General Assistance

Attention Out-of-School Youth Ages 16-24!

CareerSource Southwest Florida’s DESTINATION⇒CAREER$ program provides youth, ages 16 – 24, who are out-of-school, with access to quality education and job opportunities.
How? Through individualized guidance, continued support for educational attainment, and opportunities for skills training for in-demand industries and occupations. All culminating with a good job along a career pathway or enrollment in post-secondary education.

The iCareer pathway passport, which includes work-based learning, is promoted through Work Experience, On-the-Job Training (OJT), job shadowing, internships and short-term occupational skills training.

What is my first step?  Contact a workforce professional at a location nearest you to schedule a one-on-one appointment to learn what options are available to you.
Please use our COVID-19 Career Services Form to schedule an appointment, click this link to access the form.
Click on the following link for a list of the CareerSource Southwest Florida centers:  Locations

What do I bring to the appointment?

  • Photo identification
  • Social security card or other proof of social security number
  • Males born on or after January 1, 1960 must be registered for the selective service.  Online registration is available at the following link:  https://www.sss.gov 

What services are available?

  • Career exploration = $
  • Workshops on how to write resumes, apply and interview for jobs = $
  • How to decide how much money you want to earn throughout your career = $
  • How to increase your earning potential = $
  • General Equivalency Diploma attainment = $
  • Technical skills training = $
  • Work based training where you can earn while you learn = $
  • How to budget and maximize the money you earn = $

All our services are at no cost to you.

Let us help you with career advice and tips on your job search by following us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and “Like” us on Facebook.

Federal Bonding Program

A Federal Fidelity Bond is a business insurance policy that protects the employer in case of any loss of money or property due to employee dishonesty.  The Fidelity Bonds issued under the Federal Bonding Program are insurance policies underwritten by the Travelers Property Casualty Insurance Company and are good for a period of six months.  Each bond insures the employer for theft, forgery, larceny or embezzlement by the bonded employee.  It does not cover liability due to poor workmanship, job injuries or work accidents, and it is not a bail bond or court bond for the legal system nor a contract bond, performance bond or license bond sometimes needed for self-employment.  Any at-risk job applicant is eligible for bonding services, including ex-offenders, recovering substance abusers (alcohol or drugs), welfare recipients and other persons having poor financial credit, economically disadvantaged youth and adults who lack a work history, individuals dishonorably discharged from the military, and others. This service is available by contacting any of our centers.

 To be eligible for the Federal Bonding Program, an at-risk worker must:

  • Need the program’s bond in order to get a specific job (have an actual job offer that requires bond issuance).
  • Meet the legal age for working.  There are no other age limits, and some jobs require the employee to be 18 while others require 21.
  • Be paid wages with federal taxes automatically deducted from pay (self-employed persons and independent contractors cannot be covered).

While the main purpose of the Federal Bonding Program is to help applicants who are having difficulty obtaining a job due to their questionable background, a bond can be issued to cover a current employee who is not able to obtain a bond under the employer’s insurance and needs the program’s bonding to get a promotion to a new job which requires bonding or to keep from being laid off.

Bonds are issued in units of $5,000.  One unit of bond insurance coverage is usually sufficient to cover most job placements.  Prior to issuing bond amounts larger than $5,000 (never more than five bond units or $25,000 coverage), approval must be obtained from the State Bonding Coordinator.  The bond issued has no deductible amount and the employer receives the total amount of the covered loss up to the full amount of the bond insurance.

Either the individual or the employer can request the assistance of our staff in acquiring a bond.  For each person bonded, a separate one-page Fidelity Bond Certification Form must be completed by our staff.

Please contact one of our centers for additional assistance and information or go to the website – Federal Bonding Program.

“My Next Move” can help you decide on a career


My Next Move

This online tool, at MyNextMove, is free to all users, and gives individuals several alternatives for occupations (including the O*NET Interest Profiler).  It provides an easy-to-read, one-page profile of each occupation, including essential knowledge, skills, abilities, and technologies, simplified salary and employment outlook information, as well as links to specific training and employment opportunities.

In addition there is a link to My Next Move for Veterans

You've served your country. Now you're ready for a new challenge. What do you want to do for a living?

My Next Move for Veterans

Consider Passive Talent as Your Next Hire

Business People_Team of Executives
Hiring? We should talk….

One of the challenges we face with record low unemployment rates is finding quality talent to meet your business needs.

In order to have a successful hire, it is important to understand the difference between active and passive candidates, factors affecting your decision on who to recruit, and how you can accomplish the task at hand.

Let’s look at the difference between active and passive candidates.

  • Recruiting active candidates is less expensive; they are already looking for you and present themselves on applications asking for the job.

  • The passive candidate takes more effort, more resources are required to find them and hire them.

  • Sourcing active candidates requires effective use of technology, whereas passive candidates require a strong recruiting team, skilled hiring managers, and active networking, therefore it can be more expensive.

The factors on whether to target active or passive candidates depends on supply and demand, your business brand, and the quality of your recruiting team.

Hiring passive candidates can be accomplished by following the advice of this article by Dee Murphy, Head of Content and Employer Branding at Jobbio, article “Passive Talent: Why Your Next Hire is Already Employed”.

Targeting passive talent takes proper planning, effort, and a strong recruiting team. Are you ready for the challenge? So are we! We can help!

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What You Can Get From Summer Employment

Young adults or students

We are half-way through the summer and you may know what matters in regards to keeping the job you have and how it can help you in future career choices.

Believe it or not, summer jobs can open up our eyes as to what is important to you about the type of job you want to pursue.

If this is the first summer job you’ve had, here a few things you may get out of summer employment that will benefit your future.

  • Look at your job as an opportunity to learn about that particular business from the inside out.

  • Find out if your own interests and passions match that particular job which may lead you to your career of choice.

  • If not, it may give you ideas of what other careers you may want to pursue.

  • Be willing to learn all you can about that position, a can-do attitude goes a long way.

  • Make sure you add the experience you are getting from this job on your resume.

  • What you get out of this job depends on your attitude.

  • Learning to show up on time, follow directions, willingness to learn, and do what it takes to get the job done will help you on your next job opportunity.

  • If you’ve had a positive work experience, ask your supervisor to be a reference for future job opportunities.

Summer is coming to an end, make sure your job experience does not stop here. Keep on learning all you can and research career options that will lead you to your future professional development.

For more advice, “Like” us on Facebook, “follow” us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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