Ann Arbor SPARK Launches New Talent Portal to Help Skilled Professionals Connect With Employers

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ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Ann Arbor SPARK, the driving force of the region’s business attraction and acceleration, recently launched a new talent portal on its website. Based on feedback from employers, the talent portal includes a range of new features to help businesses attract employees and manage job postings. Unlike other general job boards, the Ann Arbor SPARK talent portal is designed to help skilled professionals connect with employers.

“Ann Arbor SPARK’s talent efforts are an important component to the region’s economic development,” said Skip Simms, interim president and CEO. “Creating more opportunities for potential employers to find the employees, and resources they need to support business growth, creates economic growth.”

Through the new Ann Arbor SPARK talent portal, employers can independently manage job postings, including adding new posts and editing existing posts. Employers will also be able to inactivate job postings and easily reactivate those postings when additional job candidates are needed.

More than 400 companies posted over 1,300 jobs to the Ann Arbor SPARK talent portal in 2010. Of the companies that posted jobs, 41 percent hired a new employee that was found through the Ann Arbor SPARK talent portal. Nearly 40 percent of jobs posted to the SPARK talent portal were in the IT profession. Professional/Administrative jobs accounted for 20 percent of posts, and Sales/Marketing/Business Development professions accounted for 14 percent.

Job seekers will also benefit from the enhanced talent portal. In addition to being able to sort postings by category and experience level, postings can be filtered by region and date posted.

Ann Arbor SPARK’s new talent portal can be accessed at http://www.annarborusa.org/talent.

ABOUT ANN ARBOR SPARK

Ann Arbor SPARK, a non-profit organization, is the driving force in establishing the Ann Arbor region as a destination for business expansion, retention, and location by identifying and meeting the needs of business at every stage, from startups to large organizations. Ann Arbor SPARK represents all communities in the Washtenaw County. Ann Arbor SPARK collaborates with business, academic, government, and community investor partners including the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College, Michigan Works!/ETCS, Washtenaw County, the City of Ann Arbor, the Bank of Ann Arbor and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.  For more information, please call (734) 761-9317 or visit www.AnnArborUSA.org.

SOURCE: Ann Arbor SPARK