Link Your Purpose Online Career Development Platform

The problem that the Link Your Purpose Online Career Development Platform is addressing is that the youth unemployment rate in Jamaica and the Caribbean continues to be higher than the global youth and the general unemployment rates. A major contribution to this is that many high schools do not offer career education, and the career services that is offered in some schools does not sufficiently help students to identify their career goals nor provide meaningful guidance to help them to achieve these goals. This later results in low enrolment levels in skills training institutions, colleges and universities (as students do not know which programs to pursue because they are still unsure of their career path), or over-subscription in various programs which leads to unemployment in an already very competitive job market. 

 The COVID-19 Pandemic has amplified this problem, by creating unprecedented educational disruption in the Caribbean Small Island Developing States. According to UNESCO, most governments in the English and Dutch Caribbean sub-region were forced to temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this left approximately 7 million learners and over 90 000 teachers across 23 countries and territories in the Caribbean sub-region grappling with a new reality of distance-learning. In Jamaica, over 120,000 students were displaced from the educational system, and the MOE has been making attempts to assist students academically, however not much thought, time or space has been given to career development, which is need, especially with the revolution in the work space, which requires new demands for skills, especially digital, socio-emotional and lifelong skills.

The Link Your Purpose Online Career Development Platform will contribute to resolving the issue of high youth unemployment rate, by helping young people from an early age to be aware of the numerous career options that are available to them, based on their skills, interests, passion and ability. The platform uses an algorithm to showcase careers (traditional and non-traditional) based on the subject selection of the user. Once students see the career options, they can get more information about that career, what is done, where to study, what courses to pursue, youth opportunities such as scholarships, internships and jobs and they even have the chance to speak with a career mentor from our Online Career Mentoring Community, who is practicing in the field that they are interested in. We have already initiated a partnership with the local Ministry of Education to have the platform being used in schools to aid the Career Development Curriculum and we will continue to pursue this partnership locally as well as pursue similar partnerships with other MOEs across the region/globe. This innovative and interactive platform, has been changing the way career education is offered in school, by taking a proactive approach to career development, instead of a passive and reactive approach. 

The main direct beneficiaries of the project are high school students. This target group is important, because this is usually the stage of life, where a young person starts to think about what they want to do with their lives after high school and beyond. High Schools in Jamaica, the Caribbean, the UK and some parts of Africa and other parts of the world, requires students to choose approximately eight subjects that they would like to focus on in 10th and 11th grades. These subjects are important, because they will determine the course/programmes students are able to pursue in college/university and therefore if the right combination of subjects are not carefully selected based on the career option of the student, they might not get in to college/university for the programme that they want to study. This results in delay, additional financial expenses on parents for children to go and pursue additional subjects and inability to acquire and retain a job, because of lack of qualification, interest and passion. 

The Link Your Purpose team comprises of five operational staff, who are passionate about youth development and have been committed to helping youth identify and fulfill their career goals. The team members collective possess over 30 years of experience and have expertise in the areas of youth and community development, business development and management, career development/counselling, project management and research. The organization also has access to over 25 active volunteers who supports the work and projects of the organization and a board of advisors who provides advice and governance. All team members are passionate about and have been contributing to youth and community development for many years and are serious about impacting lives in their communities and creating change in or Country Jamaica, the region of the Caribbean and the world. 

The design and implementation of our solution has been guided by youth with the communities and students across the country. At all stages of the development, the platform was shared with students (main users) to use and give their feedback. We spent many years conducting research within the field and pivoted and improved the product based on our findings and the needs of the community. 

I am applying to become a part of the Solve network because of the wide array of benefits and opportunities that Solve provides. I am interested in being connected to other like-minded innovators who are solving the worlds global problems, connecting with technical experts who can provide advice, mentoring and coaching, access to investors, training resources as well as finances to grow and scale my solution. 

