e2i launches new AI-powered tool to help career coaches make better job recommendations

SINGAPORE - More job seekers could soon get better career advice and job matches, as some career coaches are now using artificial intelligence (AI) to recommend jobs aligned with their clients’ skills and interests.

Since its launch in August, the Employment and Employability Institute’s (e2i) Virtual Career Coach (VCC) has helped over 1,000 job seekers in this manner, with more expected to benefit in the future, said Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Desmond Tan on Oct 4.

Mr Tan was speaking at the opening ceremony for e2i’s newest career centre at Our Tampines Hub. e2i is backed by the National Trades Union Congress.

The AI-powered VCC assists e2i career coaches in processing information on jobs, skills and courses, and matching this to job seekers’ career goals, interests and existing skill sets. 

Previously, coaches had to spend time researching unfamiliar industries and manually looking for suitable jobs for their clients.

The VCC is expected to speed up this process by enabling the coaches to tap a common database of job listings and information from the national jobs bank.

The VCC can also assess whether job seekers are suitable for available jobs by analysing their resumes and Riasec personality profiles. Riasec (Realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional) is a personality profiling tool that helps job seekers understand their personality, strengths and work values so they can better identify suitable career options.

The VCC programme was developed in response to feedback from career coaches, said e2i’s chief executive officer Caryn Lim.

While the VCC currently contains listings from the national jobs bank, e2i hopes to include jobs from more sources in the future. 

e2i career coach Lim Xiao Yu said that bugs in the programme, such as the delayed inclusion of available job roles into the VCC after they are added to the national jobs bank, occurred during the early stages of testing with coaches reporting them through a feedback form.

Mr Mohan, a middle-aged job seeker, was among the first 1,000 job seekers to experience VCC-facilitated career coaching when he sought assistance from e2i in August.

Previously a lead project manager at an IT company, he said the job recommendations he received from his career coach were satisfactory. He also received advice on how to improve his resume, and has a job interview lined up next week.

Ms Lim noted that the VCC is most helpful for “direct” tasks like recommending jobs, but career coaches are still needed to consult with clients and help them make decisions.

“If you have those who are still unsure of what they really want, then the counselling and clarity will come from the career coaches,” she said.

There are also emotional and other aspects of the job search that the VCC cannot assist with, said Ms Lim. 

Building contacts and connections is what Mr Mohan has found to be an essential part of the job search, and his career coach has helped to advise him on this front.

He said: “The sole thing is not the resume. Generally, the market is slow. I think that’s the reason I did not get a job opportunity. They told me that I should start attending events and make connections with people.”

Correction note: This story has been edited for accuracy.