Conecta Empleo (Connect to employment)

Abstract

Conecta Empleo is an online initiative by Fundación Telefónica in Spain and Latin America that focuses on providing career guidance (and training) for young people to help them to thrive in current and future job markets. The programme utilises two key tools for career guidance:

1. The 'Map of Employment' provides interactive visualisations, offering real-time insights into employment trends across regions within countries.

2. The 'Virtual Career Advisor' is a chatbot that engages users in interactive conversations to recommend digital professions tailored to their interests, knowledge, and competencies. The tool offers a digital skills test for self-assessment and provides personalised recommendations for online training courses, aiming to ensure a holistic approach to career preparation.

Resource overview

Website: Connecta Empleo

Conecta Empleo is designed to equip individuals for the evolving demands of both current and future job markets.

The 'Map of Employment' is a website featuring interactive visualisations. Users can gain real-time information on employment trends in various regions of a country. The visualisations focus on what are seen to be essential details such as the most sought-after professionals or skills in each region, the skills required for different digital occupations, the evolution of demand for top digital occupations and skills over the past year, and the definition of specific occupations and skills.

For individuals seeking personalised career guidance, the 'Virtual Career Advisor' is an interactive AI chatbot that offers a range of assessments and information, including a test to identify the most suitable digital career based on users' interests and competencies. Additionally, users can take a test to evaluate their level of essential digital skills, even if they are not pursuing a digital profession but want to enhance their digital capabilities for any occupation. The 'Virtual Career Advisor' also provides information on in-demand digital occupations and skills, mirroring the insights from the 'Map of Employment.' It offers personalised recommendations for online training courses, allowing users to improve their skills or prepare for digital professions in a targeted manner.

Watch the comprehensive overview video of both the 'Map of Employment' and the 'Virtual Career Advisor’.

To understand more about the ‘Virtual Career Advisor’ watch the video step-by-step video guide.

Description of technology

Conecta Empleo uses Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to analyse job offers from diverse sources, including job boards. The platform uses an AI algorithm, purpose-built for the project, to classify job offers based on professions and roles. This process involves a data mining operation to identify the most recurrent competencies and skills associated with each profession.

Conecta Empleo includes an analysis of over 50,000 online courses. The examination aims to pinpoint the skills imparted by these courses, aligning them with the most in-demand competencies identified through the data mining process. The system then matches the courses with the sought-after digital skills, providing a valuable resource for skill development.

The platform's data is updated monthly. Furthermore, the Virtual Career Advisor undergoes continuous training to refine its natural language understanding, enhancing its ability to provide personalised recommendations.

How the resource makes career guidance more effective, efficient and/or equitable for students

Conecta Empleo aims to enhance career guidance by leveraging advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Big Data to provide real-time insights into the labour market, all available free of charge. The platform's 'Employment Map' and 'Virtual Career Advisor' are easily accessible from any device, which allows for widespread availability and breaking down barriers to entry. This commitment to accessibility aims to contribute to a more equitable distribution of career resources, fostering inclusivity for students from diverse backgrounds.

Conecta Empleo works to improve employability of individuals and provide essential data for informed decision-making, the platform aims to become a catalyst for increased productivity within companies. This data-driven approach extends to the development of public policies related to guidance, training, certification, and labour mediation.

Challenges or potential barriers to use

A potential barrier to using Conecta Empleo lies in its reliance on internet access and a certain level of digital literacy. For individuals without consistent access to the internet, especially in areas with limited connectivity, the platform's functionality may be hindered. Similarly, individuals with low levels of digital literacy may find it challenging to navigate and fully use the tools offered by Conecta Empleo.

The resource is free of charge.

Support for users

To extend the benefits of Conecta Empleo to the most vulnerable populations, the Telefonica Foundation provides training and support to social services employees. This aims to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively use the platform for the benefit of their beneficiaries.

Further advice for users

Both the 'Map of Employment' and the 'Virtual Career Advisor' have been designed for integration into other platforms through scripts. This design aims to allow users to access and fully interact with these tools on any platform of their choice.

Additional details

 

Has the resource been…	Yes or No?	Description	Link
…informed by research?	Yes	To develop the digital skills assessment, the DIGCOMP framework has been used to follow the European standard for the development of digital competencies for the citizens of Europe. Based on this framework, a specific test has been developed to assess the user's level in those digital skills. Before implementing this test, a user testing phase took place to assure the test was understandable and easy to complete by people with all kinds of digital competency.	https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/digcomp/digcomp-framework_en
…funded by government?	No
…recognized by peers?	Yes	Conecta Empleo is the recipient of the following prizes: Award in ‘Data Value’ category, for providing employability in the digital age, Adigital Awards, 2023. Award in ‘Digital Talent’ category, as a best practice for digitalization in the development of Digital Talent, ABB Ability Digital Awards, 2020.	https://www.adigital.org/actualidad/adigital-entrega-sus-premios-2023-a-las-iniciativas-en-digitalizacion-destinadas-a-mejorar-la-sociedad/ https://www.fundaciontelefonica.com/noticias/premios-abb-ability-digital-awards-talento-digital/
…evaluated?	No

This resource has been endorsed by Liceo Marta Donoso Espejo, in 6 y 7 Oriente Talca, in Chile.

Disclaimer: This content is provided by the submitting organisation.