Frequently Asked Questions

JobQuest provides additional tools to assist job seekers identify potential jobs that meet their career objectives when they register.

1. You can create and maintain a Job Match Profile that will provide you a listing of possible job matches based on your experience, skill sets and job preferences.
2. Employers will have the ability to find you based on the details in your Job Match Profile.
3. If you do not have a résumé, you can develop a Career Profile in JobQuest which potential employers can view when they find you.
4. If you have a résumé in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), you have the ability to upload your résumé to JobQuest. Employers will have access to view your résumé as long as your contact information is not set to Confidential.
5. Employers have the ability to indicate that they are interested in you as a potential employee and you will be notified through your JobQuest "Job Inbox".

The Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development needs to check our database to see if you have an existing Unemployment Insurance claim or have received services or training at a Career Center. Many of our programs are federally funded and we are required to use Social Security Numbers as a unique identifier. Our database is secure and your SSN is confidential.

If you make your Contact Information confidential, employers using JobQuest will still be able to see the Work Experience and skills data in your Career Profile. They can click on "Employer Interested" on their employer account and this will display as a message on your account indicating that an employer is interested in you. You can then contact the Employer. Employers can also ask a Career Center to contact you.

No. Your résumé contains your name and contact information. If you want your contact information to be confidential, JobQuest will not allow the employer to see your résumé.

You can upload a résumé that is in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) into JobQuest. If your Contact Information is set to allow employers to view your information then they will have access to your uploaded résumé in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). This gives you the ability to provide the employer a Rich-text formatted document for your résumé.

If you provide career details in the Copy & Paste Résumé employers will have an enhanced tool to search and find you. Employers have the ability to search for potential employees through a keyword search. The keyword search will interrogate the Copy & Paste Résumé.

When you define your Job Match Profile you are indicating the types of occupation(s) you are interested in, your general job skills, work perferences and job location preferences. Once you have completed your Job Match Profile, JobQuest will run a Job Order match based on your profile when you log into the system. Click on the "Review Matched Jobs" in your Job Inbox and all the job orders that match your profile will be listed.

You can edit your Job Match profile at any time to narrow or widen your search scope. Once you have edited your profile, you can click the "Match Jobs" button and a new list of job orders will be matched for you.

Another feature of the Job Match Profile is that it allows employers to search for you based on the information you entered into your Job Match Profile. So, providing a Job Match Profile not only helps you search for jobs, but it provides the employers additional tools to find you.

Once you have established a Job Match Profile and it is complete, JobQuest will not only provide you a listing of job orders that match your criteria, but will also provide the employer the ability to find you. If you do not want an employer to be able to find you, you can turn off your Job Match Profile by "Inactivating" the profile in the Profile Status section of My JobQuest page.

You can turn your Job Match Profile back on from the same section by "Activating" your profile.

Be aware that when you turn off your Job Match Profile, you no longer have the ability to view your Job Match job order listing through the "Review Matched Jobs" link in your Job Inbox or by clicking the "Match Jobs" button. Your Job Match Profile must be "Active".

Follow the instructions in the "How to Apply" section. If this posting is from US.jobs, click on the link found in the "Job Description" section to get to the employer's web site to find out how to apply.

No, you have just indicated that you are interested. To officially apply for the job, you need to contact the employer using the information in the "How to Apply" section. Saving the job to your list will post an entry on the job order that you are interested. If the job order was entered by an employer using JobQuest, they can see that you are interested. However, if you do not apply for the job by contacting the employer, applying on-line or mailing your résumé, employers will assume that you are not interested enough to officially apply.

When an employer closes or deletes a job order, the job will be removed from your "Saved Jobs" list.

If the message "View the jobs where employers have expressed an interested in you" appears in your Job Inbox, this means an employer has seen your profile and may be interested in hiring you. If you click on this message, it will bring you to your "My Jobs of Interest" page. The new listings will have a status of "Employer Interested" in the Source of Interest column and the Interest Result will be "Pending". After reading the job description, if you are interested in this job, update the Interest Result status to "Interested" and follow the instructions under the "How to Apply" section of the job details. If you are not interested in the job, change the Interest Result status to "Not Interested".

The job training courses available through the MassHire JobQuest system include training opportunities currently approved for ITA, Section 30, Trade, and the Education Rewards Loan Program. Each of these programs has specific eligibility requirements and job seekers may be required to meet the requirements before enrolling in the training program. Training programs may also be approved in some local areas and not approved in others. Please contact your local Career Center for eligibility determination and additional information regarding course availability.

The Commonwealth's 34 MassHire Career Centers provide job search assistance and career counseling to help job seekers find jobs. Career Centers offer events and workshops monthly to help job seekers improve their job search skills, learn basic PC skills and connect with employers. Additionally, the staff-assisted resource rooms at the MassHire Career Centers provide all the resources a job seeker needs for an effective job search, including; computers, printers, résumé-writing software, fax machines and telephones. For more information and to find a Career Center near you visit http://www.mass.gov/careercenters.

You can contact us at the JobQuest Help Desk at 888-578-6599. The hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM EST. If you call the JobQuest Help Desk after hours, you may leave a voice message with your name and phone number and we will return your call within the next business day. Alternatively, you can email your question to our Help Desk at MOSES@detma.org making sure to include your name, email address and phone.