The process of applying for a job is transforming due to artificial intelligence, and some of MacEwan’s faculty and students are at the forefront of this revolution.
When Edmonton-based company Ikimy began rethinking hiring platforms, they reached out to MacEwan for assistance. Their goal was to flip the traditional hiring process, enabling companies to search for employees rather than applicants searching for jobs. Ikimy co-founder Dona Baker explains that the software they sought to develop would gather information about candidates, such as their strengths, availability, and personal needs. Then, the program would analyze job requirements, like working hours and job responsibilities, to find the best matches between candidates and jobs, ultimately helping companies find the most suitable candidates faster.
Developing this software required expertise in various fields, including web development, artificial intelligence, data mining, and statistics. Through her contacts in the MacEwan School of Business, Baker connected with Dr. Mohamad El-Hajj, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science. Dr. El-Hajj immediately recognized the value of collaborating with his colleagues, Dr. Cristina Anton and Dr. Calin Anton. The trio has worked on over half a dozen projects together since 2020, and all agree that their collective knowledge yields significant benefits.
Dr. El-Hajj focused on data mining, while Dr. Calin Anton, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, concentrated on the use of artificial intelligence. Dr. Cristina Anton, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, contributed her expertise in statistics.
“It was a little bit statistical, in terms of probability of what will be the best fit, but not a perfect one. Because it’s never a perfect one,” Dr. Cristina Anton acknowledges.
With MacEwan’s commitment to work-integrated learning, Ikimy also expressed interest in involving students in the project. Three computer science students were selected and paid to participate.
“I was so proud of our students,” shares Dr. El-Hajj.
“My goal was that I would like them to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom and get that opportunity also networking with others because we always need this. We give them theory, we give them projects in class, but they never get exposure in real-life applications,” he adds.
“Just getting a degree, especially in Computer Science, it’s not enough to get a job,” Dr. Calin Anton admits.
“You have to show more than that. You have to show actual skills in doing the job. Even if it’s the brightest student,” he says.
The student involvement proved beneficial.
“In the last meeting, Ikimy said, ‘we have a problem.’ And I was worried,” Dr. El-Hajj admits.
“They said, ‘we had a plan to hire one, but your students are too good, and we will hire two.’ That’s a problem I almost like to see,” he beams.
The interdepartmental collaboration had proved successful once again.
“For me it was kind of easier to collaborate because right now there is this overlapping. So, things that we did forever in statistics, now they are doing them in computer science and machine learning,” Dr. Cristina Anton says.
“When you find a team that you work really well with, you can sort of share knowledge and experiences and things like that,” she adds.
With two new projects underway, including one for the Office of the University Registrar to identify at-risk students and another involving machine learning to study Alzheimer’s data, the trio continues to demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary teamwork.