Three tools to facilitate online job matching throughout Europe

8/8/2019 Three tools to facilitate online job matching throughout Europe

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Three toolsto facilitate

online job matchingthroughout Europe

ESCO,EURES,

Match & Map


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More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu).

Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.

Luxembourg: Publications Ofce of the European Union, 2010

ISBN 978-92-79-15980-0

doi: 10.2767/70301

European Union, 2010

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ESCO, EURES, Match & Map Making online job matching easier

In creating an open, exible, and adaptablelabour market, several factors are vital:

The accurate and effective matching of the

demand and supply of skills;

Anticipation and monitoring of the

requirements of the labour market;

The identication of the skill sets required

to enhance the long-term employment

prospects of jobseekers;

Relevant and responsive education and

training.

To help European citizens enhance their skills and

meet the demands of tomorrows labour market,

two new online tools have been developed.

Created with the aim of improving and facilitating

skills matching, these tools can increasethe efciency with which jobseekers will nd

vacancies and employers will nd candidates.

ESCO :The European multilingual

taxonomy2 of Skills / Competences,

qualications and Occupations

Match & Map :The automatic matching

and geographic mapping of job offers and

jobseeker proles

These tools will be supported by the improved

EURES portal.

EURES :The platform for the exchange of

vacancies, CVs, and learning opportunities

This leaet will introduce you to ESCO, the

EURES portal, and Match & Map and show

you how they can be used for the benet of all

European citizens.

Matching skills with vacancies is a priorityfor achieving efciency in the labour market.

The ability to quickly identify redundant skill

sets and emerging skill demands is key to

improving the quality of advice for jobseekers

and employers.

The European labour market will face

a number of challenges in the coming

years1. New technologies are improving the

effectiveness of production and changing

the way employees work. Companies are

now operating across a wider geographical

area and there is a greater emphasis on, for

example, multitasking and teamwork, thereby

increasing the need for higher-skilled workers.

Europes population is ageing, which will have

a considerable effect on the supply of labour

and skills, and certain sectors, such as healthand social care, are increasingly demanding

more workers than others. Also, there is an

undeniable and ongoing shift to a low-carbon

economy which will necessitate education and

training for new professions.

A skilled and adaptable workforce not only

benets both employers and workers, but can

boost the competitiveness of the European

economy. Possessing the necessary skills

and having the ability to move between jobs is

therefore becoming more and more important.

1New Skills for New Jobs: Anticipating and matching labour

market and skills needs, European Commission, 2009.

2A particular classication arranged in a hierarchical structure.


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Efcient matching between skills,jobs, and learning opportunities on theEuropean labour market can only be

achieved i there is a common multilingualclassifcation o skills, competences,qualifcations and occupations.

The European Commission is coordinating, in collaboration with

stakeholders, a multilingual classication, or taxonomy, of skills,

competences, and occupations called ESCO. It is the only Europeanmultilingual taxonomy linking skills and competences to occupations

and it will be available free of charge to all labour market and

education institutions, and other interested parties in 30 EEA(European Economic Area) countries. All

interested parties are encouraged to actively contribute throughout its development.

The rst version of ESCO, based on the structure of ISCO and ISCED, and introduced in the course of

2010, contains 6 000 skills and 5 000 occupations. Over time, this collection will be enriched to include

new occupations and skills, including soft skills and competences such as team work, communication,

and interpersonal skills. ESCO will continually evolve, in order to remain up-to-date with current labour

market situations.

ESCO is disseminated using state-of-the-art technology. Cutting edge

technologies, such as RDF, SKOS, and LOD, guarantee that ESCO

will be easily accessed, and that the potential of the Semantic Web

can be fully exploited by all interested parties.

ESCO is simple, open, and exible. The taxonomy can be readily

used by countries or organisations that do not have their own

classication system, while any existing taxonomies can be linked to it.

2

For more information:

http://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/

ESCO A multilingual classifcation o skills,competences, qualifcations and occupations

ISCO is the International

Classication of Occupations.

ISCED is the International

Standard Classication of

Education.

The Semantic Web is a development of the

World Wide Web into a Web of data where

information can be automatically interpreted

and understood, exchanged, and distributed.

RDF, SKOS, and LOD are important

components of the Semantic Web.

RDF (Resource Description Framework) is a

method to describe or model the format of

information available as resources on the Web.

SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization

System) is a standard format for building

controlled vocabularies, such as taxonomies,

and making them available as RDF. SKOS

guarantees exchangeability and interoperability

with other taxonomies.

LOD (Linked Open Data) is a method of

exposing, sharing, and connecting data on

the Web.


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This diagram shows how ESCO can be used to facilitate interoperability between two or more taxonomies by

mapping them to a common term. In this case, Taxonomy A and Taxonomy B each have different names for the

same occupation; by using elements of ESCO they are not only linked to ESCO, but also indirectly with each other.

