Hired Partner, 2U: Online Higher Education for Career Advancement

2U, Inc. is a diverse collection of individuals worldwide who share a common belief that higher education can unlock human potential and address the critical needs of society. For more than a decade, 2U, Inc. has been the digital transformation partner of choice to great non-profit colleges and universities delivering high-quality online education at scale. We sat down with 2U’s Kira Lansing to learn more. 

Welcome to our spotlight series! Please introduce yourself to our readers…

My name is Kira Lansing and I am the Senior Director of Industry Insights & Impact at 2U. Our team partners with employers and career platforms around the globe to connect them to our talent network.

These partnerships create job opportunities for 2U-powered program job seekers while helping leading companies address the growing talent gap across multiple industries.

I have been working in the edTech industry for the better part of a decade, specifically focused on industry partnerships and bridging the opportunity gap through non-traditional training pathways.

That’s fantastic. Who are some of 2U’s main partners?

For more than a decade, 2U, Inc. has been the digital transformation partner of choice to great non-profit colleges and universities delivering high-quality online education at scale.

As the parent company of edX, a leading global online learning platform, 2U provides over 40 million learners with access to world-class education in partnership with more than 230 colleges, universities, and corporations.

Our people and technology power more than 3,500 digital education offerings — from free courses to full degrees — and help unlock human potential.

40 Million?! Wow! How does your partnership with Hired complement these programs?

We direct 2U-powered program graduates to the Hired platform to explore an array of employment opportunities in technology careers. By partnering with Hired, our job seekers are able to widen the aperture of their job search.

The Hired platform provides job seekers access to thousands of companies and is focused on a skills-based interviewing approach. This makes it a great fit for graduates of 2U-powered programs. To date, we have driven more than 500 job seekers to Hired.

We love seeing graduates on Hired and so do our employers! Are there any specific 2U initiatives you’d like to share?

About a year ago, we announced a partnership with Netflix to increase Black and Latinx representation in the tech industry. In partnership with 2U, the Netflix Pathways BootCamp are fully-funded, online boot camps for current students and recent alumni of a select group of HBCUs and HSIs.

All accepted students are eligible to receive a full scholarship, paid for by Netflix, covering the cost of their attendance in the program. 

This past summer, we also launched a partnership with OneTen, a coalition of leading business executives. Our goal is to upskill, hire, and advance one million Black individuals in America over the next 10 years into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement.

As part of OneTen’s network of talent development partners, we joined leading local, regional, and national education and skill-building organizations helping diverse talent identify, develop, and build the skills to earn success.

OneTen cultivates more equitable access to opportunity and advancement for the students in 2U-powered programs. They also help create more flexible talent pipelines that allow employees and employers to thrive.

Love that! Hired, alongside our parent company The Adecco Group, is also a OneTen partner –  what a tremendous organization.

Is there anything else we should be on the lookout for? 

One thing I’m very excited about right now is we’re able to offer our partner network discounts to our short courses, powered by GetSmarter (a 2U brand).

Designed in partnership with top universities, these executive education courses allow learners to rapidly gain new skills and make themselves more competitive in the job market. Hired members can learn more and check out our courses here.

That is exciting! Thank you so much for ‘educating’ us and for 2U’s continuous partnership with Hired.

Hired is the largest AI-driven marketplace matching ambitious tech and sales talent with the world’s most innovative companies. Backed by global HR leader, The Adecco Group, Hired combines intelligent job matching with unbiased career counseling to help people find a job they love and reach their full potential.

By providing accurate, real-time information, access to equal opportunity, efficiency, and transparency, the Hired platform serves as the backbone for hiring managers, recruiters, and C-level executives to surface the best talent and build amazing, diverse teams around the world.

Hired is committed to building equity in the hiring process through a more representative talent pool, using bias reduction features, customized assessments, and salary bias alerts to help remove unconscious bias when hiring. 

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