The Ballymun Job Centre would like to highlight two Erasmus+ projects that they are currently involved with, namely, ‘ DigiGuide , Digitising Good Practice’ and ‘ Careerbot, Chatbot-based Career Guidance’ . The Ballymun Job Centre was the lead partner in DigiGuide (2021 – 2023) which has come to an end and involved 6 partner countries, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, UK, and Greece. This article will highlight the success of DigiGuide and the final Multiplier Event held in Dublin on the 21 st of April 2023. The second project is CareerBot (2021-2024) lead by Hafelekar, Austria and consists of 5 partner countries, Austria, Ireland (BJC), Spain and Greece. The partnership is very excited to share with readers that the CareerBot (chatbot) preliminary version has been launched and invites readers to test the Bot and give them feedback:
The DigiGuide Project builds upon the innovatory and transnational approach adopted by its predecessor projects Guide 2.0 ( linked here ) and Good Guidance Stories Plus ( linked here ), which have been exploring, testing and implementing innovations in the case study learning approach to competence development for improved IAG practice. Building on the success and learning of these earlier projects and the challenges brought about by COVID19 DigiGuide aimed to bring together IAG and Digital competence development to improve, consolidate and expand the digital competences of IAG practitioners so they can continuously access and benefit from high quality e-learning resources. DigiGuide combines the validated and immediately usable case study method with a new digital dimension; maximising potential for interactive learning, while keeping the high value of exchange, interaction and identification which have been realised as Guide’s strengths.
On the 21 st of April the BJC hosted its DigiGuide Multiplier Event in Dublin which aimed to showcase the results of the project to its target group of IAG & VET organisations, guidance practitioners and relevant stakeholders and the event invited participants to engage with our Community of Practice and review our project results: the digitalised Case Studies, the Digital Readiness Syllabus and eLearning programme developed, as well as the self-learning guide for managers of IAG services and VET providers. The event was highly successful, and involved meaningful and intimate engagement with the developed materials among all those present at the event. Similar Multiplier Events were also held in France, Greece, UK, and Italy emphasising the transnational application of the project outcomes. Readers can find some of the developed resources linked here .
Attendees at the DigiGuide Multiplier Event, DCU Glasnevin Campus April 21st, 2023.
The CareerBot Project is ongoing and seeks to improve the Digital Readiness of the Career Guidance Sector and to support Career Guidance Practitioners and their organisations on the path of digitalisation so that they can advise their clients in the best way possible. The Careerbot partnership is implementing a CareerBot (chatbot) methodology and tool which, reinforced by a facilitated blended guidance session, will provide up to date Labour Market Information (LMI) to Jobseekers. The aim of the project is on the one hand, to empower marginalised jobseekers on their pathways to employment and on the other hand, support guidance professionals with new tools and practices to implement during engagements with job seeking clients. The partnership emphasises the role of the Career Guidance practitioner in the use of this tool in settings of career guidance, hence the approach of our project is to place guidance practitioners at the centre of the development of a Career Guidance Chatbot Tool.
The CareerBot project can be broken down into four main project outcomes; Firstly, research on the content of the Bot and methodology to inform the development of the tool including LMI resources and usable APIs to embed within the tool. Secondly, the development of the CareerBot tool, which is now in its piloting phase. Thirdly, the development of a blended Careerbot training for Career Guidance Practitioners and finally the drafting of a Transfer Handbook for Implementation that focuses on organisational Development (OD). Both final outcomes of the CareerBot project aim to improve the digital readiness of Career Guidance sector. Check out our first newsletter linked here .
Screen grab from our Preliminary Version of the CareerBot tool 2023.