In the web3 Era, Companies Will Switch Their Hiring Focus from Academic Background to Experience | Portal

In the 2022 academic year, Chiba Institute of Technology (CIT) became the first Japanese school to issue non-fungible token (NFT) diplomas for undergraduate and graduate programs. CIT is implementing other advanced initiatives with digital technologies. For instance, it used blockchain technology for grade data and completion certificates in its Introduction to web3 course in 2023.

As these web3 technologies come into broader use, companies will be able to utilize career information that is verified by third parties in their hiring processes. This project was jointly carried out with PitPa, Inc. Tatsuya Ishibe, its president, said, “Our society prioritizes which university a student graduated from. Using web3 technologies for career data, we can shift this emphasis to actual experience.” We spoke with Ishibe about how this will transform corporate hiring and individual careers.

“NFTs will catch on in areas where purchases can’t be made with money”

Ishibe launched his startup PitPa in 2018, beginning with the podcast business. It got involved in the blockchain field after receiving funding from Digital Garage. This resulted in PitPa producing Joi Ito’s podcast, “Henkaku he no Michi”

Ishibe took hints from Ito’s comments about the potential of blockchain, leading to CIT’s NFT diplomas.

Ishibe said, “Back then, there was a lot of talk in the news about NFT artwork being bought and sold at high prices. Ito said, ‘NFTs will catch on that can’t be purchased with money.’ This refers to human identities, namely academic and work experience. We started talking about creating NFT diplomas and launched a joint project with CIT, where Ito is a professor.”

Focus will shift from which university a student attended to what they did there

Ishibe said that ｗeb3 technology-based career data will shift society’s focus from university names to experience earned. The question is, what specific changes will occur? Up until now, job applicants have only been able to verify which universities they entered and graduated from; they had to personally report information about what they did during their undergraduate studies. A structure has been created in which companies evaluate applicants’ educational backgrounds because of the huge costs involved in having third parties check the details of this information and its veracity.

At his first job out of university, Ishibe got a personal sense of Japan’s focus on academic backgrounds.

“Forty of us joined the company at the same time, most of whom graduated from the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Waseda University, or Keio University. It’s true they were a talented group, but it seemed like there was a system in place for filtering applicants according to their alma maters. On the other hand, there are lots of skilled people who didn’t graduate from a famous school. More than my academic background, I was hired because the company valued my experience of learning programming from my first year of university, and of developing an iPhone app. I think an era will come when we can use web3 technologies to certify these types of experience and accomplishments, allowing companies to evaluate applicants from many angles besides what school they attended.”

Ishibe was offered a job because he skillfully conveyed his experience to the company, but not all students are able to promote themselves in this way. But even among those who are not good at self-promotion, many students have unique abilities. A new type of hiring could likely be implemented if companies used web3 technologies to verify applicants’ capabilities and accomplishments, rather than depending on them to promote themselves.

Although PitPa has so far only created digital versions of personal data (diplomas and course certificates), Ishibe said they plan to offer digital certificates for more important information used in corporate hiring.

“When hiring new graduates, companies should focus on evaluating human skills—whether the applicant can overcome difficulties to accomplish things, and if they can cooperate with others—more than technical skills. Hiring would change greatly if we could use web3 technologies to verify more abstract information. For example, a company that conducts internship programs could say, ‘Mr. A was a leader who persistently helped others,’ or, ‘Ms. B couldn’t code at first, but she grew a surprising amount during her internship.’”

“Companies have spent money on reference checking to confirm these human skills, which can’t be measured through interviews alone. Engineer candidates take skill tests before being hired, but it’s not unusual for new employees to have difficulties cooperating with people in their workplace, even if they got good grades in school. I think there would be advantages, both for companies and job seekers, if web3 technologies could visualize these previously unseen human skills.”

Internship program evaluations will become a necessary part of job hunting

Corporate hiring would be very different if web3 technologies were used to verify human skills. Corporations looking to hire workers are not the only ones who would benefit; there would also be major advantages for companies that offer internship programs and suitably evaluate student participants, which would encourage more students to take part.

