ConHector: Connecting youth with jobs

At least 23% of the youth in the world are NEET: not in employment, education, or training. Nearly 97% of the NEET in Latin America are looking for jobs or are working in the un-paid sector. They would like to work, but they are not aware of the labor opportunities or they do not fully understand the job advertisements. For their part, employers highlight that they cannot find people with the skills they require. There is a disconnection between supply and demand.

ConHector is a virtual coach that informs youth about job and training opportunities that cater to their specific skills and characteristics, and supports them throughout the process to access those opportunities. In this way, ConHector connects youth looking for jobs with employers, providing also counseling and guidance for job insertion. ConHector is part of a broader intervention that builds the skills youth need to enter the job market.

There are over 1.8 billion young people in the world. At least 23% of them are NEET: not in employment, education or training. In Latin America around one-fifth of young people (nearly 30 million youth) are NEET. This is primarily a female phenomenon, since 76% of NEETs in the region are women. Most of NEET come from poor and vulnerable families. 

Only 3% of the NEET in Latin America match the stereotype of young people who do not study nor work, because they don’t want to. The reality is that most NEET are looking for jobs or are working in the un-paid sector (e.g. housework). They would like to work, but they are not aware of the labor opportunities, or, sometimes they do not fully understand the job advertisements. Even though technology facilitates access to information about employment and training opportunities, it is not always easy to find or to understand. Likewise, employers highlight that they cannot find people with the skills they require. 

The increasing access to smartphones and strong adoption of WhatsApp, motivated us to optimize the use of these instruments, by providing vulnerable youth clear and bespoke information about job and training opportunities that suit their characteristics.

We are serving youth between 18 to 28 years who live in poverty, extreme poverty and vulnerability. These youth lack opportunities and are considered NEET.

FC has already work with vulnerable youth. Besides, in each initiative that we design and implement, we engage in a co-design process in this case the youth we expect to serve. We receive constant feedback during the design and implementation phases. In this way we are sure that the messages, information and counselling are fully understood by youth. We engage them in this process through focus groups as well as permanent observatories, which are permanent groups formed by project beneficiaries that provide constant  feedback throughout the process.

On the other hand, we engage in dialogue with the private companies in order to understand their needs, requirement and close the gap between potential employers and employees.

ConHector, a virtual coach that informs young people about job and training opportunities that cater to their specific skills and characteristics and supports them throughout the process to access those opportunities. In this way, ConHector connects youth looking for jobs with employees.

How does it work?

• ConHector creates a Community of Opportunities through the identification of allies that offer job placement programs or services for young people

• After a diagnosis of the users and, through data analysis, ConHector knows their job and training needs according to their skills and characteristics.

• Using non-industrialized machine learning models, ConHector makes personalized recommendations to users about job and training opportunities,  according to their skills, characteristics (e.g. age, sex, etc.) and geographical location.

• Through clear and relevant information, young people can make decisions about the job and training opportunities  available in their territories that they consider most relevant and apply to them.

• Through coaches or local leaders, ConHector builds a network of users.

• ConHector monitors in real time the acceptance and access of users to the programs or services offered in order to accompany them throughout the process to access those opportunities.

ConHector is based on a digital system that combines information about the job seeker with employment opportunities. ConHector informs youth through WhatsApp about the opportunities available for them and how to access them. This virtual coach is complemented by an in-person support service that provides additional guidance when needed.

Through the interaction with youth, the system will continuously capture data, which will enable us to continuously learn on the characteristics and needs of youth, allowing us to profile better, personalize, and improve the services. Potential employers can also learn about youth and strengthen their recruitment services. The more youth are using ConHector, the stronger the digital system will be, leading to a better service that will support youth in cost-effectively accessing the labor market.

In 2019, we designed and tested the first version of ConHector that provided different services to 200 families in Colombia. The results were very encouraging and based on this experience; we are planning to improve its design and customize it.

ConHector can connect entrepreneurs with millions of job seekers around the world and narrow the gaps in poverty and inequality.

The innovation provided by ConHector is related to a new application of existing technology to serve youth. Also, while we gather data from youth, we are able to improve the relevance of  services provided. 

The solution is effective for youth because:

• The information and services provided are accessible when and where youth needs them.

• It is relevant: Information and services offered respond to the specific characteristics and needs of youth.

• Recommendations and engagements with youth become smarter by adapting to the evolving needs of youth (in their specific contexts and specific moment in life) 

• Reduce cost of service: Eliminate middlemen to directly connect providers of services to the end citizen through a platform at a fraction of today’s cost.

• Scalable: A process, network and software that grows in order to manage and increased demand, adaptable to the changing needs or demands of its users or clients in different contexts.

Key differentiators:

• Fast response

• High-Tech solution

• Optimized Services

• Customer-focused and computer coordinated

• The best end-user experiences

• Statistically optimized response

• Profitable by design

• Location-based goods and services

The Theory of Change for our solution is as follows:

Activities

1.1. ConHector starts to be fed with information about jobs after a team from Fundación Capital contacts employers and identifies opportunities. 

1.2. Information is gathered from youth that are reinforcing their skills for the job market, within the framework of a broader initiative led by FC, and used to feed ConHector. 

1.3. ConHector combines the information about employers and job seekers  and starts sending bespoke information to young beneficiaries about opportunities that suit their characteristics and skills.

1.4. ConHector provides specific guidance to each young person to support their recruitment process

Outputs

2.1. Youth learn about opportunities available for them, that cater to their skills and characteristics. 

2.2. Youth gain confidence and knowledge in order to prepare and submit their CVs and prepare for interviews and recruitments process

2.3. Youth learn about training opportunities in topics required by the industry.

Short term outcomes

3.1. Young people gain skills required by the industry

3.2. Young people access jobs

3.3. Employers are able to find the talents they require.

Long term outcomes

Improved physical and psychological well-being of youth.

