Problems we solve
EBSCOed and the LER.me® platform connect what people learn to the work they can do. Here is each problem we solve for learners, employers, educators, workforce boards and states — in plain terms — and where to go next.
Problem, audience, solution
How can people prove skills they learned outside a degree?
My LER is a free, citizen-owned Learning and Employment Record (LER) wallet from LER.me®. People add programs, skills and experiences nine ways — including résumé import, military records (JST, VMET), automated sync from schools and employers, and Registered Apprenticeship connections — and share verifiable Open Badges 3.0 and CLR 2.0 credentials with anyone they choose.
- 70 million+ U.S. adults have built valuable skills through alternative routes — apprenticeships, the military, on-the-job training, certificates — that traditional resumes don't capture (Opportunity@Work / Burning Glass).
- Free for learners, forever. Only the learner can see their LER by default; they share specific credentials or full records through permissioned links.
- Self-attested entries are clearly labeled and travel alongside verified ones.
Learn more: LearningAndEmploymentRecords.com · LER digital wallet
How can employers hire for skills instead of degrees?
LER.me® includes a skills-based job description generator and employer portal that translate traditional postings into skills requirements and match them to candidates whose credentials are verified in their LERs. In Alabama's Talent Triad, more than 1,600 employers engaged and more than 14,000 candidates were recommended to employers within the first 18 months.
- The average candidate pool is 6× larger when employers hire by skills instead of by job title — 8× for AI roles (LinkedIn Economic Graph).
- Hiring for skills is 5× more predictive of job performance than hiring for education (McKinsey & Company).
- 62% of HR professionals say verifying candidate skills is their top hiring challenge (SHRM, 2024).
Learn more: LER Talent Marketplace · Alabama Talent Triad case study
How can a state stand up a statewide talent marketplace?
The LER Talent Marketplace connects seven apps — credential registries, LER wallets, personalized recommendations, program comparison, aid eligibility, case management and durable skills — on one registry and one citizen-owned record. EBSCOed can stand up a Connecting Talent to Opportunity (CTO) Challenge-compliant stack — LER, credential registry and skills-based job description generator — within the six-month CTO incubation phase.
- The Alabama Talent Triad is the nation's first full-scale statewide talent marketplace. In its first 18 months it issued validated LERs to more than 140,000 students and validated more than 270,000 credentials with more than 2.4 million associated skills.
- Every audience gets a purpose-built front door — learners, state agencies, workforce boards, American Job Centers, colleges, training providers, employers and apprenticeship sponsors.
- Subscriptions include data migration, integration with existing SIS, LMS, HRIS, ATS, MIS, ETPL and benefits systems, and configuration to state policy.
Learn more: LER Talent Marketplace · Talent marketplaces · Federal policy hub
How can states and providers make credentials transparent and verifiable?
A credential registry on LER.me® is a structured catalog of programs, occupations, opportunities and wraparound services. Each record can issue Open Badges 3.0 and CLR 2.0 verifiable credentials, and an AI catalog parser turns course catalogs and provider websites into standards-aligned records crosswalked to CIP, SOC, O*NET, BLS, IPEDS, NAICS, RAPIDS and CTDL.
- Both free contributors and paid providers can issue validated, verifiable credentials; the free tier issues up to 100 badges at a time per registry record.
- Alabama's Compendium of Valuable Credentials review process uses the registry to designate credentials as “valuable” based on labor-market demand, wage and employment outcomes, industry recognition, and portability and stackability.
Learn more: CredentialRegistries.com · Credential registries
How can workforce boards modernize WIOA case management and reporting?
Workforce Care Team is coordinated case management modeled on a clinical care team, in one subscription with the full talent marketplace. It includes AI-assisted, WIOA-compliant workflows, native scheduling and chat, ambient AI case notes, Individual Plan builders (IEP, IPS, IELP), and 13 native WIOA-aligned reports plus a custom report builder.
- Price-match guarantee: local boards, regional consortia and state agencies on a competing platform get their current annual contract price matched.
- A citizen's career is supported by a primary case manager, specialist coaches, rapid-response services, upskilling and reskilling providers — all sharing one record.
Learn more: WorkforceCareTeam.com · Case management
How can institutions and learners check Workforce Pell and other aid eligibility?
