Author: Sharla Schuller

How Cybersecurity Leaders Are Using Skills Visibility to Turn Workforce Insight into Readiness

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

The cybersecurity workforce is under pressure. Technologies like AI and cloud are reshaping roles faster than job descriptions can keep up, talent shortages persist, and capable workers remain overlooked due to outdated hiring filters.

These challenges were central to our recent webinar, Future-Proofing the Workforce: Turning Insight into Readiness, where cybersecurity and workforce leaders examined what’s happening beneath the surface of today’s cyber talent pipeline.

One insight emerged clearly: The issue isn’t a lack of data or a lack of talent — it’s the disconnect between insight and action.

Workforce data shows rapidly shifting skill requirements and declining reliability of traditional credentials as predictors of job readiness. Employers are signaling demand through hiring practices and compensation, yet those signals are often lost when organizations rely on static titles and rigid workforce models.

At the same time, many organizations already have more capability than they realize.

The opportunity lies in skills visibility.

When leaders can see what skills exist across their workforce, where gaps are emerging, and how roles are evolving, workforce planning shifts from reactive hiring to intentional design. Internal mobility increases. Training investments become targeted. Readiness becomes measurable.

Journeys Map supports this shift by translating learning, experience, and work into a shared skills language. The platform helps cybersecurity employers and workforce partners align hiring, development, and planning with the realities of today’s cyber landscape — not outdated assumptions.

If your organization is asking how skills, adaptability, and readiness actually show up in practice, this conversation is just beginning.

A Message from the Journeys Map Team on Collaboration, Workforce Change, and the Year Ahead

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

As we step into a new year, the Journeys Map team has been reflecting on what shaped 2025 and one truth stands out clearly:

We learned the most from the people we had the privilege to work alongside.

To every client, partner, and collaborator we connected with this past year, thank you. Thank you for trusting us with your questions, your challenges, and your ideas in progress. Your curiosity and willingness to rethink what’s possible continue to shape how this work evolves.

What we’re most grateful for isn’t just the outcomes — it’s the process. The honest conversations. The moments of uncertainty that led to clearer direction. The shared commitment to building pathways that are more human, more equitable, and more aligned with the realities learners and workers are navigating every day.

Each organization and individual we work with brings more than expertise. You bring lived experience, perspective, and purpose. Being invited into that space is something we don’t take lightly.

As we move into the year ahead, our focus remains clear: lead with intention, stay rooted in our “why,” and remain bold enough to evolve how pathways are designed, communicated, and navigated.

Here’s to another year of thoughtful questions, meaningful collaboration, and building what’s needed, not just what’s familiar.— The Journeys Map Team

Skills-Based Hiring Signals a Shift in How Employers Define Talent and Readiness

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

For decades, résumés and degrees have acted as shorthand for capability. Today, employers across industries are signaling that those proxies are no longer enough.

Hiring leaders are increasingly adopting skills-based hiring, evaluating candidates based on what they can actually do — not just where they’ve worked or which credentials they hold. This shift reflects a deeper change in how organizations define readiness, assess talent, and plan for future workforce needs.

Recent research shows that nearly three-quarters of employers now use skills-based assessments in their hiring process. Employers report that this approach reduces mis-hires, shortens time-to-hire, lowers hiring costs, and improves retention — because testing real skills mirrors real work.

At the same time, degree requirements are quietly disappearing. Employers like Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple have removed four-year degree requirements for many roles, prioritizing demonstrated skills, adaptability, and potential over pedigree.

The challenge isn’t employer demand — it’s demand signaling.

Employers know which skills they need. Learners and workers often don’t. Job descriptions still rely on titles, while education systems organize learning around courses, not capabilities. This disconnect leaves skills hidden, talent underutilized, and pathways unclear.

Where Journeys Map fits:

Journeys Map is a skills-based workforce and career navigation platform designed to make skills visible across learning, work, and opportunity. It helps employers, educators, and workforce leaders translate roles into skills, surface existing capability, and align training pathways with real job requirements.

Skills-based hiring isn’t just changing how people get jobs — it’s changing how organizations define potential. The question is whether our systems are ready to respond.

