CareerOneStop

CareerOneStop is the US Department of Labor's career portal, and it's the front door to benefits and services a lot of laid-off workers never claim. Unemployment insurance, free training programs, and in-person help at local American Job Centers all route through here, and you've already paid for them with years of payroll taxes.

What it does

• An unemployment benefits finder that routes you to your state's program and filing process
• A directory of free and subsidized training programs, including federally funded options
• A locator for American Job Centers, which offer free in-person career counseling
• Salary data, occupation profiles, and resume basics

The single most useful thing it does is get you to your state's unemployment filing quickly. File in your first week; benefits generally aren't retroactive to before your claim, and waiting costs you real money.

Pricing

Free. It's a government service.

Who it's for

• Anyone recently laid off who hasn't filed for unemployment yet
• Workers considering retraining who'd rather not pay for it themselves
• People who want a human across a desk: the Job Centers are free and underused

The site looks dated and the writing is bureaucratic. Push through it; the underlying programs are real money and real help.

How it fits an Offboard search

Unemployment benefits are income, and income extends runway, so file first and put the number into your plan; Offboard's runway planning is built for exactly that math. Handle health coverage through HealthCare.gov in the same first-week sweep, and if you need the reminder that this is a market and not a verdict, Layoffs.fyi has the receipts.