Skills2Match
Helping people discover the capabilities that traditional CVs, qualifications and job titles can miss.
Founded on a simple belief: people are often more capable than their CV suggests.
Meet the founder
Hi, I'm John Barnes.
After more than two decades in the workplace, I repeatedly saw capable people overlooked because their abilities could not be easily expressed through qualifications, job titles or CVs.
Skills2Match began as a question:
What if we could better recognise the capabilities people develop through work, education and life experience?
Today I am working with researchers, employers and stakeholders to explore whether technology can help make hidden capability more visible and create better access to opportunity.
The Problem
We are more than CVs
Every day, people develop valuable skills through work, education, volunteering, caring responsibilities, hobbies and life experience.
Yet many of these capabilities remain hidden because traditional CVs, qualifications and job titles only tell part of the story.
As a result:
- People can be overlooked for opportunities.
- Organisations can miss valuable talent.
- Skills developed over years of experience may never be recognised.
Skills2Match was created to explore whether there is a better way.
Work Experience
Skills gained through professional roles and responsibilities.
Education & Learning
Knowledge developed through formal and informal learning.
Life Experience
Capabilities built through personal challenges and experiences.
Interests & Activities
Skills developed outside traditional employment and education
Our Approach
Looking Beyond Qualifications, Job Titles and CVs
Skills2Match is exploring a different way of understanding human capability.
Rather than focusing only on qualifications, employment history or job titles, the project looks at a broader range of experiences that can shape what a person is capable of doing.
This may include:
- Professional work experience
- Education and training
- Volunteering and community involvement
- Caring responsibilities
- Personal projects and achievements
- Hobbies, interests and self-directed learning
- Significant life experiences
The aim is to build a richer picture of human capability by recognising the skills people develop throughout their lives.
Why AI?
Traditional assessments often rely on limited information and can take significant time to review.
Skills2Match is exploring whether advances in artificial intelligence can help identify patterns, connections and evidence of capability that might otherwise be missed.
The goal is not to replace people or make decisions on their behalf.
The goal is to help people and organisations better understand the capabilities that already exist.
A Research and Validation Journey
Skills2Match is currently progressing through research, stakeholder engagement and MVP development.
The project has involved conversations with researchers, educators, employers, workforce specialists and innovation organisations in the UK and internationally.
Every stage of development is guided by a simple principle:
Technology should help people recognise potential, not reduce people to a score.
Where we are today
Skills2Match is currently progressing through research, validation and MVP development.
The project has involved engagement with researchers, employers, workforce specialists and educational stakeholders in the UK and internationally.
We are continuing to test, refine and validate the approach while exploring future pilot opportunities.