Workforce Services App

Workforce Services App

As part of the project, we have created the following support materials:

Workforce App Demonstration (5-minute video)

Employer using the Workforce App (2-minute video)

Job Seeker using the Workforce App (2-minute video)


  • This work is a part of our GitLab Foundation Funded “Bridging skills and Opportunities for Navajo People with AI-enhanced Employment Matching” project. The summary of that project is:

     “Our objective is to place 200-500 Navajos into net-new ‘Thriving Wage Jobs’ or better paying jobs in 2024 and for this number to increase annually as the range of jobs with validated competency maps and the number of Navajo job seekers complete guided upskilling plans increases. Traditional methods for creating job competency maps and job-seeker profiles are labor-intensive. Usage of AI and large job-related data stores will accelerate the gathering of data about both jobs and job seekers. We will create matching reports to show job seekers the jobs for which they are best prepared and provide them with pathways in learning aligned with their missing competencies. We will scale and localize job candidate data with novel, AI-driven ‘interview’ tools. We anticipate a factor of 10 increase (cf. the current manual process) in the number of job maps and job seeker profiles created in the Navajo context and beyond.”

    Therefore, we have created a new Generative AI enabled app to make it easier to match Job Seekers with available Job Opportunities. The app makes it easier for Employers to describe, in terms of required competencies, the jobs they want to fill and for Job Seekers to include within their Resumes the competencies they have acquired. Finally, the app enables both Job Seekers and Employers to find the best matches between the Job Seekers and the Job Opportunities.

  • Our Solution

    Together with our partner Aspire Ability we have created the system shown in the diagram below.

    The key points to note about our approach are:

      • The Workforce App can be accessed either through direct login or through integration with third party Platforms, such as the Community Talent Marketplace Platform from Aspire Ability, using a Learning Tools Interoperability-based API
      • The Workforce App supports three activities:-
        • Enabling Employers to refine their Job Descriptions
        • Enabling Job Seekers to refine their Resumes
        • Enable Employers and Job Seekers to identify Resume to Job Opportunity fit
      • The Workforce App uses Open AI’s ChatGPT API to enable the Generative AI to support the interactive competency definitions functionality

     

  • Status of the Project

Our GitLab Foundation funded project started on the 1st November 2023 and was successfully completed on 30th September 2024. We successfully prototyped a new Workforce app and completed a series of user evaluations. 
 
The final report for the project is available here: EdTech For Learning GitLab 2023 Project Online Final Report 20240930v1.
 

  • The Workforce App is available at: https://edtechforlearning.app.

    Please try it out and send feedback to Mark McKell (COO) at mmckell@edtechforlearning.org.

    When you are using this version of the App note that:

      • This is a pilot demonstrator and we know that the user experience is not ideal. It would be great to get guidance on features that you think are essential, unnecessary, etc.
      • While you can load up your Resume (PDF only), remember that the jobs database against which your Resume will be compared is for the current jobs available on the Navajo Reservation.
      • You can use the Generative AI moderated Resume editor to improve the completeness and accuracy of your amended Resume with respect to the identified competency descriptions (in terms of the associated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities.
      • Any changes you make to the job descriptions and your resume will be discarded once you leave the application.

    As part of the project, we have created the following support materials:

     

  • Next Steps

    So, what do we plan next with our Workforce App? From a Development perspective we need to:

      • Pilot-to-Product (Q1 in 2025) – turn the Workforce App into a finished product. This requires a focus on the User Interface/User Experience, personalization, analytics instrumentation for the collection of usage data, as well as a full QA release process
      • Product-to-Platform (Q4 in 2026) – turn the original product into a Platform solution to enable at scale deployment so that we act as a Platform supplier with third party organizations responsible for delivery to their end user customers.

     

  • From a Research perspective we need to:

      • Investigate the set of analytics to support the evaluation and improvement of the Prompt Engineering.
      • Identify the underlying job description capture methodology and develop the corresponding support tools so that our approach can be applied to job availability on other Native American Reservations.
      • Investigate the Skills Gap Analysis opportunity so that the appropriate learning and training content can be identified and supplied to support the acquisition of the missing competencies.

     

  • Of course, we need further funding so that we can achieve these objectives.

    If you want to find out more about this project, or even better, help fund this work, then the please contact either:

    Colin Smythe (CEO) – csmythe@edtechforlearning.org
    or
    Thor Anderson (CTO) – tanderson@edtechforlearning.org