Machine and Mentor: AI in Careers Guidance

Artificial Intelligence technology has changed the world of work across all industries, spreading uncertainty for those both entering and existing in the workforce while simultaneously aiding more experienced workers who have learnt to adapt to new technological changes. It is used everyday by workers in various industries to streamline professional processes and ease workloads, but how can it support those of us working in the world of Careers Guidance?

Careers Guidance is an industry where the potential services of AI have not been well utilised, however this does not mean that there is not a place for it in the field. You may fear or assume that AI in careers guidance can only be designed to replace Career Advisors, but the personable touch of a human advisor cannot be substituted with a (admittedly fallible) database. Instead, we can look at how AI can assist Career Advisors in their duties in service to the futures of their clients. Or in other words, “Used well, AI should free up time, allowing careers advisers to concentrate on those people who need it most, in a more personalised fashion than is currently possible.” (Jo Carrington, 2024).

AI in careers guidance can do a lot for both advisors and the clients that they advise. It can make personalised recommendations on jobs and opportunities based on individual interests, skills and vocational preferences. It can process large amounts of data quickly, providing real time access to job vacancies and labour market trends allowing easy advice on the true reality of each job market. And with the time it saves human advisors, it ends up being cost effective.

This sounds great! But where can Career Advisors start?

The Careers People already have a few ideas:

• AI Transcripts – each of our career newsletters are available as a 20-25 minute podcast, an advancement beneficial for auditory learners, SEND diagnosed students, and those who use English as an additional language. What written information can you turn into audio? Another Careers Advisor – Angeline Hollinshead at Wrotham School – shared that AI helped her to create a podcast for a dyslexic parent. They are now able to access key careers resources that are sent home.

• Certificate Generation – at the end of the Apprenticeship Academy programme, we use AI to generate the participants’ certificates which are emailed to them directly (although they have to take part and complete the register every week!). Do you run any programmes that provide a completion certificate?

• Proof reading and Editing – at The Careers People we have Ray (our very own languages teacher!) but not everyone has a Ray and this is where AI can help by proof reading, fitting text into a preferred word count and suggesting edits in documents. Do you struggle with grammar, punctuation, spelling or rambling? AI can support you! 

• Exploring Career Ideas – as mentioned above we use AI to suggest career options based on a student’s preferences (subjects they enjoy most, hobbies, skills developed through their curriculum and extracurricular activities) before talking the student through connected pathways, work experiences, and university/apprenticeship programmes they can consider. 

We even have advice on AI prompts to help students:

• Day In The Life Of… – ask AI to create a sample day in the life of [insert career idea here] to help students picture what a particular job will be like. You can follow up by asking for necessary skills to complete this job’s day

• Pathway Comparison – ask AI to compare different post 16 or post 18 for someone interested in [insert student’s interest here]. You can follow up by asking AI about the particular pros and cons of each pathway.

• Reviewing LMI – ask AI to show future job trends or growing industries in the UK, or a more specific region, that might be worth exploring. You can also ask for average salaries for the role(s) the student is interested in and average time period for the student to achieve this salary.

It is IMPORTANT to note that career advisors should provide suitable, student centred guidance after starting with the AI prompts and fact check the (again, fallible) AI responses. 

How else can AI be used in careers guidance, you ask? Danny Mirza may have the answer: custom ChatGPT Hubs. 

According to Mirza (2023), “[ChatGPT hubs] 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”. Essentially a 24/7 online service informed only by what information the school and careers office provide (no more fact checking!) that still filters more complicated cases to a human advisor. Mirza experimented with these Hubs in a pilot programme at the University of Northampton in his then current role of careers consultant for the Faculty of Business and Law across five months and he found that students responded positively. Across 89 one-on-one appointments and 250+ workshops, over 90% felt AI made advising more engaging and empowering and 91% were better prepared with AI for appointments (Mirza 2023).

Additionally, the hubs helped students use AI ethically and responsibly. Instead of swimming in the ocean of an unmonitored AI interface, “students are guided to specific hubs designed for their institution” as “customised ChatGPT hubs allows career services to curate the prompts and parameters students interact with” helping students while implementing AI conscientiously.

In a similar vein is CiCi the Careers Chatbot. Created by Dr. Deirdre Hughes after seeing first hand the stressful process of an unassisted career search, this award-winning 24/7 career advice service offers instant, personalised support on career-related topics and connects its users with a human advisor should further guidance be needed. It’s easy to use: users type questions, and CiCi instantly responds with accurate, up-to-date information. You can book a demo to see if it’s the right fit for you or your organisation! The company already works with several schools, educational organisations, and career institutes and also has glowing testimonials from everyday people.

To wrap up, AI may be an ever evolving technology that changes the way jobs are done but it can also (positively) change the way jobs can be found with the help of a qualified careers advisor. It can be used in small but impactful ways, such as proof reading or exploring careers, as well as larger organized efforts, such as in customised ChatGPT Hubs. But either way, it is only capable of aiding a human Careers Advisor in their professional but personal calling.

References:

Carrington, J. (2024, December 4). What does AI mean for the future of career guidance? FE News. https://www.fenews.co.uk/fe-voices/what-does-ai-mean-for-the-future-of-career-guidance/#_ftnref1

Mirza, D. (2023, November) Can AI transform careers services? Prospects Luminate. https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/can-ai-transform-careers-services

CiCi ChatBot. https://cicichat.co.uk/

The Careers People [@thecareerspeople]. (2025, March 25). AI feels like a buzz word in our industry at the moment. Every conference we attend has at least one AI related talk, but how are we actually using it on the ground in our day to day work? Here's a few examples! How are you using AI to support your practice? [Photo Carousel]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DHnqdylNWqq/utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The Careers People [@thecareerspeople]. (2025, July 3). A few weeks ago, we posted about how we use AI as a business. an advisor asked on the post what actual prompts we use in sessions with the young people that we work with. [Photo Carousel]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DLpKoxctRHM/utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==