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Independent guide. Not affiliated with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development or any government agency.

How do you find work in New Jersey?

Short answer

Job Source, the state job bank, lists New Jersey openings, and a One-Stop career counselor will work through your search with you at no cost.

Browse New Jersey openings through Job Source

The Department's tools cost nothing to use, and one of them carries a catch: enroll in a training program on your own, without a career counselor, and you may not be able to receive unemployment payments. What counts as looking for work in a week you claim sits with the weekly claim.

Start with Job Source, the state job bank

Job Source is where the Department sends jobseekers to browse openings in New Jersey, and its Career Services home page is the door to it.

My Career NJ gathers the state's career, job, and training tools into one connected set. An NJ Career Navigator profile there returns job and training recommendations matched to your skills, experience, and career goals, and the Department says uploading your resume gets you started faster. Both sit behind the Department's job search assistance page.

What a career counselor will do

A counselor will work through the search with you, online or in person, at no cost: the search itself, skills assessments, which training to take, and help with your resume.

The One-Stop Career Centers around them add Jersey Job Club workshops, interviewing and resume assistance, ESL classes, high school equivalency preparation, re-employment orientation, and services aimed at veterans, mature workers, displaced homemakers, people with disabilities, ex-offenders, and younger jobseekers. Addresses, and how the appointments work, sit on the offices page.

Training, courses, and your benefits

Make the appointment with a One-Stop career counselor before you enroll in anything. Enrolling in a program without their guidance may leave you ineligible for unemployment benefits.

SkillUp New Jersey, a no-cost virtual training platform, carries over 5,000 courses that lead to industry-recognized certifications from providers such as Skillsoft. The Department's Career Services home page advertises over 7,000 free online courses. NJ Training Explorer lists the programs and classes that prepare you for in-demand jobs in the state.

Say yes on your application and on your weekly certification when either asks whether you are attending school, college, or unpaid job training. A claims examiner then decides whether the training is approved and whether you stay eligible for benefits while you attend.

Go through a counselor and the money opens up. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the New Jersey Opportunity Partnership Program can pay part or all of a training program, registered apprenticeships pay you while you learn, and Additional Benefits During Training can add up to 26 weeks of payments to finish an approved program after your unemployment benefits run out.

Enroll in training on your own and New Jersey is barred from covering any of the cost, and you cannot be considered for Additional Benefits During Training either.

More places to look for New Jersey openings

Each of these job boards lists New Jersey openings.

More New Jersey guides

Official sources

Updated and checked against nj.gov on