1. ConHector was tested with 200 families 

2. We expect to pilot ConHector with 1,000 youth

3. If funding is available, we expect to reach at least 1,000,000 youth in the Americas

We expect to customize ConHector for the needs of young people seeking for jobs and economic opportunities. For the next year we expect to launch a pilot with 1,000 youth. Then, we will start scaling up ConHector in Colombia, and then, in at least 5 countries in Latin America or countries where we have been already working such as Mozambique where we have existing networks and in-country experience. We expect to reach at least 1 million people in these countries, if the funding is available. 

If the necessary funding is available, it is possible to access ServiceNow’s primary markets such as the United States, where we have not been working yet. ConHector can be customized to attend the needs of migrants and the poorest citizens looking for jobs, who have difficulty adapting into a new culture and context. ConHector can connect this people with jobs and economic opportunities available for them, and support the integration of these people into the country.

The main barrier is to be able to access enough funding for the scaling up. At the beginning, ConHector needs to be funded by donors before it becomes self-sustainable and its service can be sold to beneficiaries, companies or governments who can pay for the placement of people in jobs. 

Also, in case of accessing new markets where we do not currently work such as ServiceNow’s primary markets, we may need to establish networks in order to identify beneficiaries and companies interested in this tool.

We will continue looking for funding with international donors. Fundación Capital has already received funding from a large network of donors including the Ford Foundation, the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the Citi Foundation, Co-Impact among others. Once the pilot yields results from the evaluations, it is possible to make a business case to some donors. In the future, once ConHector is a strong given the data analysis of its scale up, it is possible to establish a business plan and it could be possible that companies as well as young people pay once the job placement has been successful.

On the other hand, we have received several international awards such as the Skoll Award of Social Entrepreneurship, the Schwab Award of Social Entrepreneur, Ashoka and other international recognitions that place us in an strategic place in order to extend our network through potential partnerships with other awardees that may work in countries prioritized by ServiceNow.

Non applicable.

Once ConHector is piloted in Colombia in year one, it can be adapted to other countries and markets. It will be easier for us in countries were we already work, which are not ServiceNow’s primary markets, but we can start working in countries such as the United States serving its poorest population, migrants, among them, as it was described above.

Fundación Capital is a social enterprise that works to improve the economical and financial lives of people living in poverty around the world since 2009.

Driven by the belief in a more inclusive world, we work to generate systems change to enable everyone to reach their full potential and participate as economic citizens in their own right.

With the objective of generating lasting change at scale, we work with an integrated approach applying human centered design, technology and innovation to create solutions adapted to the specific needs of our audiences.

1. Full-time: 4 people
2. Part-time: 6 people
3. Contractors: 2 suppliers

At Fundación Capital we are an interdisciplinary team where social innovators work together with tech experts whom are active listeners, focused on problem-solving and absolutely committed to the people that use our digital solutions. We combined more than 10 years working with those living in poverty as well as managing software projects to advance economic citizenship and boosting the local economy. 

1. Tatiana Rincón - Vice President Livelihoods. In charge of integrating the digital solution with the social problematic of unemployed youth. Brings the experience in working with the population we are expecting to serve.
2. Rodrigo de Reyes - Director of the Digital Research and Development Department Director. In charge of digital solution design and strategic addressing.
3. Carolina Duarte - Product Manager. Responsible of digital solution co-design and operations.
4. Abraham Morales - Senior Tech Consultant. Facilitate processes for product design and development (UX, UI, scalability, reliability).
5. Santiago Ruge – Quantitative Research Specialist. Data modeling and analysis.

At the moment we are working with Fundación Carvajal, a recognize non for profit organization located in Colombia, by which we are identifying the gaps on employment process for people and gathering data for knowing better the users, their behaviors and skills that must be enforcement or develop, and thus provide a more human-centered design solution.

The business model for our solution is as follows:

Government (National and Local): the benefit for this stakeholder is improving efficiency of social programs that target vulnerable youth. The source of income is fee per user that was able to obtain a job.

Local private sector: the benefits for this stakeholder are new customers, sales increase, sophisticated customer knowledge, image building and/or strengthening, user-differentiated pricing and cross-selling opportunities. The source of income is a fee per transaction and per identified employee. 

Users: the benefits for this stakeholder are learning about economic opportunities available for them, access to information, goods and services that impact their quality of life and increase their chances at ending the cycle of poverty. The source of income is a fee per successful intermediation (user able to access a job).

Social publicity (curated): the benefits for this stakeholder are social publicity by governments, local agencies, corporate social responsibility units, multilateral and bilateral organizations, NGOs and philanthropists. The source of income is a fee per bundle of publicity that reach the user.

We are planning to seek for sustain donations and grants from existing and potential partners. This is necessary to pilot the approach given that the concept and a first prototype has been developed, but it is necessary to customize ConHector for youth populations, conduct evaluations, and  based on that, build a robust expansion and business plan built on stronger evidence from real implementation and evaluation. 

We see a lot of potential. A user fee for successful intermediation can be charged to the beneficiaries, also, a fee for the companies that are looking for employers. Last but not least, governments have social programs that seek the enhancement of economic opportunities of the youth. ConHector can be integrated in such programs and the government can pay for the services.

The funding, but especially, the mentorship to enhance and improve the digital solution are key for our work. Most importantly, the media opportunities will be key to connect with other donors that will allow us to scale up the solution and most importantly, access a broader network of potential allies.

Non applicable.

Non applicable for the moment.