SkillLab

🌟 *What Makes a Great Team Lead?* 🌟 At SkillLab, we believe team leads are the backbone of a thriving, innovative workplace. They guide their teams toward success while fostering an environment of support and collaboration. But what qualities do we expect from our team leads? And how do we help them grow into the role? In a recent chat, Keisha Amalia talked to Felix Spira who shared some of his thoughts on leadership, challenges, and what it takes to nurture talent while keeping a people-first approach. It's a balancing act that requires empathy, clarity, and the courage to lead by example. Curious about our leadership approach? Dive into the blog for more insights!   #Leadership #TeamDevelopment #SkillLab #ContinuousLearning https://lnkd.in/ea2AmnsT

📣 One of our EU-funded projects, AITEC - Artificial Intelligence Trainig for Employment Counsellors, has just launched its own LinkedIn page. We welcome everyone to follow us there and get the latest updates from the project. 💡 Take a look at this newly published brochure to get a summary of what we are working on with Asociación PROGESTIÓN. AITEC aims to explore the integration of AI in employment counseling processes and promote the adoption of AI tools among non-profit actors to improve social inclusion.

At the start of September, SkillLab’s Christoph Bretgeld, Sylvana Hiltrop, and Rihab Guesmi took part in the second transnational partner meeting of the TRAILS project at the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (UniNa) / University of Naples Federico II. The project aims to build on current data on skills mismatches and create new tools and databases by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. We’re excited about the upcoming deliverables from the project’s research stage, which look at European datasets in the fields of skills mismatch and labor economics. Find out more about the project and stay up to date with its findings through LinkedIn or the official website https://lnkd.in/emyyESTQ

Yesterday, SkillLab participated in the 2024 Global Youth Economic Opportunities (GYEO) Summit in Washington, D.C. Our Director of Professional Services and Impact, Arthur Fioravante Chiba, presented on our work to support young people in building green skills and transforming existing skills into climate-friendly employment opportunities. SkillLab was one of the speakers on the panel titled "Private Sector's Critical Investment in Building a Green Workforce" along with 10-in-10 + Gigatonne and Fresh Coast Climate Solutions. Moderated by our close partner, edc.org, the session focused on the critical and innovative role of the private sector in addressing climate change. Thank you to Making Cents International and edc.org for the opportunity, and to Melanie Sany, Alenka Zavasnik, and Jenny Oorbeck for the inspiring discussion!

Have you read your news today? Then you must have read about BDCC (Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation) and SkillLab! This week, we have officially launched a new platform that helps Vermonters connect to the labor market, and find their career paths. Vermont Employment Pathfinder (VEP) is a free, personalized resource that helps people of Vermont find and apply for jobs that align with their skills and interests. Using the skill-based approach, the Pathfinder is aimed at changing the way we view a person as qualified or capable, expanding employment opportunities for workers, and the pool of workforce available to employers. In this initial phase, almost 400 people have already used the site, and more than 80 of them are now employed as a result. The skill-based approach benefits everyone, and it is especially valuable for people that face different obstacles in the labor market. As Alexander Beck, the Director of the Vermont Employment Pathfinder Initiative points out, it’s a great tool especially for people in transition, either transitioning from long-term unemployment, from recovery, from previous incarceration or returning from the workforce. Read more in the article: https://lnkd.in/eqptDcdz

87% of young SkillLab users in the Philippines felt more confident in their ability to start or improve their careers after using our skills-based solution. We are thrilled to share this preliminary survey result, conducted with edc.org as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Opportunity 2.0 (O2) project. The project aims to provide 180,000 out-of-school youth in 15 cities with a second chance - an education that leads to their successful employment and livelihood. The survey distributed to the youths approximately eight months into the project yielded encouraging results. Among other benefits, the incorporation of the SkillLab tool into their career readiness training has led to increased confidence and more effective communication of skills. Read more about our collaboration with EDC on the O2 project and the results of the impact study here: https://lnkd.in/ext-EJWZ Together with edc.org, our Director of Professional Services and Impact, Arthur Fioravante Chiba, will be speaking further about this positive outcome and other potential use cases of our skills-based solution at the Making Cents International GYEO Summit in Washington D.C. on September 11th. More information coming soon!

