​PR1's methodology integrated a comprehensive approach to career guidance, incorporating skills gap analysis, smart catalogues, and user-centred design (learners, teachers, and industry experts) to align learning pathways with labour market needs. The core concept is skill gap analysis, comparing users' current skills with those required for specific occupations. The tool provides skill alignment by identifying gaps in career transitions and by designing training pathways connecting skill profiles to relevant courses. It also defines proficiencies in occupations and training programs (not in the ESCO database). This is achieved through a Digital Course Catalogue including ESCO skills and industry proficiency levels, outlining courses and skill outcomes (including assessed proficiency levels and micro-credits). The tool leverages user experience research to ensure effectiveness for learners and for teachers/industry experts creating training offerings and defining occupation skills.

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PR2 aimed to model career guidance software via a dynamic mock-up, informed by PR1 feedback, especially on skill alignment and the digital course catalogue’s design. The mock-up prioritizes user groups—learners, teachers, and industry experts—to facilitate reskilling, training program creation, and occupation profile updates. Skill-gap analysis and skill vectors tailor training paths for comprehensive occupational coverage. It offers an interactive, GDPR-compliant, user-friendly interface for personalized experiences, including skill assessment, training discovery, and occupation analysis. Learners onboard, self-assess, browse catalogues, and manage profiles. Teachers modify training and micro-credentials, assessing skill coverage for jobs. Industry experts edit occupation profiles, skill importance according to context, and proficiency levels. ESCO database gaps, noted in PR1, are addressed for flexibility, enabling custom extensions.

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PR3 tackled "improving lifelong learning and agile education in universities," focusing on faculty and governance. Learning Teaching Training (LTT) events were held in Barcelona (UOC) and Budapest (BME). In Barcelona, topics included career guidance, learner-centric approaches, skills alignment, and micro-credentialing. Faculty learned about the European ESCO database, skills/competences related to jobs, and designing courses into micro-credits. They were introduced to a career guidance tool and a benchmark test for the PR2 mock-up. Budapest's LTT at BME gave strategic insights to consortium leaders, discussing skills-based education, collaboration between industry and higher education, and technology diplomacy.

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This paper presents the design and development of a mock-up career guidance tool to empower lifelong learners through digital reskilling and upskilling. We discuss the methods used for designing a skills alignment tool and a smart catalogue for identifying stackable training pathways in two specific disciplinary domains. The skills alignment methodology features a skill gap analysis in the occupational domains of Data Science and Chemistry, linked to the evolution and demand of the European labour market through an ESCO compatible tool. The smart program catalog presents the necessary program information to facilitate the creation of stackable training pathways. Considerations are made for the importance of virtual career guidance tools for lifelong learners as we face the ever-changing demand of the labor market and as we continue to embrace online education, micro-credentialing and the digital transformation of higher education.

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