment history you wish to create OR “Save and Finish” if this section is complete.

17. Create additional entries in the other Resume sections that are applicable to you in the same manner.

18. IMPORTANT: When you have completed all the entries you want to add and you are looking at the main resume screen, starting at the top of the page click the check boxes on the left hand side of all entries titled “Include In Resume”, this tells CWDS you want these entries to be displayed.

19. When satisfied with the resume, click on “Save and Finish” on the bottom of the main resume screen

20. If you would like to create additional resumes for applications to specific types of jobs, you may do so in the same manner as described above. The system will allow you to annotate one of the resumes as your default. When applying to jobs on the CWDS website, you will have the option to choose which resume you want to send electronically, this is very important if you have multiple resumes on the system.

 

   

PART 3: UPLOADING A RESUME FILE TO CWDS

Preface: If you will be uploading your resume file using a PC in a CareerLink® Office, you will need to store the document on USB/Flash Drive or a Floppy Disk. Most CareerLink Offices can provide you with a Floppy Disk to download the document from your email account. CareerLink computers WILL NOT allow you to download and save the file from your email account to the desktop or hard drive of the CareerLink computer for uploading. You must have at least one part of the “manually created” resume completed BEFORE it will allow you to upload your own Resume file to your CWDS user account.

 

1.  From your homepage, click on “Resume” in the “Quick Links” box on the left hand side the screen.
2. From the “View Resumes” page, click on the “Upload” button.
3. IMPORTANT: CWDS will allow only three types of files to be uploaded, MS Word format (file extension .doc) , Rich Text Format (file extension .rtf) or Adobe Acrobat PDF format files (file extension .pdf) Resumes created in Microsoft Works, Word Perfect or other word processor programs will need to be saved using one of these file extensions. The original formatting of the document may be affected when the document is saved as a file type other than the file extension for that program.
4. After clicking upload, you must give the resume to be uploaded a name, then click on the check box indicating “I accept the Terms & Conditions of uploading a file on CWDS”
5. Click the “Browse” button locate the document on your PC OR if using a PC at a CareerLink Office, locate the document on your removable storage drive, then click “Save and Finish”
6. IMPORTANT: The system will always default to your manually created CWDS resume. You must remember click on the radio button next to your uploaded resume file to indicate you want use that file.

 
PART 4: CREATING A JOB MATCHING/JOB PREFERENCES PROFILE ON CWDS

 

Preface: The major advantage for taking the time to complete your Job Matching profile and turning this feature on is that it allows employers searching the system for potential employees to find you. It also allows you to conduct a very specific job search on the system with the parameters that you have created.

 

1. From your CWDS account homepage, click “Job Preferences” in the “Quick Links” box
2. IMPORTANT: It is not a mandatory field, but it is obviously of great importance to change the “Keep my Name Confidential” field from the default “Yes” to “No”
3. The “Occupation Preferences” field will be “Auto-Filled” from your manually entered CWDS resume from using the “Include this work history in Job Match” button to indicate your interest in these jobs
4. TO DELETE A JOB TITLE: Click on the radio button to left of any job title , then click “Remove”
5. ADD JOB TITLES: You can add to your list using the “Occupation Details” search engine located below. Use the drop down box to select the broad category, then click “Get Occupation Titles” button.
6. Select the job from the list, input your experience level, whether you hold a certification for the job, and select “Yes” you would like to be matched on that job, then click “Save” when finished.
7. IMPORTANT: All job titles are defaulted to “No” in the “Match on this Occupation” column. Click the radio button next to those jobs and click the “Edit” button. The job will now be open for editing in the “Occupation Details” section. Change the No to a Yes. Click on the “Save” button when finished
8. When you are satisfied with your Occupation List, click on the “Save and Continue” button
9. On the next page, select any languages that you speak (INCLUDING ENGLISH) and your fluency level in that language. If English is your native language, you are Fluent, NOT advanced or anything else.
10. Select the type of Driver’s License you have or “None Specified” if you do not drive
11. Complete the Supervisory Experience, Typing Speed and Computer Software sections if applicable.
12. DO NOT COMPLETE THE INDUSTRY PREFERENCES.
13. When all fields are completed, click “Save& Finish” at the bottom of the screen.
14. IMPORTANT: At the top of the resulting screen, indicate in the drop down box that “Yes” you are available for matching, THEN click on the “Save” button and complete the resulting survey.
15. Click on “Run Match” to search for job postings with the specific criteria you input