Looking for your next career opportunity? Good news, SkillLab is #hiring! We are looking for three new team members who are passionate about helping people discover their skills. Join our product team to build our skills-based solution and help people find their way to employment. If you are an engineer, you will work with our engineering squad leads, Yasser Elsayed, Lala Rustamli and Aaron Michal. And if you are a UX researcher, you will join the creative team led by Daniel Greenblatt If this sounds like the next step in your career, we would love to hear from you! Read more about each position and apply directly from our website: https://lnkd.in/eGPPqW5z Know someone in your network who might be a good fit for these positions? Share this post with them and help them grow in their career.

As the weather in the Netherlands missed the memo about the summer, we sure did not miss our invite to be a part of the second Arab Career Development Conference in sunny Alexandria this year! After being a part of the very first career development conference in the Arab states last February, we are thrilled to be back with all the inspiring and devoted people in the space. This year the conference kicked off with a Career Week Program that brought together over 170 participants from the Arab world, and offered the opportunity for young people to work together with career experts to uncover their career potential, and explore the world of work. They had the chance to learn more from established professionals, such as Ahmed Mostafa Kamal, CCSP,CMCS, GCDF,CDFI,JCDC,JCTC, MHF, Muath Bin Hussain, Dr. Brian Hutchison aka Global Career Guy ~ PhD, LPC, CCCE, and Marty Apodaca, LPCC, CCC, NCC. This week, the conference continues with insights and learnings from different experts in the field of career development and guidance from the Arab world and beyond. The conference is organized by GROWAT in partnership with several organizations, such as UNICEF, Ministry of Youth & Sports of Egypt, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, The Embassy of Switzerland in Egypt, and Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt. SkillLab is represented by our Mary Ramsis who teamed up with Dr. Brian Hutchison aka Global Career Guy ~ PhD, LPC, CCCE to talk about the long-lasting impact the skill-based approach can have in career development. For all the attendees that would like to hear more about it, their session will happen tomorrow at 10.30 EEST. We are very glad to be a part of the growing career development space in the Arab states, and see it thrive more and more!

We are pleased to share an update from one of the EU-funded projects where SkillLab is involved. The TRAILS project has recently published the first edition of its newsletter. The project aims to build on current data on skills mismatches and create new tools and databases by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. The first edition of the TRAILS newsletter contains an insightful article about skills mismatches in Europe by one of our project partners, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). It also includes various updates from the project, including details of events and webinars in which TRAILS has participated. Read the newsletter from your browser here: https://lnkd.in/essSfbG2 Or subscribe to our newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ext3rsfa

At SkillLab, the wellbeing of our employees is always a priority. As a commitment to this, we organized a Self-Care Day in the office last week to remind us to take a break and take extra care of ourselves on the International Self-Care Day. Since you missed a series of wellness activities at our office, we share some general self-care tips for everyone to incorporate into their work and daily life. 🫁 The muscle pain that many office workers experience is often caused by artificial breathing that does not fully engage the diaphragm and allow for deep, relaxed breathing. We found an interesting video by Insider Tech that explains how to breathe better: The correct way to breathe in 🎧 Constantly dealing with headaches and neck stiffness? Try taking a break from your headphones! Tight or heavy headphones can put pressure on your ears and strain your head and neck. Additionally, if you use noise-canceling features while walking, the sound waves can create sensations that mimic the feeling of stillness🚶♂️This cause confusion between what you hear and what your body feels which might lead to dizziness and discomfort. 💆♀️ Skin care is more than skin deep. It can also boost your mental well-being by giving you a sense of control and stress relief. It can even be a mindful ritual when done regularly. 🎨 Creative arts therapy can increase serotonin levels and blood flow to the part of the brain associated with pleasure. Big thanks to our Samara Jetta and Lina Rodriguez Solera for taking care of us, and reminding us of the importance of self care!