Request a demo or connect with us to see how Journeys Map supports skills-first hiring, training, and workforce readiness.

How Journeys Map Is Mapping Talent Pathways and Closing the Skills Gap

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

In an era defined by rapid technological change, fragmented career paths and talent shortages are the new normal. Journeys Map, a platform that aims to bring clarity to career progression while aligning educational institutions, employers, and individuals. Much like how major firms are tackling workforce shortages in traditional trades, Journeys Map is stepping into a critical void: connecting skills, jobs, and pathways in the digital age.

The Challenge: Skill Gaps, Talent Shortages & Misaligned Pathways

Across industries, employers are diagnosing a familiar friction, the talent pipeline is clogged, but the issue isn’t simply “not enough people,” it’s “not enough people whose skills and credentials match the jobs.” According to industry research, journey-mapping tools are increasingly central to diagnosing those mismatches.

For students and job-seekers, the problem looks different but parallel; bewildering options, unclear credentials, and no clear map from where they are now to where they could be. Journeys Map positions itself at this intersection.

What Journeys Map Does

Based in San Diego and built by EdGate, Journeys Map is described as a “go-to” resource for career navigation, analyzing skill gaps, upskilling employees, and attracting highly qualified talent.

Key Features:

  • Tailored career-pathway maps for individuals (students, job-seekers) and organizations (employers, education providers).
  • “Skills matcher” tools that let a user input their current skills and see aligned career options.
  • Industry-specific pathways from cybersecurity to healthcarce and advanced manufacturing built with data and partner networks.

In short, Journeys Map brings the mechanics of journey-mapping into the talent ecosystem: what are the touch-points, what are the actions and emotions, where are the barriers?

Why It Matters

From the employer side, having a tool like Journeys Map helps flatten the “black box” of how to hire, train, and retain people in roles that are evolving fast. From the individual side, it offers a visible “route map” rather than the usual maze of options.

Journeys Map helps align educational credentials and real-world job roles, avoiding the perennial problem of credentials on paper that don’t translate to employment. It offers a data-driven approach to pathway creation, mapping not just the job title but also the skills that lead to it, the credentials that matter, and how to move up or across. In today’s economy, with multiple entry points, hybrid careers, and evolving roles, having structured “journeys” is a competitive advantage for regions, employers, and individuals.

What’s Next & The Opportunity

The market for tools that map talent to jobs is burgeoning. With employers facing both legacy skills gaps and the pressure of digital transformation, platforms like Journeys Map sit at the convergence of workforce development, technology, and education.

For regions and industries that adopt it early, Journeys Map offers the chance to build a differentiator: a visible, data-driven pathway system that attracts talent, retains it, and builds upward mobility. Similarly, for learners, it offers agency, knowing their next step, rather than waiting or wandering.

Of course, the platform still must scale, integrate with real-time labor market data, and prove outcomes. Much like workforce initiatives of old, the roadmap is only as good as the execution and fidelity of the pathways.

In a world where “career” no longer means “go to school, get a job, stay 40 years,” Journeys Map offers something valuable, a modern map for modern careers. For regions, institutions, employers, and individuals willing to go beyond analog pathways and disconnected job boards, this tool may well mark the next frontier of workforce alignment.

Journeys Map at the AWS & Deloitte Social Entrepreneur Accelerator

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

Journeys Map was honored to be included in the AWS and Deloitte Social Entrepreneur Accelerator, held November 4 through 6 in Seattle. The three-day event brought together about fifty mission-driven organizations from around the world, each using technology and data to create meaningful social impact. Representing Journeys Map were CEO Peter Sibley and Director of Technology Jeremy Ashcraft, who spent the week immersed in conversations about how career exploration, skills intelligence, and workforce readiness can be strengthened through thoughtful use of cloud and AI tools.

The accelerator is designed to give social enterprises focused time with AWS and Deloitte experts who understand how mission-driven technology can scale. Throughout the program, Peter and Jeremy explored how to build responsibly, how to integrate AI in ways that support real outcomes for learners, and how to create a clearer roadmap for measuring long-term impact. Sessions on responsible AI, data strategy, and the working backwards framework helped them sharpen the goals that will guide Journeys Map through its next phase of growth.