Students see internship programs as part of their job search. From their standpoint, it is obvious that students would prefer to intern at a company that appropriately evaluates their work. And because students share a lot of information via word of mouth, companies would probably gain popularity if they were known for providing suitable evaluations that allow students to promote themselves and get hired.

Ishibe said that internship programs will become even more important for future job searches.

“More students are participating in internships every year, and I’m sure the time will come when they are a necessary component of job hunting. Japanese people might be surprised to learn that American students can’t find employment without reference letters from internship programs.”

“For companies, hiring an employee is a type of investment. They spend money to develop students with no practical work experience, including training and salaries. People say it takes two years for a company to recoup these costs, which means they lose the money they invested if the employee leaves within the first two years.”

“However, imagine that a company hires a student based on their evaluation from an internship program. This helps ensure they are assigned to a suitable position. A company might be able to recoup investment costs within one year for students with technical skills. It makes sense that a company would prefer a student with a verified third-party evaluation, rather than one who only submits a good written application. Companies will place more importance on experience—namely, what the student actually did in university—than on the name of their school.”

Will current employees benefit from web3 technology?

Beyond student hiring, working adults may be wondering if web3 technologies will have affects when they go to switch jobs. At present, it seems things will be mostly the same for career changes by current employees, who must have good technical skills and be immediately effective workers in their new positions. Of course, corporations could refer to web3-based career information to see how an applicant was evaluated at their previous position rather than checking references, but this will probably not serve as important a function.

However, these evaluations may be a useful tool for an employee who wants to find a position in a different field. web3 technology can verify human skills for a salesperson who wants to work in engineering, showing whether they can overcome difficulties and work cooperatively with others. This may make it easier to change positions by promoting the applicant’s ability to take on challenges in fields where they lack experience.

web3 certifications will also be useful for people who want to work multiple jobs or take on side jobs.

“There’s a growing trend of companies actively encouraging employees to take on side jobs to gain experience and skills. I think employees would have an easier time finding additional work if companies took the initiative to provide web3-based visualizations of their employees’ skills and trustworthiness. This would also earn trust from employees, leading to better engagement.”

Skills required of students in the web3 era

Will students have to master different skills in the coming era as web3 transforms job searching and hiring? Ishibe said the answer to this is “no.” The essential, fundamental human skills required for work will remain the same, such as keeping your word or cooperating with others. According to Ishibe, the only change will be utilizing web3 technology to certify skills for which third-party verification used to be difficult.

In other words, applicants will benefit who were not previously able to showcase their human skills. Applicants without fundamental abilities will not be highly valued, just like today. Conversely, companies will likely face a reduced risk of hiring students who are good at self-promotion but lack the capabilities to back it up.

“One of my favorite artworks is The Son of a Migrant from Syria (*). This mural depicts Steve Jobs carrying a full bag and an old-fashioned Mac computer. It was painted by street artist Banksy in 2015 during the European refugee crisis. He explained his intentions as follows.”

“We’re often led to believe migration is a drain on the country’s resources, but Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant. Apple is the world’s most profitable company, it pays over $7 billion a year in taxes – and it only exists because they allowed in a young man from Homs.”

“I feel like we share common goals in terms of what Banksy is saying through his art and what we are trying to accomplish with sakazuki. Some people miss out on opportunities because they are refugees, but some are highly talented human resources who can revolutionize the world. From outside, these human resources all look the same, which makes it hard for them to take advantage of opportunities. Through sakazuki, we are working to build structures that help companies find hidden gems, and to cultivate innovators like Steve Jobs who can make the world a better place.”

PitPa, Inc.

PitPa, Inc. assists customers with podcast production and publishing, as well as ad monetization support. This startup provides new experiences combining traditional media with the latest digital technologies, including a dynamic NFT-based engagement program utilizing web3 technology. In addition to planning and producing Joi Ito’s podcast, “The Road to Innovation,” PitPa is involved in managing the web3-based HENKAKU Community on Discord, and also makes Digital Garage’s podcast aimed at recent graduates looking for jobs.
PitPa offers the sakazuki service for issuing web3 technology-based career certificates. Its mission is to create new opportunities by visualizing individual potential.