Norway
AI tool helps to identify general competencies
A Norwegian career guidance service is helping jobseekers to identify and present their general competencies with support from AI technology and a user-friendly interface. It can even help people with little experience of working life.
At a time when technology is transforming the labour market, the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills has introduced a new digital tool make it easier for jobseekers to identify and frame their specific and general competencies. This tool, known as “Beskriv hva du kan” [Describe what you can do], is based on the generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT and is incorporated into the digital career guidance service offered online at Karriereveiledning.no.
By combining AI technology with a user-friendly interface, the Directorate hopes to help jobseekers to put their skills into words – no matter what their previous work experience is.
Many people struggle to describe what they know and can do. The tool was developed to assist jobseekers who need to find a way to put their skills into words and showcase their qualifications for jobs they would like.
“A job title or the name of a qualification does not always illustrate what someone is capable of. ChatGPT will help you by suggesting how to describe your own skills. You can then use these suggestions in a CV, application or interview setting,” says Tomas Iversen, a careers advisor with Karriereveiledning.no.
Simple tool
Using the tool “Beskriv hva du kan” is easy. Jobseekers enter a few keywords about their past work and/or education, before indicating whether they want responses that reflect general competencies or skills specific to a certain job or profession. The AI then generates a list of suggested skills.
When we try out the tool for ourselves by entering the keyword “technical writer”, we get a response with ten general competencies that someone with that job title possesses. Two of these (translated to English) are:
- Communication – The ability to convey information clearly and precisely, both orally and in writing.
- Teamwork – Experience working effectively in teams, including collaboration, communication, and conflict management.
Even people who have little or no work experience can generate examples of competencies by using the tool. To illustrate this, Tomas Iversen searches using the term “househusband”. Several suggested skills appear on screen. According to the tool, househusbands are likely to be good at organisation and planning, as well as solving problems under time pressure.
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Tomas Iversen explains that the Directorate is continuing to develop its “Beskriv hva du kan” tool to ensure it remains up-to-date and suited to the needs and wants of its users, just as it does with every other aspect of its Karriereveiledning.no platform.
Anonymous and time-saving
One major advantage of the “Beskriv hva du kan” tool is that the user can remain completely anonymous. No sign in is required to use it and the tool does not log or save any personal data, which means users can engage with the tool independently and as many times as they like without worrying about their privacy. If a user wants further support they can take the results to a case worker. It is also possible to ask Karriereveiledning.no advisors questions via live chat, phone or email during working hours.
The Directorate has observed that the tool, along with their other digital career guidance services offered via Karriereveiledning.no, has helped to relieve pressure on their careers advisors. Many parts of the guidance process can now be carried out (or at least prepared for) prior to the jobseeker’s guidance appointment – or during and afterwards.
“We’re seeing the tool covering a lot of the things that used to be human-led during the guidance process. And the tool itself is largely based on what we did previously and the way we framed it, asked questions and explained concepts during the guidance process,” says Tomas Iversen.
The form for the “Beskriv hva du kan” Tool
Future developments
The Directorate is continuing to develop its “Beskriv hva du kan” tool to ensure it remains up-to-date and suited to the needs and wants of its users, just as it does with every other aspect of its Karriereveiledning.no platform.
“We are working constantly to develop the content on our website based on the needs of our users. We’re continuing our work on the tools using the chatlogs that we have. These show us past guidance provided, the situations that jobseekers found themselves in, and which needs and challenges arose in these various contexts. We can also see what guidance we offered and what was helpful. We’re then able to use that insight to develop all our relevant self-help tools,” says Tomas Iversen.
Given that “Beskriv hva du kan” is based on AI, which has been known to stretch the truth on occasion, the tool’s responses also have to be checked to ensure they are reliable and that changes to the AI algorithm don’t affect the final result. The Directorate are also unable to influence any future changes to ChatGPT, which means they are required to evaluate on an ongoing basis whether it is the best AI technology to use as the basis of the tool. In future, they hope to further simplify the user experience and they are therefore considering other data warehousing solutions.
Link
The “Beskriv hva du kan” tool is available at:
https://karriereveiledning.no/karrierevalg/beskriv-hva-du-kan?tema=1289
https://karriereveiledning.no/karrierevalg/beskriv-hva-du-kan?tema=1289