 

PART 5: SEARCHING FOR JOBS ON CWDS

 

Preface: The importance of reading the complete job postings on CWDS can not be overstated, nor can the importance of following the instructions provided by the employer about HOW they want you to apply (via Resume or Application, In Person, linking through CWDS to apply on their corporate website etc.)

 

1. From your CWDS account homepage, bring the mouse arrow over “Jobs” located on the blue tool bar near the top of the screen, then click on “Browse Jobs” from the selections
2. You have the option to search by Keyword OR search within a broad occupational category OR you can leave this section blank and choose to view ALL JOBS posted in a specific area.
3. The next section asks you to select location parameters about WHERE you want to look for available job postings. It is recommended that you use the ZIPCODE AND RADIUS search capability. This feature will tell you how far away (in miles) the job is located from the Zip Code that you used.
4. You can also input additional criteria you would like to use in the “Optional Search Criteria” section. In this section you can input a minimum wage level that you are willing to accept.
5. WARNING: Searching using a minimum wage level will exclude jobs from your search that had errors that were missed when they were approved. For example: If an employer uses $1.00 per hour wage because they did not want to reveal the actual wage range, it will not show in your results.
6. Click on the “Search” button. The screen will refresh, then scroll down to view your search results.
7. The order of your search results can be changed by clicking on any of the column headings. For example: Because we used the Zip Code radius search, the jobs closest to the Zip Code used will appear at the top of the last. You can click on “Posted Date” and reorder the list to show the newest postings 
8. If you see a job title that interests you, click on the Job Order Number to view and read the complete details and description of that posting. The important details will be listed, please read them carefully
9. If you are not interested, click the “Back” button. DO NOT USE THE BROWSER BACK BUTTON.
10. If you do want to apply to the posting, click on “Choose Options to Apply”

 

PART 6: APPLYING FOR JOBS ON CWDS

 

1. On the top of the next screen you have the option to select which resume you would like to use to apply
2. You have the option to send a Cover Letter with your resume. The cover letter can created from scratch or using one of templates from the drop down box after clicking the box to “Include Cover Letter”
3. To bypass the Cover Letter, click on “Apply Now” button found below the cover letter box.
4. IMPORTANT: The next screen is the MOST IMPORTANT screen in the application process. In the “Job Order Information” box will be the method or methods the employer has chosen for you to properly apply for the position. The methods provided for employers include: Phone, Fax, Postal Mail, Apply In Person, Email, a link to their website or using their inbox on their CWDS account.
5. If the employer has made Email one of the methods of application, you may email the resume of your choice through the CWDS system OR use the email address to send a resume from your email account.
6. IF YOU APPLIED BY MISTAKE: Click on the “Withdraw Application” button
7. PRINT EMPLOYER CONTACT INFO: If you wish to print the employer contact information provided for that posting click on “Print Contact Information” link on the lower left hand side.
8. If the employer has provided a link to their Website for you to submit your resume through their online system, DO IT. SOME EMPLOYERS USE ONLY ONLINE APPLICATIONS!!
9. To return to your original search results, click on the “Browse Jobs” button to return to your search
10. IMPORTANT: If you lose the contact information for a position that you have applied for, click on “Home”. On your homepage in the box titled “My Resume and Jobs” click “View Status” link to the right of “Job Applications” This will bring up the log of every job your have ever applied to on the CWDS system. Locate the posting on the list and click on the Job Title and Job Order Number Link on the left hand side. This will open the complete job posting and the employer contact methods will be below the job description under “Employer Contact Information”