1. Professionals (2)

2. Accounting, Legal, Social Science and Artistic Professionals (24)

3. Social Science and related Professionals (244)

4. Philologists translators and interpreters (2 444)

5. Translator: Occupation nameESCO

ISCO

Why is ESCO important?The creation of this multilingual taxonomy enhances the quality

and transparency of vacancy information, not to mention

improving matching between jobseekers and vacancies, and

between skills and labour market needs.

The efcient and accurate online matching of jobseekers

with vacancies depends on the quality and reliability of

the information exchanged. To achieveperect semantic

interoperabilityall communicating systems involved must use

identical terminology. However, valuable results can already

be obtained if the various systems are mapped to a common

terminology, such as ESCO. Improved interoperability between

European Employment Services facilitates easier and more accurate matching between jobs and

candidates. This is true not only for the information exchanged via the EURES portal, but in all

situations involving the exchange of this kind of information including between private employment

services, and directly with employers.

ESCO will help to describe qualications in terms of learning outcomes in line with the EuropeanQualications Framework (EQF) and the National Qualications Frameworks (NQFs), which are

being developed. ESCO will be sufcient to broadly meet the needs of Member States who do

not have their own classications system, and to enable those with existing national and sectoral

classications to link with each other.

Semantic interoperability

refers to the ability of

two or more computer

systems to automatically

interpret any information

exchanged meaningfully

and accurately. To achieve

semantic interoperability,

both sides must use a

common standard for

information exchanged.


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What can a skills,competences, qualifcations

and occupations taxonomy beused or?

Jobseekers can use it to describe their skill set

when developing a CV, that can then be easily

used for various automatic matching purposes;

Employers can use it to dene a set of skills

and competences required when they are

developing a job description to be advertised

with public or other employment services;

Learners can use it to build personal skill

proles and to record their learning outcomes;

Bodies developing and/or awarding

qualications can use it to express learning

outcomes in more operational terms;

Education and training institutions can

use it to improve planning and curriculum

development related to emerging skill needs,

and to facilitate the recognition of foreign

qualications;

Human resource managers and guidance

providers can use it to enhance planning

and enrich aptitude or ability tests, skills, andinterest inventories or tools.

Once fully developed, the ESCO classicationwill consist of three main pillars, linking skills,

occupations, and qualications.


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ESCO in practice.

ESCO Supporting jobmatching on the Europeanlabour market

ESCO will help to signicantly improve

matching between labour demand and labour

supply at all levels, from local or sectoral to

national and European.

ESCO has the potential to become the

European standard classication for skills

and competences, building a bridge between

labour markets and the world of education and

training. It has the potential to complement, or

even replace, existing national, international,

and sectoral occupational classications.

ESCO enables players on both the labour andeducational markets to create standard tools

that respond to the latest market developments

and provide more and better options for

matching, interoperability, and up-skilling.

ESCO was created to be a common

language and the backbone of Europe-wide

semantic interoperability.

ESCO facilitates the creation of dynamic labour

markets that are characterised by smooth

transitions between employment sectors,

between education and employment, and

between training and the return to work.

CompanyX

Engineer

Mechanical

Engineering

UniversityY

Masterin

Engineering

Masterin

Engineering

Oers thecourse to allow

to obtain

Completing it

gives you

Is required

to beCan work at

Has need for

Knows aboutand is

qualied in

Can be achieved

by following

Can be obtainedby following

courses at

ESCOOccupation

ESCOSkill/competency

ESCOQualication


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The EURES Job Mobility Portal is built on a platform for the exchangeof vacancies, CVs, learning opportunities, and information on

European labour mobility. The portal represents more than 1/3 of all

vacancies on the European labour market. At the end of 2010, the

portal hosted over 1 000 000 job vacancies, 500 000 CVs and over

20 000 registered employers. It is a central information point for both

jobseekers and employers, and members of the EURES network.

In addition to hosting innumerous jobseeker CVs and job vacancies, the

EURES portal provides a platform forsyntactic interoperability. This

means that vacancy information can be exchanged between Public

Employment Services in a standardised way; ensuring that clear material

is presented to jobseekers and thereby eliminating skills mismatches.

Further developments to the portal exchange platform will mean improved quality. Companies and

private employment services can also avail of the standardised format for job vacancies and CVs.

Additionally, the use of a common set of documents including a European CV format, provided

by Europass, allow the skills and qualications of a jobseeker to be clearly and easily understood

throughout Europe. In combination with the use of the ESCO taxonomy in the development ofvacancies and CVs, the EURES portal therefore has the potential to be the sharing point for all

European vacancy information. Jobseekers qualications can be widely recognised and identied, and

posted vacancies understood and answered.

