Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator
About Our Programs
We offer several workshops focusing on the needs of different stakeholders. Whether you are a career counselor looking to prepare the job seekers you coach or an employer looking to improve your hiring and retention process, we offer a number of training opportunities across Minnesota to meet your needs.
A skills-based ecosystem brings career counselors, employers and industry together through a shared goal of competencies and skills—creating clarity and momentum across the entire talent lifecycle. When skills and competencies are used as the foundation for job descriptions, hiring, onboarding, upskilling, vocational training and career development, we align human potential with organizational and industry needs. Individuals gain confidence through skill recognition; employers build talent systems grounded in capability; and industries strengthen pipelines that support economic resilience. The result is a fully integrated system where people, businesses and communities grow together.
Award for Excellence in
Workforce Development
City of Minneapolis
2026
Select a Workshop
Career Counselors
This workshop equips career counselors, job coaches and workforce development educators with a skills-first approach that helps job seekers understand their strengths, tell authentic stories and navigate both human and AI-driven hiring processes with confidence and clarity.
Employers
These half‑day workshops give employers and hiring managers a complete skills‑based reset—rebuilding job descriptions, interviews, assessments, onboarding and upskilling strategies while clarifying how AI integrates to create a more accurate, objective and future‑ready workforce.
What skills-based practices can look like across the talent lifecycle
Sourcing: Understand and engage with the inclusive concept and language of skills, e.g.
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Update and publish accurate job postings with advanced applicant accessibility.
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Connect more effectively with worker serving organizations that have access to new talent pools.
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Understand the transferability of skills when sourcing cross-industry for new employees.
Assessment: Assess for required skills with standardized interview guides and assessments, e.g.
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Update and implement accurate and empowering interview guides and rubrics.
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Add and evaluate applicant assessments, supplementing your interview process.
Retention: Upskill workers and enable internal mobility, e.g.
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Accurately connect with training providers for precise employee development.
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Develop internal ‘progression roadmaps’ from entry-level roles to advance roles.
*Foundational to skills-based talent efforts are a universal skills language(ontology) and an understanding of required and preferred competencies (skills, knowledge, and abilities)*
Thank you for today's seminar.
It was very interesting and informative. It gave me a whole new way to think of hiring and training.
This was an amazing educational training session and I felt there was a lot of energy in the room and with the presenter. Awesome work!!
Sylvia C Garcia | State Program Coordinator Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development