Workforce Eligibility is a suite of 40+ federal and state aid eligibility calculators — Workforce Pell (institution and student tests), traditional Pell, WIOA, GI Bill, TAA, SNAP E&T, TANF, ETPL, Gainful Employment and 90/10 — pre-filled from the program record and up to 17 authoritative federal and state datasets.
- Every calculated value traces back to a specific dataset and vintage.
- Informational use only — final eligibility is determined by the relevant agency.
Learn more: WorkforceEligibility.com · Workforce eligibility
How can learners choose training that actually pays?
Learner Career Services lets learners compare training programs side by side — verified outcomes (completion, time to complete, wages at exit, jobs projections), full cost, and the aid they qualify for — using voice or chat. It's free for learners.
- Five proprietary compare scores, including ROI (BLS median wage ÷ total program tuition cost) and a Value Score out of 120 points.
- Credentials from completed programs are issued straight into the learner's LER.me® wallet.
Learn more: LearnerCareerServices.com · Career services
How can every learner get personalized, trustworthy recommendations?
LERrecommendations.com matches each learner's LER against the LER.me® Credential Registry across four lanes: opportunities, learning paths, careers and wraparound services. Every recommendation cites a real registry record — no hallucinations — and refreshes as the learner's record grows.
- Learning paths are ranked six ways, including fastest, highest ROI, lowest cost and family-sustaining wage.
- Wraparound services surface SNAP, TANF, WIC, childcare (CCDF), transportation, housing and health benefits.
Learn more: LERrecommendations.com · Personalized recommendations
How can programs assess and credential durable skills?
LER.me® is the exclusive place to subscribe to the Pathsmith™ Durable Skills Marketplace from America Succeeds: 10 skill domains, 74 individual skills and 4 proficiency levels, with context-aware and simulation assessments that issue verifiable Open Badges 3.0 credentials directly to learners' LER wallets.
- Pathsmith™ manifestations are crosswalked to 1,016 O*NET occupations.
- Custom simulation builds are available for specific industries or roles.
Learn more: DurableSkillsMarketplace.com · Durable skills
Where can someone take free skills assessments and earn a badge?
Badge My Skills offers free online skills assessments. Learners sign in with LER.me®, take an assessment (most take about 10 minutes), and earn a verifiable Open Badges 3.0 badge for each skill they demonstrate, at the level they were placed: Emerging, Developing, Proficient or Advanced.
- Covers seven core soft skills, extra skills for each track, and AI-at-work skills such as prompting and AI output verification.
- Five tracks: middle school, high school, career starters, transitioning military and veterans, and career changers.
Learn more: Badge My Skills
How can service members translate military experience into civilian credentials?
Learners import military service records (JST, ETJ, VMET) into their LER, where they are translated into civilian skills employers recognize, then see the credentials, jobs and apprenticeships those skills unlock — anywhere a service member relocates.
- The Alabama Talent Triad connects military records to validate skills and experiences for civilian employment pathways.
Learn more: LearningAndEmploymentRecords.com · Badge My Skills veterans track
What federal policy drives LERs, talent marketplaces and skills-based hiring?
The Federal Policy Action Hub collects the federal documents that reference LERs and talent marketplaces — including the Connecting Talent to Opportunity Challenge (December 2025), OCTAE Program Memorandum 26-3 (February 2026), America's Talent Strategy (August 2025), the AWPAB white papers and the H.R. 1446 Validate Prior Learning Act — and shows how to action each on LER.me®.
- Under the CTO Challenge and OCTAE Program Memorandum 26-3, a talent marketplace is a public digital system administered by a State Workforce Agency that integrates an LER, a credential registry and a skills-based job description generator.
- All policy links point to original government documents.
Learn more: Federal Policy Action Hub
How can content and technology partners reach learners through the marketplace?
Partners join the LER.me® Talent Marketplace for a new revenue channel with royalty, reseller and services options, automated alignment with workforce data, and automated verifiable credential issuing. Like Amazon Marketplace, third parties can also build their own apps on the same registry, wallet and open standards.
- If a third-party app shuts down, the credentials it issued continue to work — every credential is citizen-owned and OBv3-verifiable.
Learn more: Partner with us · Like Amazon Marketplace, but for talent