Fusing AI and mentorship can bridge gaps in job markets worldwide

From North America to East Asia, a similar story in the world of work is unfolding: companies are struggling to hire workers — and workers are struggling to find work.

In Thailand, for example, a recent survey showed that 40% of Thai university graduates are unemployed, while Thai companies are struggling to fill job vacancies.

Although Thailand’s figure may be partially explained by the post-COVID economic slowdown that is gradually sprawling across South East Asia, it highlights a growing issue in the country famed for its tourism and manufacturing industries: a mismatch between supply and demand of labour in an economy that is shifting towards digital technology.

While the Thai government launched and started funding schemes in 2020 for university graduates to provide paid volunteer jobs to unemployed graduates, solving this problem across the country requires a more fundamental shift.

It requires a paradigm shift in our approach to education, with less emphasis on grades and more on skills and capacity building.

To tackle this issue, Global Shapers Bangkok has partnered with Bangkok-based EdTech start-up EdVISORY to initiate Shaping the Future. This 12-week mentorship programme supports soon-to-be university graduates to gain insights into various career paths and uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven self-development tools alongside the mentoring.

The programme gave the students greater clarity on their future careers — and it helped the mentor, who reported that it helped them keep up-to-date with the latest developments in their fields.

Students were matched into a group of three or four, where they were able to meet their mentors for two small group mentoring sessions. They were also invited to career roundtables, where they were introduced to additional guest mentors from various fields, including entrepreneurship, marketing, technology and social impact. In doing this, students expand their vision of the job market and connect with potential employers, all while debunking myths and assumptions of commonly held notions related to job seeking.

Using digital tools, including EdVISORY’s WE Space tool, students carried out a thorough self-assessment of their strengths, weaknesses and areas for growth, all of which was then used to align them with a career trajectory. Based on the findings, We Space recommended personalized learning opportunities (e-learning and training) and employment opportunities based on the students’ profiles.

These assessments supplemented the mentorship sessions and were crucial in the students’ self-discovery journey, as they helped students to articulate and plan how they could pave their own career path post-graduation.

To support students in the job application process, a senior HR professional hosted a workshop on the basics of CV and resume writing. The workshop taught the students what HR professionals typically look for during an interview process and roleplayed common scenarios.

In addition, using EdVISORY’s WE Assess tool, an AI-based virtual job interview platform, students practiced job interviews and worked on improvements with their mentors.

Every participant and mentor said that the programme met their expectations and that they would recommend it to others. The post-programme assessment indicated that combining AI-driven assessments and human-centric mentorship was pivotal in forming a roadmap to mentees’ ideal careers. The mentors, for their part, reported that the programme helped them to remain “in touch” with new and current developments in their fields.

Mentorship is a powerful tool. It allows for a deep, meaningful human connection that technology may be unable to replicate. However, combining AI-driven and human-centric solutions could be more powerful than alone. AI can augment mentorship schemes, giving candidates and mentors more information about themselves or their mentees.

For Thailand, the lessons of this programme are important. Thailand currently focuses on achievements and grades but less on job-searching skills such as resume building, motivation letter writing or even interview etiquette. Through programmes like Shaping the Future, which focus on practical skills for entering the job market, people learn what it takes to get on the ladder in a competitive job market. They also learn about themselves in the process.

The "Fourth Industrial Revolution" and "Future of Work" are no longer conceptual ideas of the future. It is here now and requires more collaboration among the public sector, corporates and EdTech innovators to close the unemployment gap. This must be done by closing the gap between education and industry.

As the economy shifts inexorably toward digital technology, it is no longer sufficient for tertiary education to provide only textbook knowledge and skills to students. With the right combination of mentorship, motivation and investment in capacity building and education, future generations of skilled workers will be able to thrive and flourish by pursuing careers that are both meaningful to them and the economy.