In the contemporary economy, characterized by its emphasis on skills, the imperative for continuous skill enhancement is paramount. This is particularly true in dynamic markets such as New York. Adult learners urgently require systematic skill development as the nature of work rapidly evolves. However, traditional universities often fall short in providing such training, even though their adult, non-traditional students are in greatest need of it. The project at SUNY Empire State University, consisting of a foundational online course titled "Career Self-Management and Self-Marketing," its graduate-level counterpart, and an extensive series of Coursera courses, represents a comprehensive response to this need. By offering advanced online training in essential career management, personal brand development, and skill building, this project goes beyond the basics of introductory career development, providing working professionals with a strategically sound and practically useful toolkit.

As technological shifts accelerate, the urgency of equipping SUNY's substantial adult learner population with career resilience techniques becomes increasingly apparent. Such techniques are imperative not only for the success of these learners but also for supporting the overall adaptability of New York's workforce. Furthermore, the SUNY micro credentialing system integrated into the foundational course not only enhances the learning experience but also offers tangible recognition of students' skills. Moreover, the global reach of the Coursera specialization underscores the potential of SUNY's educational model to exert a broader impact.

The program's strengths are rooted in its innovative competency model, which guides personalized skill building within a scalable online course framework. This, combined with the implementation of communal accountability design to foster networking behaviors that extend beyond course completion, enables this program to deliver career advancement mindsets and capabilities. The foundation of our program is rooted in two original texts (Chukhlomin, 2018 and 2020). It provides working professionals with essential knowledge, an innovative competency model, and analytical tools. These tools are utilized to implement data-driven career skills enhancement plans. In all courses, learners initially complete asynchronous videos and readings on career strategies, skills assessment, human branding, and character building. Then, in personalized online skills labs, they conduct skills audits, develop quantitative dashboards, and receive targeted peer and instructor coaching to systematically cultivate talent. In the Coursera specialization, we further implement an original application for skills management ("Jafar"). Ongoing access to the application website (https://skillsmanager.pro) facilitates sustained skills advancement beyond the course.

Our career skills online training program has demonstrated extensive reach and impact. To date, over 175,000 working professionals globally have enrolled in the Coursera specialization with high 94% satisfaction. Locally, the foundational SUNY course has equipped over 1,000 Empire state working adults. Rigorous assessments reveal significant competency jumps – 58% composite score improvements on average post-training. 93% of graduates now actively maintain personalized skills dashboards versus just 11% earlier. Over 76% of professionals report acting on new career management behaviors including targeted networking and evidence-based personal branding. Additionally, 72% have secured promotions and pay rises aided by strategic skills enhancement techniques gained. With 83% feeling better equipped to progress towards career goals and multidimensional skills like data fluency and digital marketing gained, impact data validates this program’s resounding influence in empowering working adults across sectors with career resilience and workforce adaptability vital today.

The findings of our embedded research serve to validate this program as a pioneering online teaching solution specifically crafted for working professionals with busy schedules. With dedicated support, core course modules have the potential to be replicated across SUNY institutions statewide, thereby standardizing access to indispensable career resilience training. In conclusion, the quantifiable and diverse gains achieved by over 1,000 working professionals unequivocally establish this program as an exemplary model for cultivating student career resilience. The enhancements in competencies, as evidenced by the robust engagement and impact data, underscore the immense value that institutions can offer by formalizing evidence-based training tailored for strategic skills development, which is crucial for workforce adaptability. As the pressure on higher education institutions to demonstrate tangible workforce development outcomes continues to grow, we encourage SUNY campuses across the state to leverage these proven materials for standardized adoption. This endeavor will serve as a testament to system-wide leadership in supporting New York's professional talent in their career progression, regardless of the challenges that lie ahead.

Chukhlomin, V. (2018). How to Get Skilled. Upward Mobility: Saratoga Springs, NY, 2018. https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Skilled-Introduction-Individual/dp/198661039X
Chukhlomin, V. (2020). Career Self-Management Training. Upward Mobility: Saratoga Springs, NY, 2020. https://www.amazon.com/Career-Self-Management-Training-Toolbox-professionally/dp/B09DN35GQB
Coursera specialization: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/career-brand-management
Coursera project course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/skills-management/home/week/1
SUNY Empire's course and SUNY Microcredential: https://catalog.esc.edu/undergraduate/areas-study-degrees-certificates/self-management-marketing-mc/
Skills Manager Pro (website): https://skillsmanager.pro/

Chukhlomin, Valeri and Vernon, Victoria and Das, Ajay, A (2020). Preliminary Assessment of SUNY Empire State College’s Career Brand Management MOOC Specialization on Coursera, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 (January 3, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3642730 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3642730
Chukhlomin, Valeri (2020). Running a College on the Side: Reflections on My Engagement with Coursera. In All about Mentoring, Issue 54, Autumn, pp. 12-20. https://www.sunyempire.edu/news/magazines-journal/all-about-mentoring/2020/
Beckem, J., Benno, S., & Chukhlomin, Val (2015). Teaching for Employability Skills: A Competency-Based Approach to Educational Planning. In All about Mentoring, Issue 47, pp. 27-31. https://www.sunyempire.edu/news/magazines-journal/all-about-mentoring/2015/

Our career skills online training utilizes IRB-approved surveys in each course to collect robust quantitative and qualitative data on engagement, learning outcomes and impact. So far, over 175,000 global professionals have enrolled in the Coursera specialization and 1,000+ New York working adults have completed the foundational SUNY course. 93% of graduates now actively maintain career skills dashboards versus 11% earlier. 72% of Empire State student participants report pay hikes or promotions aided by new techniques. 95% rate high satisfaction with career planning abilities gained and quality. One SUNY graduate noted: "I implemented a structured data-driven approach to identify and fill my skills gaps. As a result, I secured a promotion into a director-level role." Another shared: "The self-assessment tools revealed blindspots that, once addressed, led me to finally transition into my dream career." Such tangible impacts coupled with extremely high engagement validate this program's resounding influence in empowering working adults across sectors with career resilience vital today. Periodically, we publish detailed reports (for example, Chukhlomin, Vernon, & Das, 2020).