Where practitioners
shape the future of work

Practitioner: Matt Lewis
Role: Careers Consultant
Institution: Middlesex University

Problem: Middlesex University has a small careers team that relies on student assistants to triage students seeking support to the correct services. Without specialist knowledge, those assistants often struggled to find the correct Careers Consultant or service, especially because many Careers Consultants work across multiple schools. When a student seeking support asked about job searching in their specific industry, or needed to know which consultant covered their course, the assistants often struggled.

Solution: Matt built a searchable knowledge base in Google's free NotebookLM tool. Student assistants can now type any question into the notebook during a triage conversation and get an instant, accurate answer drawn only from those documents.

Matt built the tool using documents he had already developed. The knowledge base brings together three types of content. First, industry guides that cover job boards, professional bodies, and career pathways for every subject area the team supports. Second, a staff allocation spreadsheet showing which consultant covers which programme at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Third, a catch-all reference document for edge cases, such as ensuring veterinary nursing students are directed to the right sector rather than towards NHS roles. Because NotebookLM only draws on the documents uploaded to it, answers stay relevant and institution-specific. The response length can also be adjusted to suit the pace of the conversation, with shorter answers for quick queries and more detailed responses when needed.

Matt has also built a personal version for his own specialism in the arts, loading in detailed programme guides that give him on-demand access to the depth of knowledge he has built up over years. The entire project runs on the free version of NotebookLM and required no technical background to set up.

Considerations: When using software like NotebookLM, consider data privacy and GDPR, making sure that institutional guidelines are met and that private data is not shared.

Software: Google NotebookLM

Want to know more? Contact Matt

Practitioner: Séan Richardson
Role: Careers and Digital Learning
Institution: London South Bank University

Problem: LSBU has an exceptionally diverse student body, with higher-than-average proportions of part-time students, students with caring responsibilities, and those working alongside their studies. Due to this, students needed flexible, self-paced access to careers support that traditional one-off workshops could not provide.

Solution: The team built the LSBU Career Skills Award, a structured digital employability platform that students work through at their own pace, receiving a digital certificate for each level they complete.

The award is divided into three levels: Core, Advanced, and Expert. Core covers the foundational skills every student needs to apply for any role, including CV writing, cover letters, and basic interview technique. Advanced targets the skills needed to secure a graduate-level position. Expert prepares the most motivated students for the full demands of the modern hiring process.

Importantly, the Skills Award automatically offers personalised resources. With no action required from the student, the platform detects their course and serves a tailored version of the award. A Drama student sees guidance on the audition process, whereas a Civil Engineering student receives sector-specific advice on technical skills. Academics can also request a customised version for classroom use, embedding employability directly into the curriculum.

AI tools are integrated throughout, including CareerSet, which requires students to score at least 70% on their CV before they can book a consultant appointment, ensuring students arrive prepared and consultants can focus on deeper work. The platform also integrates AI-powered custom ChatGPTs that guide students through CV writing and simulate job interviews at the point of need.

Using Symplicity CareerHub, the team further tracks which students have not engaged with careers services and triangulates this against demographic data to identify those least likely to secure a graduate-level role, enabling targeted outreach before it is too late.

The platform was co-created with students on work-based learning placements in the Careers Hub, who road-tested it and shaped the final product through their feedback.

Considerations: This project requires a significant investment in an EdTech platform as well as ongoing staff time to build, maintain, and update content. Course-specific personalisation requires coordination with academic departments across the institution.

Software: Symplicity CareerHub, CareerSet

Want to know more? Contact Séan

Read the full report: LSBU Career Skills Award Report