On Reasoning Behind Next Occupation Recommendation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Dong, Shan, Achananuparp, Palakorn, Mai, Hieu Hien, Wang, Lei, Lu, Yao, Lim, Ee-Peng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866915950995963904
author Dong, Shan
Achananuparp, Palakorn
Mai, Hieu Hien
Wang, Lei
Lu, Yao
Lim, Ee-Peng
author_facet Dong, Shan
Achananuparp, Palakorn
Mai, Hieu Hien
Wang, Lei
Lu, Yao
Lim, Ee-Peng
contents In this work, we develop a novel reasoning approach to enhance the performance of large language models (LLMs) in future occupation prediction. In this approach, a reason generator first derives a ``reason'' for a user using his/her past education and career history. The reason summarizes the user's preference and is used as the input of an occupation predictor to recommend the user's next occupation. This two-step occupation prediction approach is, however, non-trivial as LLMs are not aligned with career paths or the unobserved reasons behind each occupation decision. We therefore propose to fine-tune LLMs improving their reasoning and occupation prediction performance. We first derive high-quality oracle reasons, as measured by factuality, coherence and utility criteria, using a LLM-as-a-Judge. These oracle reasons are then used to fine-tune small LLMs to perform reason generation and next occupation prediction. Our extensive experiments show that: (a) our approach effectively enhances LLM's accuracy in next occupation prediction making them comparable to fully supervised methods and outperforming unsupervised methods; (b) a single LLM fine-tuned to perform reason generation and occupation prediction outperforms two LLMs fine-tuned to perform the tasks separately; and (c) the next occupation prediction accuracy depends on the quality of generated reasons. Our code is available at https://github.com/Sarasarahhhhh/job_prediction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_21204
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On Reasoning Behind Next Occupation Recommendation
Dong, Shan
Achananuparp, Palakorn
Mai, Hieu Hien
Wang, Lei
Lu, Yao
Lim, Ee-Peng
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Information Retrieval
In this work, we develop a novel reasoning approach to enhance the performance of large language models (LLMs) in future occupation prediction. In this approach, a reason generator first derives a ``reason'' for a user using his/her past education and career history. The reason summarizes the user's preference and is used as the input of an occupation predictor to recommend the user's next occupation. This two-step occupation prediction approach is, however, non-trivial as LLMs are not aligned with career paths or the unobserved reasons behind each occupation decision. We therefore propose to fine-tune LLMs improving their reasoning and occupation prediction performance. We first derive high-quality oracle reasons, as measured by factuality, coherence and utility criteria, using a LLM-as-a-Judge. These oracle reasons are then used to fine-tune small LLMs to perform reason generation and next occupation prediction. Our extensive experiments show that: (a) our approach effectively enhances LLM's accuracy in next occupation prediction making them comparable to fully supervised methods and outperforming unsupervised methods; (b) a single LLM fine-tuned to perform reason generation and occupation prediction outperforms two LLMs fine-tuned to perform the tasks separately; and (c) the next occupation prediction accuracy depends on the quality of generated reasons. Our code is available at https://github.com/Sarasarahhhhh/job_prediction.
title On Reasoning Behind Next Occupation Recommendation
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Information Retrieval
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.21204