How CareerVillage Uses AI to Expand Access to Career Opportunity

Key Takeaways:

• AI can expand access to career guidance at scale
  CareerVillage's Coach tool, embedded on TearThePaperCeiling.org, delivered over 1,000 coaching sessions in its first year, with 100% positive user ratings
• Skills-first AI helps STARs navigate opportunity
  By focusing on transferable skills — not degrees — Coach helps users identify pathways to higher-wage roles and take actionable next steps
• Inclusive design leads to better outcomes
  Coach was co-designed with STARs, ensuring the tool reflects real user needs and builds trust with jobseekers who are often excluded from traditional systems
• AI works best when it complements human support
  The most effective solutions combine scalable AI tools with human advising and local labor market context
• Meeting users where they are increases success
  Embedding Coach within TearThePaperCeiling.org ensured access at critical career moments, when guidance is most needed

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Case Summary: 

More than 70 million workers in the U.S. are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs), meaning they have developed valuable skills through work experience, training programs, community college, or military service rather than a bachelor’s degree.

Despite their qualifications, many STARs face a “paper ceiling”—a set of barriers including degree screens, limited professional networks, and lack of access to timely career guidance—that blocks them from accessing higher-wage opportunities.

To address this gap, CareerVillage partnered with Opportunity@Work to develop Coach, an AI-powered career guidance tool embedded in TearThePaperCeiling.org. Designed with input from STARs, Coach delivers personalized, skills-based guidance that helps users understand their transferable skills, explore new career pathways, and take concrete steps toward better jobs.

In its first year, Coach demonstrated how AI can scale access to effective career support, facilitating more than 1,000 coaching sessions with 100% positive user feedback. Beyond these early results, the initiative highlights a broader opportunity for the JobTech ecosystem, workforce organizations, and employers: the intentional use of AI to expand access to opportunity, strengthen talent pipelines, and build a more skills-first labor market.

CareerVillage’s mission is to make career guidance accessible to anyone—regardless of whether a college degree is part of their journey.By leveraging AI, they are helping democratize access to career navigation and ensuring STARs can get support during critical moments, when decisions matter most.