Title I Career Planner

Job Title: Career Planner

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) is seeking a Career Planner to join our team at the Iowa WORKS office in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Position Details:

• Location: 300 W Broadway 13, Council Bluffs, IA
• Schedule: Full-time | Monday – Friday | 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
• Work Flexibility: Hybrid telework and alternate schedules available after six months of employment

Agency Overview:

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) is a state agency committed to providing employment services for individual job seekers and to connecting employers to available workers through our Iowa WORKS partnership.

Core Responsibilities:

Customer Service and Team Collaboration:

• Provide courtesy, respect, and politeness during all interactions with customers, both internal and external.
• Work with and ask customers appropriate questions to determine services they are seeking and/or needing.
• Interact effectively and build respectful relationships among coworkers and partners.
• Collaborate with team members within the American Job Center (AJC), resulting in a better experience for customers.
• Provide feedback as well as potential solutions to team and/or leadership and provide first day service to Veterans.
• Promptly greet customers upon entry into the Iowa WORKS Center in a friendly and professional manner.

Career Coaching and Customer Support:

• Coach, motivate, and encourage job seekers on all aspects of the job search and assist customers to build their personal and job skills for the primary goal of successful employment.
• Provide customers assistance with preparing and tailoring resumes and cover letters and facilitate mock interviews for customers, identifying ways to improve their interview responses.
• Process paperwork for partner and team programs and services.
• Refer, direct, and result customers to appropriate workshops and employment events.
• Facilitate workshops or one-on-one appointments in-person or through virtual conferencing platform for customers/participants of system programs and services, update workshops and presentations as new information is available.
• Accurately document all services, appointments, or other pertinent information in the database system and send/receive work-related documents for customers.

Employment Services and Labor Market Guidance:

• Assist customers by answering questions about employment and training opportunities.
• Perform "job matching" referring career opportunities to candidates in the Iowa WORKS System. Provide appropriate partner referrals and relay current labor market information to job candidates.

Business Services and Employer Engagement:

• Provide direct services to business for recruitment of employees and provide information and guidance to employers on how to use the Iowa WORKS system.
• Identify sources for potential new employer customers for the AJC and participate in development and implementation of customized recruitment strategies and events.
• Provide follow-up contact and services to job seekers and business.
• Utilize case management system for tracking and maintaining employer information.
• Critique and enter job orders and referrals into the Iowa WORKS system and network with businesses to determine hiring practices and employer needs.

Unemployment Insurance and Re-employment Support:

• Connect unemployment claimants with re-employment activities at the AJC.
• Adhere and refer to unemployment administration rules and Iowa law when working with customers in regard to filing unemployment insurance (UI) claims, answering questions and concerns.
• Use database system to review salary histories, cross reference database systems to ensure personal identification information matches and adjudicate issues within the claim in accordance with all UI laws.
• Provide information to customers for UI appeals when necessary and prepare and participate in all UI appeal hearings relating to issued adjudications decisions.

Benefits of Working for the State of Iowa:

• Excellent health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous paid time off, including nine paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave with no cap on sick leave accrual.
• Prepare for the future with the IPERS retirement package, as well as an additional optional deferred compensation retirement plan.
• Flexible Spending Accounts for medical and dependent care.
• Free Life and Long-term Disability Insurance with the option of purchasing additional coverage.
• Employee Assistance Programs and Discount Programs for support.

The State of Iowa participates in E-Verify; a federal program that helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. Within the required timeframe, new hires will be verified through the E-Verify system to ensure authorization to work in the United States. The State of Iowa also complies with the federal Right to Work laws, which protect employees' rights to work without being required to join a labor organization. For more information, please visit

No applicant for employment with the Iowa Department of Workforce Development can have a current, ongoing overpayment balance with Iowa Workforce Development without a payment plan in place. Selected positions will be subject to a criminal background check.

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

Applicants must meet at least one of the following minimum requirements to qualify for positions in this job classification: 1) Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a degree in any field. 2) Four years of full-time work experience in career services, teaching or training to improve skills, job coaching, providing human services to individuals in need, sales, customer service, call center operations, or human-resources-related services involving interviewing, reviewing job applications, conducting employment-related assessments, or job placement. 3) A total of four years of education and/or full-time experience (as described in number two), where thirty semester hours of accredited college or university coursework in any field equals one year of full-time experience. 4) Current, continuous experience in the state executive branch that includes twelve months of full-time work as a Workforce Associate.