In a rapidly evolving job market, standing out in the interview process is more crucial than ever for university students. In partnership with Insider London, Unibuddy has developed a unique AI-driven platform designed to give students a competitive edge by simulating real interview experiences. We spoke with Sam Hall, founder of Unibuddy, to learn more about its innovative approach to career preparation, and how it’s helping students build the confidence and skills they need to succeed in their career journeys.
IL: Can you share the inspiration behind creating Unibuddy?
Sam Hall: The idea for Unibuddy came from a conversation with Jiamei, founder of Insider London. My team and I were experimenting with an AI tool to assist sales and customer success teams. Jiamei saw potential in adapting it to help students practice for interviews, particularly for graduate schemes. Having struggled with interviews myself, I knew there was a real need for this. We set out to build a prototype tailored to students’ needs.
IL: How does Unibuddy differentiate itself from other career coaching tools?
Sam Hall: Unibuddy stands out in two ways. First, it’s focused specifically on finance students. We’ve programmed it with finance-specific questions for top graduate schemes in the UK, pulling in relevant company context to make the simulation as accurate as possible. Second, it supports students whose first language isn’t English, with features like playback for tone and flow and specific feedback to improve their delivery.
IL: What are the main challenges Unibuddy aims to address for university students?
Sam Hall: Getting through the interview stage is harder than ever, and while there are plenty of tools to help students with applications, few focus on interview prep. Unibuddy fills that gap. Since interview performance influences up to 92% of hiring decisions, our goal is to ensure students are ready to succeed in interviews and don’t lose out on roles because they weren’t prepared.
IL: How does the AI-driven career coach chatbot work, and what technology underpins it?
Sam Hall: Unibuddy uses tools like ChatGPT and Claude, alongside our own language-learning model (LLM). These flexible tools help us build prototypes quickly and test what works well for students. This setup allows us to continuously refine Unibuddy’s features based on student feedback.
IL: Can you walk us through a typical user journey on Unibuddy?
Sam Hall: Sure. Here’s how it works:
Sign-Up: Students create an account and, if possible, integrate it with their university’s database.
Select a Graduate Scheme: They pick the finance scheme they’re targeting.
Resume Enhancement: Unibuddy’s AI coach reviews the student’s resume, pulling key points.
Employer-Specific Prep: The AI matches student attributes with qualities specific to employers like HSBC.
Practice Stage: Students answer randomised questions, recording their responses without notes.
Feedback: They receive a score and detailed feedback, including playback options. They can repeat this process as many times as needed until they’re comfortable.
IL How does Unibuddy ensure students align their skills with employer requirements?
Sam Hall: Focusing on finance allows us to pull in highly specific data from sources like Glassdoor and Reddit, where real discussions about employers take place. By concentrating our resources on this niche, Unibuddy provides a more accurate and focused experience compared to general tools. Since we’re bootstrapped, we don’t have to spread our resources across multiple industries.
IL: How do you measure Unibuddy’s success?
Sam Hall: Our main goal is to help students land graduate roles. In the meantime, we track their performance improvements through practice scores. This data is also shared with university admins, who can see both individual and cohort progress, offering valuable insights into students’ development.
IL: What role do you see Unibuddy playing in the future of career services?
Sam Hall: I see Unibuddy becoming a mainstream tool for graduate students to practice realistic interview simulations. Right now, most students have limited interview practice options. Unibuddy provides unbiased, data-driven feedback, helping students improve without the subjective influence of friends or family members.
IL: How has your experience with Mixed Reality Rooms influenced Unibuddy’s development?
Sam Hall: Mixed Reality Rooms taught us that building with end-user needs in mind is essential. Insider London’s experience with university partnerships has been invaluable. Their network allows us to understand what students really need to succeed, which has helped shape Unibuddy’s development.
IL What are your plans for Unibuddy’s future development?
Sam Hall: We plan to expand Unibuddy to cover more fields like law and marketing and introduce international graduate schemes that account for cultural differences. Technically, we aim to make integration with university databases even easier, so students can start using Unibuddy without any friction.
IL: What advice would you give to students using Unibuddy for career preparation?
Sam Hall: Practice as much as possible. The interview is critical, and Unibuddy allows unlimited practice sessions. Aim to reach a point where you feel comfortable with any question. Our feedback, given as a score out of five stars, helps students gauge their readiness.
IL: How will Unibuddy’s content and AI recommendations stay current with job market changes?
Sam Hall: By focusing on a specific niche, we’re able to dedicate our resources to keeping Unibuddy’s content up-to-date. We use platforms like Glassdoor and Reddit for baseline insights and are exploring the possibility of capturing feedback from students’ real interviews. Longer-term, we hope to form relationships with employers to gather direct data.
Join us to elevate your interview skills and gain the confidence you need to secure your dream job. For more information watch this short video where Sam explains the Unibuddy features. To schedule Unibuddy sessions, reach out to us at contact@insiderlondon.com.