While there are several websites and platforms that provide information about skills training institutions, universities and colleges, along with the courses they offer and even other career information, there is currently no web/ mobile application that allows youth to take fun and interactive psychometric test that based on the results, recommend the subjects students need  to pursue, linking the career choice to the best-fit skills training institutions, colleges and universities, participate in mentoring sessions with online career mentors, to help them realize their career dream in Jamaica or the Caribbean. Additionally, there is currently no career software being used in schools to help students choose the best career option for themselves. The USP for Link Your Purpose (LYP) is that it will be the first mover within the targeted geographical area.

Our impact goals for the next five years include:

1. To transform and improve the way career services are offered in schools. This includes taking a more proactive approach to career development, where students receive guidance on how to figure out and achieve their career goals over a reactive approach where they just happen up on a career.
2. To conduct Interactive Career Workshops in at least 60% of High Schools in Jamaica and the Caribbean, and expose students to the wide variety of non-traditional and traditional careers and helping then to identify and achieve their career goals. 
3. To contribute to the reduction of the high unemployment rate in Jamaica and the Caribbean, by guiding and preparing students/youth for the job market. This will directly contribute to a reduction in poverty.
4. To contribute to an increase the enrollment and completion rate among tertiary institutions by providing students with access to youth opportunities such as scholarships. 

Progress is currently being measured in the following ways:

• The number of students who have increased their knowledge about existing careers (traditional and non-traditional)
• The number of students/youth who would have been able to identify the career they want to pursue and created their own individual career development plan to achieve their career goals. 
• Number of students who would have accesses youth opportunities such as scholarships to further their education or jobs to contribute to economic development and reduce poverty. 

The Link Your Purpose Online Career Development Platform is already having an impact on the problem. Feedback received from students and guidance counsellors/teachers in high schools, have shown that students have become more aware of the career options that they have based on their skills, interests and passions. Students who did not know how to pursue a particular career, have received information about the steps they need to take to achieve their career goals. They have also become more aware about the specific activities that takes place within a particular career because they have been able to speak with a career mentor and someone who is practicing on the field that they are interested in. 

STudents have also been able to access youth opportunities such as scholarships, internships and jobs after accessing the platform or our workshops. 

As an online career development platform, our solution is a web-based platform with a built-in algorithm to generate the results given.

At Link Your Purpose, we take a very open and diverse approach to recruiting employees and team members. Our focus is on the core competencies of the individual and not based on age, gender, race etc. 

Inclusion is evident and promoted in the operations of the organization and all team members are treated equally and have access to equal opportunities. 

The products and services offered by Link Your Purpose include:

Interactive Career Workshop (Virtual and Face-to-face) - this is sold to schools or organizations who have groups of students/youth who need help to identify fulfill their career goals. 

Annual Subscription to the platform - this is sold to individuals who need to get details about the career(s) that they are interested in, as well as access youth opportunities, such as scholarships, internships and jobs, specific to the career they choose. Subscribers also get to create their own career tracker which provides guidance as to the steps they need to take to achieve their career goals. 

1 hour Mentoring sessions with an online career mentor. Students/youth can book a session to speak with someone in the field that they are interested in and receive guidance on how to get into that career field. 

Career Coaching sessions are conducted by our career coaches to helps individual create their own career development plan, prepare college or college application forms or personal statements or apply for jobs/internships.

Merchandise relating to career development

Link Your Purpose Online Career Development Platform is a Social Enterprise and will therefore continue to sustain itself after the grant. The platform, while creating great social impact, will generate revenues, through subscription fees, workshops fees, online mentoring session booking fees and from relevant advertisements on the platform. To scale the project faster, partnerships and endorsements will be needed from the Ministry of Education and Schools in Jamaica. We have already approached the MOE and our CEO, now sits on the Career Development Committee within the MOE, which makes it easier for further partnership. Partnerships are needed with Governments in other countries to scale. We will also continue to apply for opportunities which provide funding or other technical resources to help us to continue to grow and improve the business.

We have been able to develop and grow the organization to where is it at today, through funding received from several incubator, accelerator and other programs which supports social entrepreneurs and innovations. Operationally, we are currently working on sustaining the organization by generating income through our services and product offerings.