Need help with your career?

LifeSkill VR – a virtual reality mobile app that will soon be able to help you!

A European consortium, made up of six institutions from five countries, is designing a mobile application to support citizens, especially the younger generation, in their search for a job. Using gamification techniques, this virtual reality application will be able to identify the qualities and skills of young people who are seeking a job and combine them with the characteristics of a given profession, directing them to the most suitable job for their profile. Malta is represented by the Mediterranean Maritime Research and Training Centre – MaritimeMT, a specialised Maritime Training Centre.

The idea of the LifeSkills VR project - Life Skills for Employment in COVID-19 Era through VR Innovation - was born during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a consequence of and as a mitigation tool to, the increase in the unemployment rate across Europe. This application appears as an alternative to vocational tests, combining gamification techniques and Holland’s model (ouRIASEC), which defines six types of personalities/environments: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Entrepreneurial and Conventional. It will be able to identify the aptitudes and vocation of users, guiding them more precisely in their search for a job and, at the same time, promoting the acquisition of new digital skills.

MaritimeMT got involved in this project as part of its mission to popularise careers in the Maritime sector. The younger generation do not necessarily appreciate the wealth of opportunities that are available in the sector, both locally and internationally. The LifeSkills VR Technology will be a tool whereby skills already held by youths can be matched and honed in to the requirements of the Maritime world.

As part of the research related to this project, two questionnaires have been devised by the consortium’s partners, aimed at the target youth group as well as those entities and individuals that provide support. The purpose of these surveys is to understand youth’s needs and most commonly needed life skills for their occupation/job role, as well as the tools, and services available in their respective countries to support them to choose their future occupations.

If you are interested in learning more about this project and to participate in the research, please contact MaritimeMT on info@maritimemt.edu.mt.