Press Release: Vermont Employment Pathfinder Helps Connect Job Seekers and Employers

Vermont Employment Pathfinder Helps Connect Job Seekers and Employers

AI-powered tool uses skills-based hiring and job-seeking approach

Burlington, VT: Vermonters job seekers now have a new tool to help match them with opportunities throughout the state. Announced today at the Old North End Community Center in Burlington, Vermont Employment Pathfinder (VEP) focuses on a skills-based approach for hiring and career exploration. The tool, provided through a partnership between Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) and internationally award-winning technology company SkillLab, will help Vermonters improve career outcomes and help Vermont employers recruit talent in today’s challenging workforce environment.

VEP uses artificial intelligence (AI) to interview users, determining their level of experience with various skills and job tasks. It builds resumes based on the user’s skill profile and matches them with relevant education and employment opportunities.

“In my work supporting Vermont’s workforce, I feel firsthand the frustration of knowing our employers are desperate for workers while many Vermonters feel underemployed,” noted Alex Beck, welcoming communities manager at BDCC, who oversees the project. “Young Vermonters who picked up skills on their family farms, babysitting, or volunteering can’t see themselves—or their skills—in their local economy. And folks who have been out of the workforce, for whatever reason, struggle to articulate how the investments they’ve made in themselves and their families translate to workforce skills.”

Vermont Employment Pathfinder is partially funded by a $900,000 (49.5%) grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employment and Training Administration, matched by $918,000 (50.5%) financed by non-governmental sources.*

“We were introduced to SkillLab by Michael Knapp of Green River Software,” said Adam Grinold, executive director of BDCC. “We began exploring how we could bring this innovative, impactful technology to all Vermonters. And so, with some hard work, deep collaboration, and visionary advocacy of Former Senator Leahy, we’ve been able to adapt SkillLab’s tool to serve Vermont job seekers, employers, and education providers.”

Matching skills to opportunities

“As we continue to work together to overcome our workforce challenges and build a stronger, more resilient Vermont economy, we need innovative solutions to strategically address this problem head-on,” said Commissioner of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development Joan Goldstein. “This is exactly what Vermont Employment Pathfinder will do, by bridging the gap between job seekers and the skills employers need.”

State Senator Kesha Ram, who chairs the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, spoke at the launch about how economic integration and opportunity is important alongside cultural and community integration. “This tool can level the playing field for women and people of color, who have always been undervalued in our workforce,” she said. “Often when people are reentering the workforce, perhaps after having cared for family members, they’ve gained important skills, but don’t have job experience to fill up a traditional resume. When we help those who are most left behind, we end up helping everyone else. Many people can benefit from this tool—you can be a brilliant engineer and still get stuck trying to navigate the employment system.”

Tracy Dolan, director of the state refugee office, spoke to VEP’s particular benefits to new Vermonters arriving from other countries. “Employment is a very high priority for them. Regardless of their skills, and their desire to work, refugees and other new Americans have skills that don’t always easily translate to the specific experience employers here are looking for,” she said. “Often English Language Learners lack the ability to convey the vast knowledge and experience they bring with them to Vermont. Using this tool, advocates can help these folks get into the workforce or train for positions employers need to fill.”

One such Vermonter is Tirhas Beraki, who came to the state from Eritrea and previously worked as a social worker in Ethiopia. “Once I got to the U.S., I dreamed of entering the healthcare field,” said Beraki. “The BDCC team was instrumental in helping me identify my skills and create a professional resume for healthcare opportunities using this new tool. Since my English wasn’t very strong, I started working as a housekeeper in a nursing home, allowing me to work in a healthcare setting while improving my language skills and working towards my LNA certificate.”

“After I earned my LNA, the BDCC team assisted me in updating my resume,” she continued. “I applied for a job at a hospital, and I’m now in the process of being hired. My goal is to pursue my LPN certification and continue building my career in healthcare.”

Simon Schmid of Skilllab explained that tools similar to VEP have been successful in many regions. “Tools like this have helped job seekers and employers worldwide and contributed to the vitality of workforces of many different regions,” he noted.

VEP is now available to all Vermonters

VEP is made available to the public through a partnership with Advance Vermont and its free online hub for career and education exploration and planning, MyFutureVT (myfuturevt.org).

“MyFutureVT is focused on empowering Vermonters with the information that they need to take the next step in their career and education journey,” says Advance Vermont Executive Director Tom Cheney. “VEP adds a critical  tool to the toolbox by helping Vermonters identify what skills they already have, how those skills connect to a career, and what education or training they need to meet their goals.”

Already many Vermonters have benefitted from the tool during the soft launch.

“I’m proud to share that we have 268 users from 5 Vermont counties, 10 different countries, who have generated 360 resumes in search of new opportunities,” Beck said.

Vermonters can learn more or sign up for VEP at myfuturevt.org/vep.

###

*The product was created by the recipient and does not necessarily reflect the official position of DOL/ETA. DOL/ETA makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it.