BILOXI — Mississippi Energy Institute has created a website called “Get on the Grid” to help students and their parents learn about opportunities for well-paying jobs in Mississippi.
Get on the Grid, created last year, features jobs in energy, manufacturing and utilities, some of the fastest-growing, highest-paid and most in-demand jobs in the state, with well over 100,000 openings in these fields in Mississippi. The Sun Herald reports a $200,000 federal grant administered through the state Department of Employment Security is determining who is using the website and how to draw more traffic.
“Until recently, we haven’t had a way to test and see how effective it is,” said Patrick Sullivan, president of MEI.
MEI Vice President of Development Garrett McInnis said total traffic to the site, www.getonthegridms.com , was averaging 11.1 visits per day before a digital campaign that’s taking the message to where teens and young adults look for information — their cellphones and other mobile devices. In the 11 weeks since the campaign began on Oct. 3, it attracted 34,727 visits, or an average of 428 a day, just from South Mississippi and the Jackson area, McInnis said.
“So far, the answer is a resounding yes that this type of product is effective in raising awareness of jobs out there,” Sullivan said.
Some of the jobs require a college degree, but Sullivan points out that many of the jobs at companies such as Chevron, Rolls-Royce and Mississippi Power require only a year or two of technical training.
“Get hired. Get trained. Get on the Grid,” is one of the messages on the site.
Besides buzz words, McInnis said they are trying various color schemes on the site, and found that green performs much better than blue.
The study shows almost 60 percent of Facebook referrals come from females, and 17 percent of all traffic is from returning visitors who discovered the site and take another look.
Traffic increased over Thanksgiving, and MEI is watching to see if the same thing happens over Christmas, as students begin to more seriously look at what they will do after graduation. The study runs through April and MEI will work with the state Department of Education to go into classrooms on the Coast and in Jackson to ask students about their career choices and the website.
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