A coalition of six associations has opened an online tourism career center. The coalition includes the Maine Tourism Association, HospitalityMaine, Retail Association of Maine, Maine Summer Camps, Maine Campground Owners Association and Maine State Golf Association.

The Maine Tourism Career Center, which can be found online at mainetourismjobs.com, aims to be a central resource for Maine’s tourism-related jobs, according to a news release from the tourism career center.

The tourism career center will include full-time and seasonal job listings for employers to advertise their positions. Job seekers can upload their resumes, search for job opportunities, connect directly with employers, and sign up to receive weekly job alerts from their field of interest. A career coach is available to assist with writing a resume.

Job seekers can also find information on career pathways within all segments of the tourism industry, as well as access interview, resume, and networking tips. There is no cost to the job seeker to utilize these services. Businesses that are members of any of the coalition associations can utilize the career center at a discounted price.

“This is a true online career center and is so much more than the traditional job board we tend to think of,” said Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association. “The key to our success is the partnership with these other great organizations. With everyone’s buy-in, we can offer tourism job seekers a single site where they can learn about all of the great career opportunities in Maine, as well as understand all of the career pathways available to those who work in tourism.”

Kathryn Ference, director of workforce development for the Maine Tourism Association, said the career center coalition “will promote all of the unique, exciting and varied career opportunities in our state’s tourism industry to job seekers in and out of state. While there likely won’t be a shortage of Maine employers posting job openings, the challenge is getting a strong pool of job seekers interested in working in Maine to populate the resume bank. To address this challenge there will be a social media campaign in and out of state to drive people to the virtual career center. Also, the career center will be presented to high school and college students in Maine.”

“We are thrilled to be a part of MTA’s innovative online career center. Retail is one of Maine’s largest private employment sectors, employing more than 80,000 people. The career center will be a beneficial conduit in connecting businesses with qualified candidates searching for employment in the many career paths that exist in the retail field,” said Mari O’Neil, director of the Maine Business Education Partnership, the workforce development arm of the Retail Association of Maine.

Kathy Dyer, executive director of the Maine Campground Owners Association said, “Having an online tourism career center specific to the needs of both the employer and employee can’t come soon enough — the perfect tool for campground owners and others to find staff for the coming tourism season.”

“A new site dedicated to hospitality jobs in Maine could be the missing link in the hospitality hiring chain. It’s one crucial step in solving the chronic labor shortage this sector sustains year after year,” said Matt Lewis, CEO of HospitalityMaine. “Connecting outstanding candidates to our world-class hospitality businesses is a great new resource for our members.”