jobZology’s PathwayU platform awarded $75,000: Selected winner of the National Science Foundation’s Career Compass Challenge Part 2

Wednesday, September 4, 2019: Last Friday the National Science Foundation announced jobZology’s PathwayU as the Career Compass Challenge Part 2 winner, granting jobZology a $75,000 prize.

NSF’s Career Compass Challenge launched in November 2018 as part of an effort to modernize the American workforce. This Challenge addressed not only the changing nature of work but also the pace of change to the types of work needed to carry out essential missions for American people and create the Workforce for the 21st Century. The first part of the competition focused on collecting white paper concepts of possible solutions, and the second part encouraged submitters to leverage and build upon winning concepts to develop a working prototype. [1]

The Career Compass Challenge judges, representing multiple federal government agencies, selected PathwayU because it best addressed the changing nature of work. PathwayU enables individuals to both identify optimal career paths and focus their reskilling efforts. Specifically, the platform: 

• Measures interests, values, personality, and workplace preferences with scientific assessments
• Uses an algorithmic approach to recommend careers
• Provides up-to-date information about the required knowledge and skills for matched jobs
• Guides users to relevant learning opportunities, and 
• Identifies well-fitting job opportunities available both within and outside of the federal government. [1]

“Our PathwayU solution for the NSF Career Compass Challenge represents a vision over 10 years old – to create a platform in which users can find purposeful work while employers build a more engaged workforce. As a co-founder, I’m proud of the work Amy and our team have done to bring that vision to NSF,” Kurt Kraiger, Ph.D. Co-founder and Principal Psychologist.

The team will use the money to continue further research and software development to fulfill our vision of the world of work being filled with engaged workers.

PathwayU is a career guidance software that uses predictive analytics to help individuals identify education, career, and employment pathways aligned with match strength scores. Their scores suggest ways to strengthen their sense of purpose at work by better understanding how they are unique, identifying pathways that fit them well and preparing to pursue those pathways. Research reveals that people who experience a sense of purpose in the career domain tend to report tremendous benefits in their career-related and general well-being. The PathwayU platform is available as a solution for schools and for individuals.

jobZology® is a Fort Collins, Colorado-based company that has revolutionized education, career, and employment decision-making by empowering everyone to live with purpose and joy in the world of work. Since 2012, their PathwayU and TalentAIM online platforms have impacted over 100,000 individuals, 23 businesses and over 60 schools. Dr. Kurt Kraiger and Dr. Bryan Dik, professors at Colorado State University, created jobZology with Travis Hevelone and Eric Leftwich using science-based predictive analytics to determine an individual’s fit to purposeful occupations while driving optimal education decisions, program completion, and employment success. The jobZology team continues to improve and expand to be the solution-based and confidence-building support everyone needs to better understand themselves and how they fit in the workforce. For more information visit www.jobzology.com.

[1] Nsf.gov. (2019). Career Compass Challenge winner announced. [online] Available at: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=299124&org=NSF&from=news&fbclid=IwAR0qPdJdm8ySIb7vuLnfZWZsGT-5CfBYriYQmbtvI0xF3Lw4UwT6AveHV8c [Accessed 4 Sep. 2019].