DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A CHATBOT FOR CAREER GUIDANCE

This project introduces CareerPath, a chatbot designed to provide career guidance to secondary school students in Nigeria. The system was developed to address the limitations of traditional career counseling methods, which often lack accessibility, personalization, and real-time feedback. By integrating artificial intelligence and natural language processing, the chatbot engages students in meaningful conversations to understand their interests and provide tailored recommendations. The chatbot was built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the user interface, and it interacts with the llama 3.2 model through the locally deployed Ollama API. It interprets user input such as preferred subjects or career interests and delivers appropriate suggestions for careers and courses. The system operates entirely on user interaction without saving personal data, making it both lightweight and privacy-conscious. Testing showed that the chatbot consistently provided useful, context-relevant career advice. It proves to be a valuable tool in enhancing career counseling services, particularly in schools lacking professional counselors. The project demonstrates the potential of AI in education and offers a scalable, student-friendly solution that can guide learners toward informed academic and career decisions.