The timing of this experience fit well with the work already underway at Journeys Map. With the team expanding its skills intelligence capabilities, having AWS technical specialists review the platform’s architecture opened new avenues for innovation and scalability. Deloitte’s guidance helped refine how the company communicates its value to partners and how it can continue to grow while keeping learners at the center of every decision. By the end of the accelerator, Peter and Jeremy left with a more focused plan for the next six to twelve months and a renewed sense of direction.

They also had the chance to meet founders and teams from across the world who are tackling challenges in education, health, climate, accessibility, and more. Even though every organization carried a different mission, the shared motivation to build solutions that genuinely help people created an immediate sense of connection. Those conversations added depth and perspective to the week and reinforced the importance of collaboration in social innovation.

As the broader team moves forward, the insights Peter and Jeremy brought home are already shaping the next steps. Journeys Map is strengthening its platform, refining its impact measures, and developing features that make career exploration more accessible and actionable for learners everywhere. If you are interested in how this work is evolving or want to explore what Journeys Map can bring to your organization, we would be glad to connect and share more.

Journeys Map is grateful to AWS and Deloitte for creating a space where purpose-driven companies can learn, reflect, and walk away with something truly actionable. Being part of the accelerator was an important milestone, and the team is excited to build on the momentum it created.

Why “Future-Proofing the Workforce” Matters for San Diego Cyber Leaders

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical challenge — it’s a workforce strategy issue. In San Diego alone, our cybersecurity cluster delivers significant economic impact, with more than 14,800 direct cyber jobs and a regional footprint valued at $4.3 billion. As our technology landscape evolves rapidly, the organizations that thrive will be those that not only understand this scale — but actively prepare for what comes next.

That’s why Journeys Map and FourOne Insights are hosting a live webinar on Friday, November 21 at 10:00 AM PT, titled Future-Proofing the Workforce: Turning Insight into Readiness. This isn’t a talk about AI for AI’s sake — it’s a practical, forward-looking discussion tailored for San Diego’s cybersecurity employers and workforce leaders.

What You’ll Learn

  • How visibility unlocks readiness. We’ll show how understanding your team’s current skills helps you anticipate emerging cyber roles — before gaps become vulnerabilities.
  • How to connect insight with strategy. Learn how to align workforce planning and talent investments to drive resilience and agility in your organization.
  • How to build future-ready teams. We’ll offer concrete recommendations for building adaptability into your workforce so that you can respond confidently to disruption.

Why It Matters Now

The latest report from the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) and the Regional EDC makes it clear: our region is a cyber powerhouse. But with such growth comes the responsibility to prepare. Skills gaps — especially as technology shifts — can undermine the strength of even the most capable teams. This webinar is about turning visibility into action, so you stay ahead of change, not just react to it.

Register Today

🗓 When: Friday, November 21
⏰ Time: 10:00 AM PT
🔗 Register Now

By attending, you’ll walk away not just with insight — but with a clearer direction for action. We hope you’ll join us as we work together to build a more visible, resilient, and future-ready cybersecurity workforce in San Diego.

Can’t attend the live event? Register anyway and we will send you are recording along with other material presented during the event.

The Journeys Map Community Roundup: Fueling Future Workforce Momentum Across San Diego

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

The Fun and Impact of Paving New Paths

Journeys Map has been busy on the ground across the San Diego region, cementing our role as the vital connection point between students, educators, and employers. Our work is driven by a simple belief: the best way to secure a talented future workforce is by helping students and adults connect their unique skills and passions to real-world opportunities right now. This past season was defined by exciting “aha!” moments, impactful partnerships, and a strong presence at events dedicated to innovation and career readiness. Over the last two months, Journeys Map has been utilized by the IT team and across Cybersecurity career pathways, demonstrating the immediate value of our tools in critical fields. We are witnessing personalized career pathways unfold in real-time, thanks to the dedication of our partners.

Partnership Spotlight: Project Next and Asking What’s Never Asked

Our collaboration with Project Next—especially through their Future Centers and dedicated Career Coaches—is transforming the student journey.

