Sophie Odgers-Roe, careers consultant for distance and flexible learners at the University of London Careers Service, discusses a new micro-module that asks students to augment their strengths with GenAI
The Know Your Strengths Micro-Module (KYSMM), is the latest addition to the University of London Career Service's (UoLCS) suite of micro-modules designed for our online, distance and flexible learners. KYSMM is a self-directed learning experience designed by career experts to enable students to discover, explore, and augment their unique strengths, learned behaviours, and weaknesses using Generative AI.
Launched in October 2025, KYSMM has already shown clear impact on students with 20,965 engagements with the tool and has already been planned to be integrated within academic programmes.
The aim of KYSMM is to give students a clear understanding of their distinctly human strengths to then enable them to augment and utilise these in a Gen-AI informed world of work - helping them to respond and thrive. Within employability, self-awareness is a key component of career adaptability (Savickas, 2013), helping individuals understand their strengths, areas for growth, and career aspirations; this concept lies at the heart of the design of KYSMM. Changes in the recruitment market, particularly the move towards strengths-based interviews, also underline the value of KYSMM.
The module helped me understand not just what my strengths are, but how they shape my resilience, decision-making, and long-term direction.
As a digital-only careers service, our careers education programme is delivered online to our students around the world, either as independent learners or students based at our international Recognised Teaching Centres. The tenants of Universal Design for Learning (UDL, CAST 2024) are especially important for our online activities that are delivered live or asynchronously. On completion of the micro-module, students then have KYSMM added to their degree transcript.
KYSMM was designed to reflect the seven key pedagogic elements of our Core Careers Education Framework. This framework incorporates different Careers Stages (Career Starter, Career Developer, Career Changer) in additional to multiple perspectives, such as Student Voice and Alumni and Employer voice. We are also aware of the need to meet the needs of our learners in different regions and facilitate transdisciplinary learning opportunities, not least in terms our Global Employability Skills as well as AI Literacy development. KYSMM incorporates all of these aspects in an innovative and effective way.
To align with the strategic aims of the University of London Careers Service, KYSMM was carefully designed with the principles of UDL. KYSMM is self-directed and based on principle of self-assessment with participants reflecting on their progress and interaction with a research informed metric, e.g. Cappfinity Strengths Profile.
There are four research-powered sections in KYSMM:
- Introduction to strengths
- Human strengths in an AI-augmented world
- Strengths-based recruitment
- Building resilience with strengths awareness.
Throughout KYSMM, contemporary research and frameworks that place GenAI at the centre are explored, with a particular focus on identifying distinctly human strengths. GenAI is positioned as a critical friend or assistant, with clear discussion of its role not as a substitute for human skills and strengths, but as a means of enhancing them. Within the micro-module, students are encouraged to use GenAI to build on their strengths, reflect on learned behaviours, and find ways to mitigate areas of weakness.
In addition, KYSMM is informed by academic literature in the field of psychology, using traditional western psychological theories such as the shadow-side (Jung 1959), Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset theory and theories on wellbeing from around the world, including Ikigai (García & Miralles 2017) from Japan and Gross National Happiness (Reinert 2019) from Bhutan.
From 1 October 2025 to 11 March 2026, the Know Your Strengths Micro-Module has had 20,965 student views & 11,373 student posts. Student views indicate the number of times students have accessed the Micro-Module. Student posts refer to student engagement through interactions with activities within the micro-module.
Evaluation: a significant success
Engagement with KYSMMM since launch has been extensive as shown by the figures above. Furthermore, the quantitative/qualitative evaluation data (from a mixed cohort of 19 students from a variety of career stages, countries and programmes) illustrates that the KYSMM has so far been a significant success:
- 89% of survey respondents said that KYSMM helped them discover and explore their unique strengths in an AI-augmented world.
- 95% of respondents said that KYSMM will help them to effectively leverage my strengths in future strengths-based recruitment practices.
- 95% of respondents said that KYSMM helped them recognise how awareness of these Strengths can enhance their well-being, resilience and professional development.
Qualitative comments that we collected about KYSMM include:
"[KYSMM] helped me recognise how my natural patterns of thinking and working translate into value across different organisational settings, which has improved the way I position myself professionally. I now approach recruitment and career conversations with greater clarity, confidence, and credibility, drawing on authentic experiences... Overall, it has enabled more strategic career planning, stronger professional judgement, and a more sustainable approach to growth."
"I particularly liked the focus on human strengths in an AI-augmented world. This section helped me understand which uniquely human skills-such as critical thinking, creativity, ethical judgment, and emotional intelligence-will remain essential alongside AI technologies. It clarified how to position these strengths effectively for future employability and career development."
"Participating in KYSMM has enhanced my career development and employability by providing insights into studying law effectively, exposing me to different legal career paths, and highlighting the importance of networking."
Students were also asked the following questions, see below for their comments with the question attached:
After using KYSMM, how did it change what you THINK in relation to your approach or understanding of your career development?