The EURES portal is facilitating the more accurate and efcient matching of jobseekers to jobs, and

employers to candidates. It allows standardised vacancy information to be presented in the context of

a more exible and adaptable labour market.

EURES A platorm or the exchange o

vacancies, CVs, and learning opportunities

Syntactic interoperability

occurs when two or more

systems are capable

of communicating

and exchanging data.

For systems to exhibit

syntactic interoperability,standardised formats

are fundamental.


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Europass opens doors

to learning and working

in Europe by helping

people to make their skills

and qualications easily

understood. Europass

consists of ve documents

for the presentation of

skills, qualications, and

competences, and is

supported by a network of

national Europass centres.

For more information visit

http://europass.europa.eu

The main areas o the EURES portal thathave undergone improvements are:

For Jobseekers

My CV: enables jobseekers to create up to ve online

CVs, publish up to 10 linguistic versions, and export CVs

to the standard Europass format if needed. My CV also

offers jobseekers the opportunity to create a personalised

presentation with an online video so they can showcase

their personalities, as well as their qualications.

For Employers

My Candidates: makes it considerably easier for

employers to nd the right candidates. Registered

employers can check out useful hints and tips, run

searches based on the desired location and occupation

of the jobseeker, and view a candidates CV in all availablelanguages. Once potential candidates have been found,

employers can send them short enquiry messages from

their personal EURES accounts.

For Everyone

My Forums: provides a platform for interaction, and

allows users to join discussions on topics related to labour

mobility and working abroad. Exchange hints and tips,

form connections, maintain relationships, and participate

in debates.

The Virtual Job Fair: exactly like a Job Day only virtual!

The fairs act as an online space where jobseekers,

employers and EURES Advisers can meet, chat, and

arrange appointments. Employers can present their

companies and job offers, jobseekers can view job

opportunities, and EURES Advisers can meet and greet

the visitors and provide expert advice.


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The creation of Match & Map on the EURES portal is a vitalstep towards the realisation of better matching between

skills and labour market needs. It answers the question all

jobseekers and employers are asking simply and efciently:

Where are the jobs and where are the workers?

Match & Map, to be implemented in several steps from

2011 onwards, goes a long way towards limiting skills

mismatches, while ensuring a widespread and efcient

job-matching and support service for all Europeancitizens. It is a user-friendly, transparent online service,

providing comprehensive and accessible information on

occupations, skills, and learning and training opportunities

across the EU.

Match & Map requires interoperability between many

different operators and systems. This can only be

achieved successfully if information is standardised, and at

a high quality. The standards already exist, from Europass

CVs to country classications, but if not all actors use

them the quality of the information provided is affected.

Match & Map is therefore developed with the use of ESCO

to ensure a high quality of information.

Match & Map automatically matches information provided

in a jobseekers online CV with the available job vacancies.

It evaluates the jobseekers prole, professional and

educational background, skills, interests, qualications,

and desired occupation.

The result? A graphical map of Europe, showing the

jobseeker where they can nd the opportunities they are

looking for, and the employer where they can nd the

available jobseekers and skills they need.

Match & Map also recognises the necessity of skills

upgrading, for all jobseekers. Should a job search reveal a

skills gap, Match & Map will show the user where to nd

information on learning opportunities that will bridge the

divide between desired occupation and skill set.

Match & Map The geographic mappingo jobs and opportunities

PLOTEUS is the Portal on

Learning Opportunities

throughout the European

Economic Area, providing

information on studying

in Europe for students,

jobseekers, workers,

parents, teachers, and

guidance counsellors.For more information visit

http://europa.eu/ploteus/

EURAXESS is the

Researchers in Motion

portal providing information

on European mobility

tailored specically to

mobile researchers. For

more information visithttp://ec.europa.eu/

EURAXESS/


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Users also have the option of widening the search criteria to nd vacancies that are not an exactmatch with their prole. If this leads them to a vacancy for which they lack the required skills, they

will be directed to information on further learning opportunities and skills upgrading.

Information on education and training opportunities is presented in cooperation with PLOTEUS.

Match & Map bases its results on vacancy information provided by EURES and other mobility

network resources such as EURAXESS.

European Commission

Three tools to acilitate online job matching throughout Europe - ESCO, EURES, Match & Map

Luxembourg: Publications Ofce of the European Union

2010 9 pp. 14,821 cm

ISBN 978-92-79-15980-0

doi: 10.2767/70301

This publication is available in English, French and German.


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The online tools ESCO, Match & Map and the improved EURES portal, were created

with the aim of improving and facilitating skills matching and increasing the efciency

with which jobseekers will nd vacancies and employers will nd candidates. This

publication serves as an introduction to these three online matching tools developed

by the European Commission.

Documents

Three tools to facilitate online job matching throughout Europe