  • Impact at the High School Level: We recently spent time at Mission Hills High School with students and Career Coach Amanda Morales. The focus was on Project Next’s core philosophy: asking the questions students have never been asked before. Using Journeys Map, students were empowered to connect their unique interests directly to learning, school, and future goals, turning the abstract question of “what if” into an actionable plan of “what’s next!”
  • Deepening the Guidance: We’ve seen incredible engagement, with many students immediately booking one-on-one meetings with coaches like Tatiana Osorio to dive deeper into their personalized results. This is true partnership: providing the tools (Journeys Map) and the high-touch guidance (Project Next Coaches).
  • Resource Alignment: A huge shoutout goes to the entire Project Next team. Their commitment extends far beyond the classroom, lining up incredible exploration resources, including special guests in high-interest careers and eye-opening field trips to local companies, further enriching student career mapping.

For more on Project Next’s game-changing strategy, check out Executive Director Lisa Stout on Drew Schlosberg’s ‘Spotlight on the Community’ podcast: “Asking What’s Never Asked: New Paths for Students.”

Action in Cybersecurity: Guiding the Next Generation of Defenders

Journeys Map is working directly to close the regional talent gap in critical fields like cybersecurity.

  • The Cyber Lab Experience: Journeys team member Erin Tanner had an inspiring day at the San Diego Regional Cyber Lab, guiding high school students participating in the incredible SDCOE & Cyber Lab 6-week paid summer internship. Watching their personalized career pathways unfold in real-time provided clear proof of concept.
  • Immediate Impact: One student instantly discovered a perfect certification program aligned with their interests, while another praised the assessments as “spot on!” The connection was immediate and clear: Journeys Map is the tool connecting these students directly to their futures.

Recognizing Leaders: Huge congratulations to Andrew Baldwin, PMP, Carlos Salazar, Bianca Arce, Ian Brazill, and all other participants for making this vital program happen. This level of community support is precisely what our students need to succeed in high-demand, high-wage careers.

Looking Ahead: Strategic Fall Engagement

We are excited to carry this momentum forward by participating in key regional events dedicated to innovation and education, where we will share our data-driven approach with leaders across the county:

  • Supe Tank 5.0: This milestone event brings together all 43 San Diego County superintendents to share their boldest district innovations. We look forward to seeing the impactful initiatives being presented to business and community leaders.
  • SDCOE Career Pathways Conference: As the premier event for educators, counselors, and administrators, this is a critical opportunity for Journeys Map to demonstrate how we can help connect students directly to California’s high-wage, high-growth jobs.
  • SDCOE Cybersecurity Summit: We will be engaging with superintendents, charter leaders, and technology executives at this annual event to discuss K-12 cybersecurity challenges and strategies, showcasing our platform as a solution to building a resilient cyber talent pipeline.

Journeys Map Joins Collaborative Effort to Strengthen San Diego’s Workforce

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

What makes a community truly strong? At Journeys Map, we believe it starts with a resilient, well-prepared workforce. That’s why we are proud to announce that our own Erin Tanner has joined the prestigious Burnham Center for Community Advancement’s Workforce Development Working Group.

This collaborative effort is a significant step in our commitment to working directly with San Diego employers and leaders to foster a more resilient talent ecosystem. The working group is tackling some of our community’s most pressing challenges. We are focused on:

  • Building new pathways to high-growth, high-wage industries.
  • Providing a lifeline to those whose careers were hardest hit by the pandemic.
  • Fostering a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

Journeys Map had the opportunity to present our tool to the group, demonstrating how our data-driven platform can empower career guidance and professional growth for individuals across the county. Our solution is a natural fit for the group’s mission to innovate, organize, and impact San Diego’s workforce development.

We were inspired by the depth of expertise in the room, with leaders from key sectors including education, military and defense, corporate finance, and community-based organizations. This diverse collaboration is exactly what’s needed to build a future-proof workforce.

Erin shared, “These types of collaborative conversations, between education, military, and industry are exactly what’s needed to innovate and strengthen solutions.”

