EAB to Acquire Job Simulation Company Forage
- By Kate Lucariello
- 04/23/24
Education solutions company EAB, through its Seramount division, has announced the acquisition of virtual job simulation provider Forage. The addition of Forage's virtual job simulation capabilities will add to EAB's suite of solutions helping students prepare for careers and colleges and businesses hire talent, the company said.
Forage simulations are available for free on demand and provide students with an opportunity to experience virtually "what it is like to be an accountant, investment banker, software engineer, and more," the company said.
Students can take free online courses developed by major companies such as Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and others. The interactive job simulations "expose students to different career paths, build skills related to specific roles, and prepare students for interviews," the company added.
Simulations are self-paced, with no grades and no assessments. Each company's simulation gives a background and overview, positions it is currently hiring for, skills students will learn and practice, and tasks they will complete to gain a possible certificate. If students determine a particular career is not right for them, they can explore others. The simulations are particularly helpful for students who cannot fill regular internships, the company said.
Seramount said Forage's customers benefit from the recruitment process in several ways.
"Companies are more than twice as likely to hire students who take their simulations than those who do not, and nearly 20% of participating employers' early-talent hires are students who have used Forage," the company said.
"I am especially excited to embed Forage's virtual job simulations in Navigate360 and Starfish, EAB's student success technologies," Forage CEO Tom Brunskill said.
"Our corporate partners have shared how challenging and time-consuming it is to hire interns and recent college graduates, especially students from historically underserved groups or campuses where companies lack a physical recruiting presence," said EAB Chief Executive Officer David Felsenthal. "By joining forces with Forage, we can connect employers to a robust pipeline of diverse students — and provide the 10 million college students we work with better access to career opportunities and a deep understanding of what those options look like in the real world."
For more information on how Forage simulations work, visit the company's main page to navigate to specific simulations.
About the Author
Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.