Our Story – Occumi

Joe Shepherd

Both of Occumi’s products have been built with one key principle in mind - to democratise opportunity.

Both of Occumi’s products have been built with one key principle in mind - to democratise opportunity. We want to give everyone a chance to understand the importance of transferable skills, regardless of their background.

Josh Clarke

Every individual deserves to have the opportunity to understand the value of their transferable skills.

Every individual, regardless of their background or social capital, deserves to have the opportunity to understand the value of their transferable skills. And everyone deserves to enter a level playing field, free of bias when applying for a role. At Occumi we are pushing to help achieve these goals through our education product and our recruitment product.

We have known each other since we were eleven years old, but it took us almost ten years to actually have a good idea! The initial idea for Occumi came to us whilst we were at university. We were worrying about how we were going to get a job after uni, as we knew that we would be competing for jobs with graduates from more prestigious universities than our own.

Where did the inspiration for Occumi come from?

We knew that regardless of our backgrounds, we may be more suitable for a role than an individual from a better university. That’s when we started to think what transferable skills we had, and how our education and work experience had helped shape these skills. It is at that moment that we began the research for Occumi’s skills-identifying algorithm!

We were both first-generation students with a lack of social capital. Like many in our position, this meant that we had absolutely no idea what opportunities were available to us, what employers were looking for, or how to sell ourselves.

Identifying the problem

We knew that regardless of our backgrounds, we may be more suitable for a role than an individual from a so-called “better” university. It was at this point when we realised that tens of thousands of students across the country were in exactly the same position as us…

We found that the solution was in transferable skills. We had educational qualifications, and work experience - but we had never really been made to think about how some of the skills we had developed from these experiences could benefit us in a “real” job. It is this thinking that led us to begin researching for Occumi’s skills-identifying algorithm!

What problems does Occumi solve?

We set out to create a tool that allowed every student to identify, understand, and articulate their own transferable skills based on their educational qualifications and work experience. We wanted to do it properly, and as objectively as possible - that’s why we spent two years building the research that sits behind Occumi’s algorithm.

Our education product aims to work with educational institutions to help students to better identify, understand, and articulate the transferable skills that they are developing from their educational qualifications and work experience.

Tackling Both Sides

Our recruitment product uses our unique skill-identifying algorithm to filter applicants based on the transferable skills that the employer desires, ensuring that the most suitable candidates progress in the recruitment process, regardless of their background.

Diversity is built into the core of Occumi.

Both of Occumi’s products have been built with one key principle in mind - to democratise opportunity. We do this by helping individuals to see the value in their own skills, and also by helping employers value skills ahead of an individual's background.

Equal opportunity is the key

Everyone, regardless of their background or social capital, deserves to have the opportunity to understand the value of their transferable skills. And everyone deserves to enter a level playing field, free of bias when applying for a role. At Occumi, our aim is to help push towards these goals.

Transferable skills are now more important than ever...

Large companies are starting to become aware of their importance and educational institutions are trying to encourage their understanding. The pandemic has only accelerated a need for better understanding and implementation of transferable skills-based methods across the board.

Transferable skills are the future

We created Occumi to help bring all students, universities, and employers up to speed - helping to ensure that every student has the opportunity to be able to identify, understand and articulate the transferable skills that they have developed throughout their lives. We’re excited about the future of Occumi, and we hope you are too!