We look forward to collaborating with these esteemed partners to create meaningful change and build a more prosperous future for our community.

Join the Conversation

We know this work is a collective effort, and your perspective is invaluable. We invite you to share your thoughts on the future of San Diego’s workforce. How have you or your organization been impacted by recent shifts in the economy? What solutions would you like to see? Share your stories and ideas on our social channels.

San Diego Cybersecurity Employers: Stop Guessing. Start Seeing: How AI Delivers Total Visibility Into Your Cybersecurity Skill Deficits

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

What is keeping San Diego’s cybersecurity leaders up at night? It’s the knowledge that a reliance on outdated talent practices is creating a silent, strategic vulnerability. The talent shortage is a reality—with only 66% of jobs being filled, but your current approach doesn’t have to be.

Journeys Map is engineered to solve this strategic problem. Our mission is to provide executive leaders and Workforce Architects with the necessary AI-driven infrastructure. Our solution is designed to close the skills gap by empowering you to fully visualize your existing internal talent, pinpoint precise skills and capability gaps across your teams, and ultimately transform your talent deficit from a strategic liability into a source of organizational strength.

Our roadmap for success empowers executive leaders to take command of their talent future:

  • Define Your Victory: We help you immediately implement an AI-Driven Skills-Based Organization Strategy. Our solution gives you the strategic vision to move past simple diagnosis and begin building a resilient, high-performing organization that is proactively prepared for tomorrow’s threats.
  • Optimize Your Resources: Stop the cycle of costly external searches and unpredictable hiring. Our platform is engineered to identify and cultivate your top internal talent, allowing you to optimize your training budget and maximize ROI from the talent you already have.
  • Equip Your Teams for Precision: We empower your Talent Acquisition and Workforce Development leaders with the right tools. Our AI insights anticipate future needs, rapidly validate candidate skills, and seamlessly align hiring with your long-term organizational strategy, ensuring every talent decision is a strategic one.

Journeys Map empowers you with the strategic tools necessary to confidently lead your organization. We offer the solution to build a workforce that is not only secure but is the engine of your future success.

Beyond Surface-Level Fixes: Journeys Map for Real Career Readiness in Higher Ed

Posted on by Sharla Schuller

“Are we just doing surface-level fixes for career readiness in higher education?”

Brian F. LeDuc’s insightful question in a recent piece hits home. For too long, preparing students for the workforce has meant isolated solutions: a standalone internship here, a transactional tech platform there. These approaches often miss a big problem: our systems don’t truly create shared value for students, faculty, or employers.

At Journeys Map, we get it. We see the challenge: faculty struggle to link learning to real work, employers face a “syllabus gap” with new hires—graduates may know the material but struggle to apply it on the job. And students are often unsure how their academic path leads to a meaningful career.  Strong careers grow from strong relationships, but current educational setups limit deep, scalable connections.

The Core Problem: Disconnected Systems and the “Syllabus Gap”

Today’s higher ed environment presents tough hurdles for everyone involved:

  • For Employers: New graduates often struggle to show what they’ve learned or apply it effectively. There’s a gap where students lack experience with real-world ambiguity, making it hard to navigate complex professional challenges after structured school settings.
  • For Faculty: There is pressure to add professional skills and real-world relevance to courses. This often means time-consuming efforts to find partners or manage projects that are tough to scale.
  • For Staff: Engaging diverse students, especially first-gen learners or those working outside school, is a challenge. Traditional support systems often don’t fit their busy lives.
  • For Institutions: Many campuses lack the strong, integrated infrastructure needed for comprehensive career success and building talent pipelines at scale.

Well-intentioned traditional practices often fall short. Internship courses might give academic credit but sometimes don’t provide quality, paid experiences for all. Classroom projects, while valuable, often depend on individual faculty going above and beyond to find outside partners. And many tech solutions for employer connections are just transactional, missing the chance to build strategic partnerships crucial for long-term talent flow.

