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Can AI transform careers services?

Danny Mirza

November 2023

Danny Mirza provides a summary of a pilot scheme that explored how generative AI - if handled correctly - could liberate rather than replace careers professionals

A recent pilot scheme at the University of Northampton (which I initiated and led in my role at the time as careers consultant for the Faculty of Business and Law) explored integrative use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT for higher education career services. The five-month project uncovered valuable insights across four key areas using ChatGPT hubs.

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What do graduates do? 2023/24

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What is a ChatGPT hub?

A major innovation was developing custom ChatGPT hubs. These are interfaces preset with specialised prompts tailored to the university and careers office needs. Properly tuned, prompts elicit helpful, on-brand responses from ChatGPT for any careers query.

Hubs can provide 24/7 support while still referring complex cases to careers professionals. Hubs have tremendous potential to engage and empower students as it's just scan and play.1

  1. Enhancing one-on-ones - AI assisted in appointments by generating personalised action plans, optimising LinkedIn profiles, preparing for interviews, reviewing CVs, and more.2
  2. Developing engaging workshops - AI facilitated creating detailed workshop plans, presentations, activities, and interactive chat-based games on career topics.3
  3. Streamlining strategy and planning - AI helped produce newsletters, proposals, assessments, handbooks, grant applications and other key strategy documents.4
  4. Improving careers events - AI aided in planning events, developing branding, and creating feedback forms.5

How does this help ensure responsible AI use?

Creating customised ChatGPT hubs allows career services to curate the prompts and parameters students interact with. Rather than freely engaging with ChatGPT, students are guided to specific hubs designed for their institution. This enables monitoring of use cases and prompts to ensure students employ AI appropriately and ethically. Hubs solve the issue of unfettered AI access, allowing some oversight to mitigate risks and coach positive usage focused on career skill-building. With the right prompts and guardrails encoded into hubs, generative AI can be implemented conscientiously.

Over 90% of students felt AI made careers advising more engaging and empowering.

How did students respond?

In this pilot, across 89 one-on-one appointments and 250+ workshops, student feedback was resoundingly positive. Over 90% felt AI made advising more engaging and empowering. 91% were better prepared with AI for appointments. The technology enhanced accessibility, efficiency, and impact of career services in this pilot.

Where can AI address inefficiencies?

AI tools can help address key limitations and inefficiencies in the career services status quo:

  • Limitation of responsibilities - professionals spend significant time on administrative responsibilities like basic FAQ-like appointments, making lengthy strategy documents and developing basic resources from scratch. AI can expedite these repetitive tasks.
  • Limitation of scale - even the most dedicated careers professional cannot feasibly provide personalised one-on-one guidance at scale to caseloads of hundreds of students. ChatGPT hubs can provide customised support tailored to each individual.
  • Limitation of specialism - lacking specialist-level mastery across all career domains. AI systems can incorporate comprehensive expertise from millions of data points.

Targeted AI implementation in these areas of inefficiency can free up careers professionals' time for deeper human connections and advancement of the field. AI can address system-level limitations, while humans provide irreplaceable value.

How will careers professionals' role evolve?

The future role of careers professionals will be as curators - evaluating, customising, and guiding appropriate AI use for each student. This allows more capacity for irreplaceable human connections. AI doesn't replace careers professionals, it liberates them to focus on their exclusive value. In summary, generative AI marks an exciting evolution in student career empowerment. As with any technology, responsible design and policies are critical. If implemented collaboratively with care, AI could enable more equitable, personalized careers interventions.

Danny Mirza has since moved to Coventry University (London Hub) where he is lead consultant (talent team).

Notes

  1. Cheat Sheet for ChatGPT hubs
  2. E.g. CV hub
  3. E.g. career game
  4. E.g. careers handbook hub
  5. E.g. careers events hub

Written by

Photo: Danny Mirza
Danny Mirza
Lead consultant (talent team)
Coventry University (London Hub)

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