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October 25, 2013 04:08 pm GMT

PathSource Wants To Flip The Job Search And Help Students Bridge The Gap Between Class And Career

Screen Shot 2013-10-23 at 4.13.30 PMPart of the reason that higher education exists, besides accumulating habits, diets and debts that will haunt you for years to come, is to prepare you for the “real world” — and for the workforce. Of course, with graduation rates around 60 percent and rampant undermployment among recent grads casting a long shadow over college campuses, it’s clear that something is wrong. The workforce and job market are undergoing significant changes, and there is a pervading sense, whether misguided or not, that college isn’t preparing students for this Brave New Working World. With the Obama Administration considering a plan that would (among other things) tie federal assistance for higher ed institutions to graduates’ outcomes in the job market, it’s clear that many believe that higher education needs to shift to a more open and career-focused model — one that prioritizes career readiness. While reform is desperately needed, Aaron Michel believes that this shift in priorities comes with a caveat. As the system becomes increasingly focused on the “back-end” of the career search process (helping find you a job), he tells us, it tends to overshadow the “front-end” — or finding the right industry and function for your passion. While finding a job means the ability to put food on the table, the cost of ending up in the wrong job or field can be devastating. Over the long term, it’s a net loss. Of course, navigating the “front-end” of the career search and finding the “right” job isn’t easy; it takes time. Plus, to have any real shot at success, students need to start the process early. In 2009, Michel and fellow education entrepreneur Alex Li founded PathSource as a way to help students navigate the overwhelming array of career options and reduce a “front-end” search process that usually takes years to something more manageable. Combining the good will of the public with technology, Pathsource aims to give students direct access to first-hand information about professional opportunities that are available to them based on their skills, interests and background. To do this, the Burlingame-headquartered startup built its career-readiness solutions on top of a data analytics layer, which uses student demographic data to power its recommendation engine. Similar to how Amazon combines one’s browsing history and interests with purchases made by people who have similar taste profiles to improve the recommendations it makes for say, books, PathSource makes career recommendations for

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