Designing for the Future: Building Real Shared Value

To fix these systemic issues, we need solutions that naturally create shared value. This means approaches that:

  • Deepen Relationships: Move from quick transactions to genuine, collaborative partnerships between schools, students, and employers.
  • Integrate Learning & Work: Blur the lines so hands-on experience becomes a core part of learning, and academic knowledge immediately applies to practical situations.
  • Ensure Scalability & Accessibility: Make career readiness resources available to all students, including those with busy schedules or diverse backgrounds.
  • Simplify for Educators: Provide tools that let faculty seamlessly weave career relevance into their teaching, without adding extra work.

That’s the kind of connected approach Journeys Map is built to support.

Journeys Map: Your Bridge to Real Career Readiness

Journeys Map acts as a catalyst, directly building the bridge for true collaboration. It transforms how students, educators, and employers connect and achieve shared value. We move beyond quick fixes by giving you the tools for deep change:

1. Empowering Faculty & Counselors with Smart Insights: Our AI-powered career navigation offers interactive tools for personalized career planning. We provide real-time skill gap analysis, looking at users’ current abilities (from resumes and experience) to pinpoint growth areas for future roles. This data gives faculty precise insights to improve curriculum, foster continuous learning, and integrate forward-looking development paths.

2. Guiding Students Through the “Syllabus Gap” and Into the Real World: The “syllabus gap” refers to the disconnect between what students learn in class and the expectations they face in the workplace.  Journeys Map helps close this gap by offering students a holistic, integrated view of career realities rarely found in traditional settings. Our platform brings together scattered information, giving unmatched clarity on career path nuances. Students deeply understand:

  • Diverse Commitments: The varying educational and financial investments, school pathways, and job market realities (like openings and growth) for each career.
  • Authentic Context: Through “a day in the life” videos, detailed job descriptions, and clear requirements, students easily grasp the practicalities and differences between roles.
  • Skills & Personal Fit: We give vital insights and the exact language for both human and technical skills needed for specific jobs. This helps students understand not just what a job involves, but who thrives in it, addressing the often-unspoken personality fit for various careers.

3. Connecting Employers to Vetted, Skilled Talent: Our platform is a powerful link for employers seeking qualified talent. Journeys Map’s employer tools let organizations find individuals with the specific experience and skills for their open positions. We streamline connections for internships and work-based learning through partnerships with colleges and non-profits, who use Journeys Map to manage cohorts and track hours. These direct connection opportunities foster lasting mentorships with industry pros dedicated to building strong talent pipelines.

Trusted by Industry Leaders: Journeys Map’s Real-World Value

This commitment to driving change is why Journeys Map is already a trusted partner. As Lisa Easterly, President and CEO of the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE), a leader in advancing the cyber economy (as highlighted in this NIST Industry Spotlight), says about their collaboration on the Cyber Career Map:

“Myth: I must have an advanced degree and 10 years-experience to work in the cybersecurity field. Cybersecurity career pathways have evolved and now include certifications, military to commercial tracks and boot camps… To help, CCOE partnered with the State of California, Journeys Map and cyber industry leaders to develop the Cyber Career Map, featuring customized career pathways based on the NICE framework. Similar to Google Maps, users can create personalized journeys catering to their skills and interests including education, certifications and personal work-based learning resources.“

The Journeys Map Difference: Your Gap, Our Bridge

Journeys Map provides comprehensive information that truly empowers users. You can:

  • Gain self-awareness with in-depth interest and skills surveys.
  • Articulate your valuable skills using precise language.
  • Better understand potential careers through rich, data-driven insights.
  • Clearly identify your “gap”—the difference between your current skills and what you need for your desired path—giving you a clear roadmap for development.

This complete approach turns career uncertainty into clear pathways. It brings clarity and fulfilling opportunities for students, streamlined tools and data for educators, and robust, skilled talent for employers.

Partnering for Real Impact

The call for change is clear: we must move past surface-level fixes. Higher education leaders now have a real chance to embrace solutions that build shared value and fully prepare every student for a dynamic workforce. Journeys Map is ready to partner with you to build these connections and cultivate the next generation of talent.

Ready for a refreshing solution where students, schools/faculty, employers, and learning & work truly connect? Discover how Journeys Map can support your programs. Contact Erin Tanner at: ETanner@edgate.com