WI SHRM Announces a Statewide Volunteer Program in Collaboration with the WI Department of Public Instruction to Support Workforce Development
WI SHRM, in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, is proud to announce a statewide volunteer program to support workforce development.
The Libraries Activating Workforce Development Skills, or LAWDS Project, was initiated by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in collaboration with the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to enable local library staff to support Wisconsin job seekers who may not be able to travel to a job center, or who hope to continue their job search efforts off Job Center business hours. Wisconsin’s 380 public libraries and more than 80 additional branch locations are far more numerous than Wisconsin Job Centers and are often open on evenings and weekends when Job Centers are not.
WI SHRM is now reaching out to HR professionals state-wide, seeking volunteers to support their local library staff’s workforce development efforts. While the DPI has provided library staff with basic training to support job seekers, SHRM HR professionals are highly experienced in job seeking skills and tools and are a natural fit to support this need. This collaboration provides SHRM members an opportunity to have a direct impact in their own community.
How can SHRM volunteers help their local library?
Libraries have asked for workforce development support with:
- Resume writing
- Mock interviews
- How to conduct an interview via zoom/teams,
- Conducting online job searches
- Computer skills training covering the creation of an email address
- How to dress for an interview
Library support could take the form of:
- Scheduled “office hours” at the library
- Scheduled one-on-one, or one-on-many meetings at the library
- Scheduled “Zoom” meetings with one or more that could be conducted from home
- Other arrangements made with the local library Director
Who can volunteer?
- You do not need to be a member of a local SHRM chapter to volunteer, SHRM National members with no local chapter affiliation are welcome to participate.
How can SHRM Members Volunteer?
If you are interested in volunteering, or just finding out more about this opportunity, follow the steps below:
- Follow this link to an online form to register your interest in volunteering with a local library.
Signing up as a volunteer does not obligate volunteers, it simply gives DPI and the public library systems preliminary information about which libraries may be able to benefit from this collaboration.
- DPI will notify volunteers that their registrations have been received, and notify the local library requested by the volunteer.
- WISHRM volunteers will be provided with general guidelines from the DPI and will be invited to an online orientation, which they should plan to complete before reaching out to their local library.
- AFTER receiving confirmation of their registration, reviewing guidelines, and completing the orientation, WISHRM volunteers should contact their local public library Director and begin discussing how they might work together.
Please note that due to the pandemic, not all libraries are open for full service, including in-person programs or one-on-one training. Some libraries have found it necessary to scale services up and down on an ongoing basis.
- For additional information, go to the LAWDS website, hosted by DPI. It describes the history of the project and includes links to several of the training modules.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Martha Farley Berninger, WI DPI, Administrative Manager, Library Services Team - Martha.Berninger@dpi.wi.gov
Bob Von Der Linn, WI SHRM Workforce Readiness Director - rvonderlinn@gmail.com
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