In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, the need for skill adaptability and transferability among post-secondary students has become essential. TheWorld Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report projects a transformative shift: by 2027, 83 million roles will be eliminated, while 69 million new jobs will emerge. Navigating this shift requires a concerted effort from the public and private sectors, demanding innovative workforce initiatives to address disruptions while preparing for the opportunities new technologies present.
The University of Waterloo partnered with1Mentor to offer the Learner Platform to select students and equip faculty with relevant insights to drive employment strategies. “We’re really excited to see how AI and specifically the 1Mentor platform can help us better support our students and employers through the job and career search process. Our initial projects have been successful, and we’re looking forward to expanding to more students in the upcoming term ” says Judene Pretti, director, Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) Strategic Enablement Team.
1Mentor leverages Google Cloud’s unified data andAI platform to revolutionize higher education and address the ever-changing demands of the industry through two innovative platforms. Drawing upon AI technology that has meticulously dissected an extensive array of job postings, it delivers invaluable insights into a student’s career development.
The Learner Platform provides students with real-time recommendations for exploring various career pathways, identifying essential skills, and connecting them with skill-based courses that seamlessly align with their professional objectives. This comprehensive approach ensures a purposeful educational journey for students while aiding institutions in adapting to industry disruptions. Concurrently, the Advisor platform equips educational institutions with data-driven information about student readiness against industry skills requirements. These insights enable institutions to develop employability strategies and align their curricula effectively, ensuring their students are well-prepared to meet the evolving needs of the job market.
For example, 1Mentor’s Advisor platform can help a university revamp its engineering curriculum based on real-time industry trends, leading to graduates with skills that are in high demand. Simultaneously, the Learner Platform can guide a student in pursuing a career in data science by recommending essential skills they lack and relevant courses they could take to gain those skills ultimately facilitating a smoother transition into the workforce.
Three key benefits for University of Waterloo students through conducted surveys to the students who engaged with the platform:
110 percent increase in unique career objectives. Students who utilized the platform discovered that their skillsets, coupled with their chosen area of study and career interests, aligned with more than twice the number of potential occupations they had initially anticipated.Enhanced students’ understanding of the skills sought by employers. A striking 91 per cent of students confirmed that the platform helped them pinpoint the skills necessary to achieve their career goals.Helping students recognize the increasing importance of human skills, including self-management, lifelong learning, and decision-making. Notably, there was a 50 per cent surge in students’ identification of these human skills after using the platform, highlighting 1Mentor’s empowering students to articulate and understand the human skills they possess and need to cultivate for their career paths.
1Mentor’s belief in its transformative influence lies in its mission to empower a diverse range of stakeholders beyond just key decision-makers, enabling them to catalyze change within themselves and their wider community. According to Esteban Veintimilla, co-founder and CEO of 1Mentor, “Our platform delivers actionable insights tailored to a multitude of roles, encompassing key decision-makers, personnel engaged in employer outreach and curriculum development, faculty members, career advisors, and most significantly, students. We hold a steadfast conviction that access to the right information can be a catalyst for profound change, and we are wholeheartedly committed to ensuring that everyone possesses the ability to ignite transformative shifts.”
Learn more about Google Cloud AI capabilities and 1Mentor. If you are interested in partnering with the University of Waterloo,visit the Co-operative and Experiential Education webpage.
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