Info & Setup
This is a bit of an odd one - a tool to support a career workshop I’m developing with a friend at Memorial University. In short, it uses an openAI pack to take your resume, find behavioural patterns, develop career paths, and create experiments to test your fit with those paths.
I left in our draft workshop notes - maybe you want to run this as an exercise within your org?
Setup
Delete all existing data to get started ( ) add any career criteria and information (things you want for yourself - financial, personal, etc) Paste your resume text. Ai will extract any jobs and education into experiences. energy map those experiences AI develops patterns that represent your career and interests AI creates 3 career paths based on your experiences and patterns you can rank them by fit - how well you feel they align with you on an intuitive sense Choose a career path and AI creates experiments for you to explore what the path might feel like gut check the experiments - are they things you’d want to try? Note: if you see an open button, like , use it instead of the standard open row button (it sets essential control values in the backend) check out the build vid on YouTube:
Workshop Outline
Futures of You: An AI-Enhanced Career Lab
EVENT COPY
Life—and the future of work—are full of possibilities.
If the question of “What's next?” is more anxiety-inducing than intriguing, consider joining this one-time Career Week workshop where you’ll learn how to embrace the unknown and tackle life’s biggest questions in a way that makes sense for you. This AI-enhanced introduction to life design will guide participants on how to navigate career questions using personal pattern recognition, prototyping, and an AI-powered career exploration tool. Envision future possibilities by identifying your strengths, enabling happenstance, and designing small experiments to look forward with less fear and more confidence.
Description
Life—and the future of work—are full of possibilities. With so many choices amidst an environment of uncertainty, determining how to focus your time and energy can feel daunting.
Learn how to embrace the unknown and tackle life’s biggest questions with this AI-enhanced introduction to life design. Hands-on activities will guide students on how to navigate career questions using AI-powered career exploration, personal pattern recognition, and career prototyping. Envision future possibilities and ways to realize them by identifying strengths, enabling happenstance, and designing small experiments to test career/life fit!
Outcomes
By the end of this workshop, students will:
Exercise a wayfinding mindset that emphasizes iteration and continuous learning over fixed career plans Experiment with an AI tool to identify personal work patterns to explore career options based on interests, strengths, and field(s) of study Develop small career experiments to test potential career paths 1. Introduction: Careers as a Wayfinding Journey (25 min)
🎤 Theory (~5 min)
Navigation vs. Wayfinding → Careers aren’t linear paths; they unfold step by step. Change is constant - regular observation of and feedback from current environment is critical. Design Thinking for Work → You prototype careers, not plan them. Plans are fictions that need to be tested against reality. Personal Patterns Matter → Your past experiences hold clues to your future direction. Patterns, unlike plans, are principles that can guide decision making over longer time horizons. AI analysis no different from us - need to know ourselves in order to get something good back 🖥 Live Demo + Setup (~10 min)
Step 1: Get students to create a Coda account (if needed) & log in to the tool. Step 2: Walk through where to input past experiences, interests, and work preferences. 🛠 Practice (~10 min) → Coda Tool
Students input their major, past work/volunteer experiences, interests, preferred work location, etc. Tag each past experience as energizing or draining to reveal personal patterns. 2. Personal Patterns for Career Wayfinding (20 min)
🎤 Theory (~4 min)
Christopher Alexander & Patterns → Meaningful careers emerge from repeated success patterns. Identifying Your Strengths → What are your guiding patterns for fulfilling work? Patterns as Decision Tools → Developing a personal set of career principles for the future. 🖥 Live Demo
Show how to document personal career patterns in the tool. Highlight examples of how patterns guide career choices. 🛠 Practice (~12 min, reduced by 3 min) → Coda Tool
Based on past experiences + AI insights, students write 2-3 personal career patterns (e.g., “I feel energized when I mentor others” or “I prefer structured, analytical work”). Pattern Reflection Prompt: How can you use these patterns to evaluate future job choices? Quick share with group: One personal pattern that resonates. 3. Career Prototyping: Designing Your Next Experiment (25 min)
🎤 Theory (~6 min)
Why Experiments Matter → The best way to find fulfilling work is to test small steps. Low-Risk Career Prototypes → A prototype could be: A new skill-building experience Measure What Matters → How will you know if the experiment is a success? 🖥 Live Demo (~3 min)
Walk through how AI suggests experiments based on chosen career. Show how to select an experiment and set success criteria. 🛠 Practice (~16 min) → Coda Tool
AI suggests one small experiment based on the chosen career path. Students choose one experiment and define: What they will do (e.g., “Interview a product designer”). What they want to learn (e.g., “Do I enjoy creative problem-solving at this level?”). How they’ll measure success (e.g., “I’ll know this is a fit if I feel excited about the challenges they describe”). 4. Career Exploration: AI-Powered Self-Assessment?? (20 min)
🎤 Theory (~5 min)
Your Major ≠ Your Career → There are multiple career paths for any field of study. The Skill-Career Connection → What jobs use your skills & strengths in meaningful ways? Choosing Based on Fit, Not Fear → It’s about alignment, not just security. 🖥 Live Demo (~3 min)
Show how AI generates career options based on a major. Walk through how to click into career paths and review skills & roles. 🛠 Practice (~12 min, shortened by 3 min) → Coda Tool
AI generates career options based on major, with: Common roles & job descriptions. Key skills & pathways into the field. Students review career options and self-assess fit: Which ones feel exciting? Tag them as such. Which ones feel misaligned with their strengths? Tag them as such. Partner / Small group discussion: Share one career path that intrigues you and why. 5. Wrap-Up & Next Steps (12 min, shortened slightly)
🎤 Theory (~4 min)
Wayfinding Never Ends → This is a continuous process, not a one-time decision. Keep Iterating on Your Patterns → Your work preferences evolve, so keep refining them. Next Steps Beyond the Workshop → How will you follow up on your career experiment? 🖥 Live Demo (~2 min)
Show how students can review their career roadmap & experiments. Demonstrate how they can continue updating their patterns over time. 🛠 Practice (~6 min) → Coda Tool
Students finalize their career experiment and commit to a timeframe. AI summarizes chosen career path + guiding patterns + experiment into a shareable takeaway. Final discussion: One insight or next step students will take. 
Career Wayfinding
