BeHave – Before “The Art of Networking”: Training for the hidden job market through an adaptive immersive experience
Le contexte
BeHave is a French EdTech company founded by Jean-Baptiste Morin, a PhD researcher in Career Studies and Educational Sciences. Its mission is to help develop a generation of professionally mature individuals through a career orientation and networking methodology refined over the past ten years.
To overcome the limitations of traditional classroom role-playing exercises, where peer observation often influences behavior and suppresses genuine emotional responses, BeHave chose to leverage filmed 360° virtual reality experiences to authentically simulate informal professional interactions.
The latest version of the program now integrates Uptale’s Conversational AI, making the simulation even more natural, dynamic, and adaptive.
Objective
The objective is to raise students’ awareness of the hidden job market, which represents 80% of employment opportunities, by teaching them how to navigate informal professional interactions authentically: listening actively, showing genuine interest in others, and building conversations around professional topics rather than immediately positioning themselves as job seekers.
The challenge is to develop a networking reflex and transform immature or inappropriate attitudes into mature interpersonal behaviors, within a safe environment where making mistakes is part of the learning process.
Solution
Before “The Art of Networking” is a comprehensive learning journey delivered over approximately ten days and structured around three key phases:
- E-learning (20 min): theoretical foundations covering the lifecycle of a job opportunity, the reality of the hidden job market, networking practices, and the associated social and behavioral codes, both recommended and discouraged.
- 360° immersive experience with Conversational AI (approximately 35 minutes): learners interact with real people filmed in realistic informal situations. Thanks to AI, both character reactions and pedagogical feedback dynamically adapt to the student’s responses. Through a gamified scenario, learners are guided to identify and avoid common networking pitfalls. Their objective is to create the conditions for a trusting relationship with their conversation partner, encouraging the sharing of valuable business information that may help them identify upcoming recruitment opportunities before they are publicly advertised. The scenario evolves according to the learner’s responses and whether their attitudes demonstrate professional maturity or immaturity. With unlimited access for six months on PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet, or VR headset, students can continuously practice and master all the subtleties involved in these types of professional encounters.
- Three-hour in-person workshop: learners reflect on the experience through BeHave’s networking methodology and participate in practical exercises focused on interpersonal skills, while exploring how these learnings can be applied to other real-world situations.
From Static Simulation to an Agile Experience
The first version of the module relied on predefined keywords and branching pathways. The new version, powered by Uptale’s Conversational AI, enables conversations that are far more natural, nuanced, and context-aware, while remaining fully guided by BeHave’s expertise in career development.
In practical terms, the AI provides personalized, adaptive, and immediate feedback based on the learner’s actual performance. Each student experiences a journey tailored to their background, habits, and interpersonal skills. They build upon their existing strengths, discover the guidance they need, and progress at their own pace.
After several years of collaboration, this project perfectly illustrates the long-term sustainability of learning content. The module has evolved without requiring BeHave to start from scratch. It is a learning experience that grows over time, continuously meeting the educational ambitions of their teams.