"It shifted me from a role-led to a strengths-led, evidence-based approach. I now map realised and unrealised strengths to role competencies, maintain a living bank of STARR stories with metrics, and review progress on a regular cadence."
"The module helped me understand not just what my strengths are, but how they shape my resilience, decision-making, and long-term direction. It shifted my thinking from focusing on fixing weaknesses to strategically leveraging strengths that genuinely energise me."
After using KYSMM, how did it change what you FEEL in relation to your approach or understanding of your career development?
"More confident, focused, and in control. Grounding my strengths in observable behaviours and evidence replaced vague self-doubt with a clear sense of value, which reduced anxiety about applications and interviews."
"I feel more grounded and confident in my career development. The module helped me recognise that my strengths are not accidental, they are reliable anchors I can build my future around. "
After using KYSMM, how did it change what you DO in relation to your approach or understanding of your career development?
"I now take a more proactive and strengths-based approach to my career development. I actively reflect on my strengths when choosing opportunities, tailor my CV and applications to highlight them, and seek experiences that allow me to develop and apply these skills further."
"After using the Know Your Strengths Micro-Module, I now actively reflect on my strengths when making career decisions, tailor my applications and interviews to highlight them, and take a more intentional, strengths-based approach to my professional development."
KYSMM brings together the innovation of different team members across the service and is underpinned by a contemporary pedagogical framework which includes AI literacy. Student voice has been consulted, with members of the Student Careers Feedback Panel being included from KYSMM's inception. This project has been innovative, as shown by the qualitative comments above, with the second section 'Human strengths in an AI-augmented world' surfacing how GenAI can be used proactively to aid students in mitigating their learned behaviours and weaknesses. As of March 2026, this approach appears unprecedented within UK modules or micro‑modules, placing KYSMM at the forefront of practice.
James Abdey (associate academic director, LSE-UoL International Programmes at the London School of Economics and Political Science) said [regarding KYSMM]:
"The Know Your Strengths Micro-Module offers a wealth of high-quality resources and valuable self-reflection opportunities. It supports deep personal insight and growth, making it highly effective and impactful. KYSMM is particularly innovative in linking human strengths with the rise of GenAI. It distinctively explores ethical challenges, sector-specific impacts, and human-only capabilities, encouraging students to future-proof themselves by synergising AI literacy with personal development - an essential, forward-thinking approach for thriving in the fifth industrial revolution."
As illustrated by the positive feedback KYSMM has received, the new micro-module has been applauded by the student body at the University of London as well as senior stakeholders at UoL. As a sector-leading piece of AI integrated work, the module was part of a recent showcase at the Leadership Conference delivered by the Graduates Futures Institute. UoLCS are also attending the AdvanceHE Teaching and Learning Conference 'Success by Design: The Future of Learning Now 2026' to present a workshop about KYSMM. Cappfinity, a business that consults with universities on strengths-based recruitment has asked for UoLCS to feature KYSMM in an upcoming conference to showcase the micro-module as a case study.
Conclusion: a meaningful step forward
The Know Your Strengths Micro-Module represents a meaningful step forward in how the University of London equips learners for an AI-augmented world. The strong engagement figures, enthusiastic student feedback, and endorsement from senior academic stakeholders all point to the same conclusion: KYSMM is already making a tangible difference to how our students understand, articulate, and apply their strengths.
By combining contemporary research, global perspectives, and a clear focus on AI literacy, the micro‑module offers learners a future‑focused career development experience that is both practical and empowering. Its innovative exploration of human strengths in partnership with GenAI places UoL at the forefront of sector practice.
The growing external recognition, including invitations to present at higher education sector conferences and interest from Cappfinity, highlights the wider impact of the work and the value of a strengths-led, AI-informed approach. KYSMM is enhancing student confidence, clarity, and career capability, and has positioned the University of London Careers Service as a leader in delivering inclusive, research-informed, digitally enabled careers education.
KYSMM demonstrates what is possible when pedagogical innovation, student voice, and AI literacy come together. It sets a strong foundation for future developments and continues to play a significant role in preparing our global student community to thrive in the fifth industrial revolution.
Notes
- CAST, 2024. The UDL Guidelines 3.0. CAST. Available at: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
- Dweck, C. S. (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House.
- García, H. and Miralles, F. (2017) Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. London: Penguin Life.
- Jung, C. G. (1959) Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self. Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 9, Part 2. Translated by R. F. C. Hull. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Reinert, S. A., Humphrey, T. and Safran, B. (2019) Bhutan: Governing for Happiness. Harvard Business School Case 715‑024 (Revised May 2019). Harvard Business School Publishing.
- Savickas, M. L. (2013) Career Construction Theory and Practice. In: Brown, S. D. and Lent, R. W. (eds.) Career Development and Counselling: Putting Theory and Research to Work. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
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