Is Your State Ready for a Talent Marketplace? 7 Things to Know
States increasingly see talent marketplaces as a way to connect workers with employers and opportunities. But building a marketplace that delivers on that promise takes more than issuing an RFP or implementing an out-of-the-box technology solution.
Before beginning the design process, states need to determine whether the foundations that make a talent marketplace work are already in place—or where significant gaps remain. That means understanding the quality and accessibility of their data, establishing an approach to governance and data standards, and building the employer partnerships needed to make the marketplace relevant to the people who will use it.
Here are seven considerations states should address before moving forward with a talent marketplace and committing significant resources to technology and implementation.
1. Plan to personalize it to your needs
“A framework that works for a state with a lot of agriculture is probably not going to be very effective for a state that needs to focus on transitioning military to civilian careers. The more aligned with your state needs you can get, the more this project is likely to succeed.” — Kelly Hoyland, Director of Strategic Project Management and Skills Ecosystem Strategy, Unicon
Starting with specific economic or workforce problems is a good way to ensure that the marketplace meets local needs. These might include:
- Reducing unemployment
- Retaining college graduates
- Addressing labor shortages
- Adjusting to demographic change
- Helping workers transition to other industries or fields
Identifying the purpose of the marketplace can then help states zero in on:
- Data they need
- Potential partners
- Which individuals will use this first
- Capabilities the marketplace should offer
2. Know your data
Another key early step is to inventory the systems that contain relevant data. States should look beyond traditional data sources like K-12 and college SIS and LMS platforms to include data related to:
- Noncredit education
- Workforce development
- Justice-oriented education
- Apprenticeships and on-the-job training
Developing a truly comprehensive and accurate pool of data for the marketplace ensures that it will support the needs of all the learners it is meant to serve.
However, this process can reveal serious technological hurdles, as Kelly found while advising states on developing an LER: “One state was still using CDs for labor reporting data.” Some states may need to invest in modernizing their systems before they can move ahead.
3. Get interoperability right
Even when information is already digital, data can vary widely in quality, structure, and completeness. Incorporating standards is essential when data is being exchanged across different systems and use cases. These standards might include:
- Open Badges for issuing and sharing individual digital credentials
- Comprehensive Learner Records (CLR) for representing a broader collection of a learner’s skills, credentials, and achievements
- W3C Verifiable Credentials, an underlying standard that helps make digital credentials portable and verifiable across systems
For many states, this process represents the bulk of the work. “I would say it’s 80% connecting existing systems, and then the remaining 20% involves either building the data infrastructure or implementing a platform,” says Kelly.
Beyond technical interoperability, states also need semantic interoperability, a shared understanding of what the data means. Essentially, if one system identifies something as a skill, another system should interpret that skill in the same way. Common terminology and definitions for skills and credentials can help make that possible—a critical capability if the systems used by education providers, workforce systems, and employers are going to understand one another.
“We often talk about college degrees being proxies for skills. The same can be true for a job title or description: they don’t always accurately align with skills.” — Kelly Hoyland, Director of Strategic Project Management and Skills Ecosystem Strategy, Unicon
And even interoperable data is only as useful as the information it represents. States therefore need to consider not only whether skills data can move and be understood across systems, but whether it accurately reflects what an individual can actually do. Even perfectly interoperable data won’t reliably connect workers with the right opportunities or employers with the talent they need if it’s not verifiable.
4. Incorporate diverse stakeholders
Planning and governance committees need representatives from education (e.g., state leaders, heads of school districts, and higher ed leaders) and a cross-section of employers, such as major companies, small businesses, chambers of commerce, and workforce development organizations.
Together they can answer questions like:
- What counts as a skill?
- How are credentials defined?
- Who owns and/or validates data?
- How do systems and organizations participate?
Don’t forget about learners and workers. While they may not be involved in planning, there should be a way to collect user feedback from a diverse selection of individual types: not just young college graduates but nontraditional learners and older adults who might be returning to the workforce or reskilling due to unemployment.
5. Design for what employers actually need
“Employers aren’t necessarily asking for a talent marketplace or talking about things like LERs. They just want to find people who have the skills they need.” — Kelly Hoyland, Director of Strategic Project Management and Skills Ecosystem Strategy, Unicon
Asking hiring managers, HR teams, and small businesses what problems they are seeing supports designing a marketplace they will actually use. For example, many companies are seeing a huge influx of AI-generated resumes that make it even more difficult to identify truly qualified candidates.
That is precisely where a talent marketplace comes in. By creating a unified ecosystem, it enables employers to connect directly with candidates who possess authenticated, real-world capabilities.
However, there can be roadblocks when employers don’t want to expose proprietary skills profiles to competitors. In those cases, marketplaces can still do a lot of the work of finding qualified candidates. “Take advanced manufacturing,” says Kelly. “There are a lot of similarities in skills requirements there. A marketplace can surface candidates that match 75% of an employer’s required skills, and then they can vet for the more specific capabilities during recruitment or train promising candidates.”
6. Improve the experience for job seekers
A successful marketplace does away with common frustrations like having to input education and work experience information over and over again into different systems. Beyond that, it can also help individuals showcase what they can actually do by surfacing skills they didn’t realize were relevant or in-demand and by translating their education and experience into employer-friendly language.
Skills-based marketplaces can also surface career paths that workers may not know are open to them. Opportunity@Work has identified millions of workers whose existing skills overlap with those required for substantially higher-paying occupations. Having access to this information can give more people the confidence to apply for those positions, supporting upward economic mobility.
7. Start small, but leave room to grow
“You can’t do everything from day one.” — Kelly Hoyland, Director of Strategic Project Management and Skills Ecosystem Strategy, Unicon
Given the complexity of creating statewide talent marketplaces, keeping the initiative within a realistic scope is essential. Focusing on the most pressing needs helps states build a sustainable plan that continues to attract stakeholders, users, and advocates.
Once the foundation is in place, states can consider adding AI-powered capabilities like career guidance and other advising tools. “You could even route users to education opportunities if they need additional skills,” says Kelly. “There's a lot of potential for future enhancements.”
Is your state ready?
Building an ecosystem in which education and workforce data can move reliably, employers can identify people with the skills they need, and individuals can find opportunities they might otherwise miss requires high-quality data, technological and semantic interoperability, and strong governance. Many states may require significant foundational work in these areas as a preliminary step.
They need a partner that can help them assess their data and systems, identify gaps, and build the connective infrastructure that makes the marketplace possible. Unicon specializes in creating that enablement layer with expertise in connecting environments, creating workable governance, and defining skills that map to both education systems and employer needs.
As Unicon continues advising states involved in the CTO Challenge, we’re helping turn the lessons emerging from this work into practical strategies states and other entities can use to build talent marketplaces that reflect their unique workforce needs and deliver meaningful value to employers and individuals alike. Contact us to start exploring your state’s readiness.
