JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The state of Missouri is one of only ten states to receive a 2020 Government Experience Award for its centralized applicant tracking system, MoCareers. The Center for Digital Government (CDG) announced award winners in a virtual ceremony Thursday.
Winners were celebrated for improving efficiency and the overall experience in government. This year’s winners were identified as some of the “best practices in federal, state, and local government.”
“We are honored that MoCareers continues to be recognized nationally for modernizing business practices in state government,” Governor Mike Parson said. “More importantly, however, this success represents our talented state workforce and their commitment to improving customer experience for our job applicants.”
“Our team members continue to come up with innovative ideas to help push Missouri forward and not miss a beat even as they confront the COVID-19 challenge,” Missouri Chief Operating Officer Drew Erdmann said. “We are proud to see their excellence in making state government better get recognized once again on a national level.”
“This award is special because it recognizes the collaborative effort of team members across our departments” said Casey Osterkamp, Division of Personnel Director. “As the state’s first centralized, applicant-focused, mobile friendly job application platform, MoCareers has had a widespread impact on our state. Winning this award is validation of how big change is possible within state government through the hard work of dedicated public servants.”
The state partnered with Kiosite, LLC to completely redesign MoCareers to what it is today. Kiosite is a St. Louis, Missouri-based business specializing in talent management to include assessment and selection of new employees.
MoCareers replaced over 50 different hiring processes previously being utilized across the state, which were complex and inconsistent. Many were still paper-based, and job seekers had to apply different ways through different systems.
MoCareers provides a unified website in which job seekers can apply to jobs across state agencies on a single platform. This allows for consistent messaging and a standard approach to recruitment and hiring in state government. MoCareers also highlights each agencies’ individuality while offering a consistent viewing and application experience all in one place.
The MoCareers team was a cross-departmental effort led by Dawn Sweazea, Director of Talent Acquisition, and Casey Osterkamp, Director of the Division of Personnel for the Office of Administration. The program is currently overseen by Senior Talent Acquisition Coordinator Jessie Pace.
“This award allows us to celebrate our accomplishments. We now have a statewide, unified approach that has improved both the experience for our job applicants and state users,” said Jessie Pace, Senior Talent Acquisition Coordinator. “This award represents the collaboration of so many amazing team members who together have made MoCareers a success.”
“MoCareers is a culmination of what could be! We worked fast, intense, and collaboratively. To think we only launched nine months ago, after just a 4 month implementation,” Director of Talent Acquisition Dawn Sweazea said. “Everyone involved should be so proud! We’ve accomplished what many didn’t think would be possible, and that has spurred new creativity and innovation as well.”
“I am incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication from our team members in preparation for the launch of MoCareers,” Office of Administration Commissioner Sarah Steelman said. “MoCareers is a great example of what can be achieved in transforming state government to better serve Missourians!”
Work on the project began in September 2019, and MoCareers officially launched in January 2020. Fulfilling its promise to make MoCareers as powerful as possible, the team continues to enhance the website. An expansion is planned for November 2020, including additional technologies to further support internal users and new team members with onboarding.
This award marks yet another accolade for the MoCareers team. Last week, the program was recognized as State IT Innovation of the Year at the StateScoop 50 Awards.
