Industry Research Checklist for Higher Education Upskilling Product Development - Professional Advancement (PA) Version

This template is essential for institutions aiming to deliver high-impact, outcome-focused workforce education that closes skills gaps and drives measurable career growth.

The template guides users to define the right target markets, analyze in-demand jobs and career levels, review required qualifications, and validate both hard and soft skill requirements with industry input. Key Features - Provides prompts for identifying target industries, industries’ job roles, foundational and advanced skills, and regulatory requirements - Guidance for sourcing and validating requirements using job postings, labor market analytics, employer surveys, and industry standards - Tools to analyze the competitive landscape, benchmark against direct and indirect competitors, and document areas for differentiation - Built-in questions and tables to help plan for ongoing industry engagement, feedback cycles, and data-driven product updates Benefits for Institutions With this checklist, continuing education teams can: - Confidently design upskilling programs that are recognized and valued by employers and lead to real job outcomes - Increase program enrollment and credibility by meeting the expectations of both learners and industry partners - Avoid common pitfalls such as repackaging old content, relying on limited SME feedback, or launching products misaligned with current labor market demand - Foster a continuous improvement culture by regularly reviewing market shifts and updating curriculum using employer and learner feedback