Chatbot Q & A

What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is a type of software application that can assist customers 24/7 by automating conversations and allowing interaction through messaging platforms in lieu of providing direct contact with a live human agent.

Why a chatbot?

Minnesota TAA decided to add a chatbot feature to CareerForceMN.com, the state of Minnesota’s website for job seekers and employers, in order to increase outreach efforts to our stakeholders and align with current customer expectations.

What was the implementation process?

TAA staff started initial chatbot planning meetings in 2019. After planning meetings were completed, TAA staff worked with our internal IT department and an external vendor to develop the chatbot feature.

On October 1, 2021, TAA launched the chatbot. Our chatbot has been named the CareerForce Assistant. This new feature allows jobseekers, partners, staff, and employers to quickly find information about our programs. It also allows users to contact TAA directly through a web form submission.

What have been some of the outcomes so far?

The chatbot has increased traffic to our TAA website pages and connected many users to TAA information. For example, a customer recently contacted our office through our chatbot to inquire about filing a petition for their company due to foreign competition. TAA staff worked with the customer, TRA, and our Rapid Response Liaison to gain insight into this lay-off. After extensive research was completed, it was determined that there was not sufficient information to file a petition. Although the petition could not be filed, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development staff were able to connect this customer with a local Dislocated Worker provider to gain assistance with job search and short-term training.

What data does the chatbot capture?

The chatbot is able to capture the following types of data: website traffic vs previous period, types of devices used to access TAA, where our site visitors live, who contacts TAA, user type web form submissions, page views for TAA content, career seeker-self identified Dislocated Worker clicks, and employer-self identified Dislocated Worker clicks. We can use this data to compare to previous time periods to determine growth in usage and other trends.

Here is an example of the data for who contacts MN TAA:

 (This data is from: (February 01, 2022-February 28, 2022); career seekers are the main customers contacting our Minnesota TAA office through our Chatbot feature)

Next Steps?

Our office will continue to work to enhance our website and this feature. Feel free to check out our new chatbot feature at: https://www.careerforcemn.com/

See a visualization of the Chatbot statistics in Related Content.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Posted by: Susan Manikowski
• Posted in: Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers