Careers support that reaches every student.
Not just the ones who book an appointment. Week by Week gives every student a one-to-one AI coach: they work out what drives them, explore career paths that fit and any current local job ads, and take one small step each week. Your careers team sees how many students have joined and how active they are, by nickname. The dashboard doesn't show what students write.
5 students for a month – no cost, no card, no commitment.
Transcript
Every school wants its students to feel that their learning matters, that their effort can lead somewhere, and that they have something to offer. For some students, those connections are still hard to see.
They may have interests they haven’t recognised as strengths. They may struggle to picture a future that appeals to them. And when they can’t see what they’re working towards, finding the motivation to learn can be difficult.
Teachers and careers advisers work hard to help students find that direction. But a careers conversation can be challenging when a student’s honest answer to questions about their strengths, interests or ambitions is, “I don’t know.”
The opportunity is to help students discover something they want to work towards—and recognise that they already have strengths to build on. That gives learning a clearer purpose. It gives students evidence of what they can do.
And it gives your careers team a starting point for more focused, meaningful conversations. Week by Week helps make those connections, one step at a time. It’s an app with an AI coach that helps students recognise their strengths, explore where their interests could take them, and choose practical steps towards a future that feels like their own.
As students gain experience and discover more about themselves, they can develop their plans and explore new possibilities. Your staff can build on what they’ve learned and help them decide what to try next.
To see what your students get out of it, watch the next video.
Transcript
“What do you want to do after school?” It sounds like a simple question. Until someone asks you.
Maybe you’ve got a few ideas, but none feels quite right. Maybe your friends seem to have a plan, and you’re still trying to work out where to start.
Or maybe you know what you enjoy. You just can’t see how it could turn into something you’d want to do for a living. Week by Week helps you make those connections.
It’s an app with an AI coach that starts with your life: what interests you, what matters to you, and the things you already do. You can type or talk.
Take your time. Skip a question if you want. You might talk about helping Dad paint the garage, getting younger players ready for a game, or sorting out a problem during your shift.
Then the AI coach helps you look a little closer. What did you actually do? Which part did you enjoy?
What made you want to help? Perhaps you liked figuring something out. Explaining it so someone understood.
Or getting everyone organised when things were a bit chaotic. Those details can reveal strengths you haven’t thought much about. And you’ve got your own experiences to back them up.
From there, Week by Week suggests career paths based on your interests, your strengths and what you want from working life. You can explore why a path might suit you, what the work involves, and ways to get started where you live.
That could mean an apprenticeship, training, university or going straight into work. Some suggestions might make sense straight away. Others might surprise you.
You decide which ones are worth a closer look. If something doesn’t sound like you, you can say so. Then you choose one small step for the week.
Ask someone what their job is really like. Look into a course. Find out about a chance to try something yourself.
You’re giving yourself something real to go on. And as life happens, you bring those experiences back into the app. A project you enjoyed.
A challenge you got through. Something you tried and realised you wouldn’t want to do every day. Add what happened and what you did.
The AI coach helps you recognise what you’re learning, builds on your skills and uses those new details to inform its suggestions. You can revisit your paths and ask for fresh ideas as you go.
Over time, you build a clearer picture of yourself: what you’re good at, what you care about, and what you’d like to get better at. Your plans can develop with that picture.
If exams take over or you have a rough week, you can choose a smaller step. If your interests change, you can explore another direction. What you’ve already done still counts.
When you’re ready to apply for work, those experiences can help you build a CV. They can also give you something concrete to talk through with your careers adviser or an adult you trust. You join with a nickname.
It’s free for you when your school uses it. You don’t need a perfect answer to “What’s next?” You can start with something you’re curious about, discover what it tells you, and build from there.
Want to see how it works? Watch Anna’s story next. Try the demo.
No sign-up needed. Week by Week. Find your direction as you go.
The path from school to work is harder to see than it used to be.
AI is starting to change entry-level work, and nobody can say exactly how. Students are told to plan their future while the options keep shifting – and long-term planning is genuinely hard at 15 or 16.
So Week by Week works the way its name says: one concrete step a week, always connected to the bigger picture. It's built to get students off their phones and into real life – real jobs, real experiences and, through Connect, people at their school who share their interests.
New Zealand, 2026
- 13.8% of 15–24 year olds were not in employment, education or training in the June 2026 quarter (seasonally adjusted, Stats NZ).
- Underutilisation of 15–24 year olds rose from 33.6% to 37.0% in the year to June 2026, while overall unemployment was 5.6% (Stats NZ).
- Fees Free ends on 31 December 2026, with no transitional arrangements. It covers the final year of tertiary study or the final two years of work-based learning (Inland Revenue).
Sources checked 3 October 2026.
How Week by Week works
Week by Week is an AI coach that helps students find their true calling.
Strengths first
We start with each student's strengths and skills, to set a positive tone and discover what they actually enjoy and are good at. This happens in an ongoing conversation over weeks, months and years, with follow-up questions and check-ins. The AI coach aims to really get to know each student.
Skills employers look for
The AI coach translates these insights into real-world skills that employers seek.
Realistic career paths
It then shows realistic career paths: apprenticeships, jobs, study, even their own business. Each one comes with concrete first steps and shows where on the path the student already is. Many teens have low self-esteem and feel they have nothing to offer. This shows them they already have more to offer than they think.
One step a week
Weekly check-ins keep them moving towards their goal. We chose weekly goals because they suit teenagers better than long-term goals. A step for this week, like “Ask your local hospital if you can do a walk-along”, is better than “Find out how to become a nurse”.
Room to change their mind
Interests change, so the AI coach stays flexible. When a student adds something new, it looks at their paths again. It doesn't flip-flop. It keeps as many options open as it can, so a change of direction stays manageable.
Privacy and safety built in
Students sign up with a nickname, not their real name. Staff see who's active, not what students write.
What students do
The app opens up gradually, so students don't face every feature at once. There are four parts. Once they reach seventy per cent of one part, the next becomes available. They can pause and come back whenever they like.
1. Start with what they know: their own life
Students begin with a guided conversation, one question at a time.
They might talk about a subject they enjoy, a weekend job, playing sport or helping someone at home. In a short first part of about 10 minutes, the AI coach explores what they like about those experiences and what matters to them. Students can go deeper later.
Students can type or speak. They can skip a question, take a break or change an answer later. They don't need to know what career they want.
2. Notice the skills in everyday experiences
A win doesn't have to be a big achievement.
It could be helping Dad paint the garage, finishing a busy shift at work, or helping younger players warm up before a game.
Students write a sentence or two about what they did. The AI coach suggests skills that experience might show, such as working with others, following instructions or explaining something clearly.
Each suggestion connects back to the student's own example. They can keep it, change it or remove it.
The aim is to help students recognise what they can do and find the words to explain it.
3. Explore possible career paths
The app suggests career paths based on what students have shared.
Each one explains why it might interest them, how they could get started, and what work or training options may be available nearby. It also considers how AI could change that kind of work.
The options can include apprenticeships, training, employment or further study. University and starting a business are possibilities, rather than the assumed destination.
Students can mark a path as interesting or say it's not for them. The suggestions are starting points for exploring, and important details should be checked with a careers adviser, employer or training provider.
4. Choose one step for the week ahead
Students choose something they can realistically do in the next seven days.
That might mean finding two courses to compare, checking their CV, or writing down a question for someone who does a job they're interested in.
A week later, they check in. What did they manage? What did they learn? What got in the way?
If exams, work or family commitments took over, they can choose “Life happened” and work towards something smaller.
Completed steps become wins, giving students a record of what they've done.
When they're ready to go further
Students can use the other features as they become relevant.
They can break a larger goal into smaller milestones, plan their week, or work on a habit they want to change. An optional phone-time goal helps them think about where their time goes.
They can also get help preparing to ask a trusted adult for support, explore local job listings, and build a CV from information they choose to include.
Job suggestions explain where their experience fits and what they may still need to learn. Funding searches can help them explore scholarships, training subsidies and other support.
For students interested in working for themselves, there is also help with exploring a business idea.
Connecting through shared interests
Connect gives students another way to find people who enjoy the same things, starting with others at their school.
Students use nicknames and are grouped by the ages they provide. Messages go through automated safety checks, and students can block or report someone.
Reports go to the Week by Week team, rather than school staff. These safeguards have limits, and the privacy and safety information explains how they work.
Connect is included in the app and schools cannot switch it off. Each student decides whether to use it.
The role of the AI coach
The AI coach is powered by Claude, from Anthropic.
It helps students reflect on their experiences, explore ideas and decide what to try. It starts with their strengths and leaves room for uncertainty or a change of direction.
Students can review its suggestions and correct anything that doesn't match their experience. They choose which goals and weekly steps to use.
The AI can make mistakes. Career matches are estimates, and information about jobs, courses or pay needs checking.
It is also not a counsellor or an emergency service. If a student shares something serious, it is designed to respond with care and point them towards support. “Need help now?” is always available in the menu.
Conversations are not monitored in real time, and the app does not automatically alert school staff. Students still need to know which trusted adults they can speak to at school.
What your staff can see
The school dashboard gives your careers team an overview of participation.
It shows how many students have joined, how many have been active that week, and how regularly the app is being used.
For each account, staff can see the nickname, age, year level, joining date, last activity and AI credits used that week.
You can also manage join codes, download QR posters and check your school's shared credit allowance.
Staff cannot read students' private answers, chats, plans or Connect messages through the dashboard. To follow up individually, you can invite students to share their nickname or bring something from the app to a careers conversation.
Staff can reset passwords and remove student accounts. Removing an account also deletes the student's saved work, so that action needs care.
Joining and privacy
Students join using a school code. They choose a nickname, a username and a password, and provide their age. School access is for students aged thirteen and over.
They do not need a real name or email address to create an account. A recovery code helps them regain access if they forget their password.
If they make a CV, they can choose to add contact details for employers. The AI processes the information students share so it can respond to them.
The Privacy and Safety page explains what information is used and who can access it.
How it fits your school
You can create a join code for a class or year group, give it an expiry date and set a limit on how many students can use it.
Students can scan a QR poster or enter the code themselves.
Your licence price is based on your Year Nine to Thirteen roll. There are no per-student licence fees, and staff accounts are unlimited.
AI use comes from a shared pool of credits. Individual limits help manage that allowance: up to 200 credits during a student's first seven days, then up to 60 a week, with a monthly limit of 1,000.
You receive warnings as the school's allowance runs low. There is an additional ten per cent at no cost before AI features pause. You are never automatically charged for extra usage.
The pricing page explains the included allowance and helps you plan for the number of students you expect to use the app regularly.
How Week by Week compares.
There are good careers tools in New Zealand. Here's where Week by Week fits – it's designed to work alongside Tahatū and your careers programme, not instead of them.
| Week by Week | Tahatū Career Navigator | Career Central | Private career coach | General AI chatbots (e.g. ChatGPT) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI life and career coach – an ongoing conversation | Free government careers website | Careers platform for schools | 1:1 sessions with a coach | General-purpose AI assistant |
| Made for NZ | ✓ NZ paths and local jobs | ✓ | ✓ (Gateway, trades academies) | Depends on the coach | Not specifically |
| How students explore | Conversation that asks about the “why” behind what they enjoy | Interest quiz, Path Finder, 800+ career ideas | Self-reflection modules, goals, job research | Conversation with a person | Conversation – if you know what to ask |
| Skills from everyday life | ✓ Wins turned into skills with evidence | – | Modules on personal qualities and skills | ✓ | If you ask |
| Weekly next step and check-ins | ✓ One step a week, check-in, celebrate the win | – | Goal setting | Between sessions | – |
| Local job listings | ✓ Searches for current job ads near the student | ✓ Job listings for each career idea | Job research | Varies | Not tailored |
| How AI may change each path | ✓ Explained for every path | – | – | – | – |
| Phone-time goal | ✓ See the hours won back each week | – | – | – | – |
| What students share | Nickname and age to join – no name, email or birthday | Optional account to save results | Account through the school | Name and contact details | Account with email; under-18s need a parent's permission |
| What school staff see | Activity only: the dashboard doesn't show what students write | – | Students' module responses and interview notes | – | – |
| Cost for students | Free when their school uses it | Free | Free (school pays) | Paid per session | Free or paid plans |
| Cost for schools | Licence by school size: NZ$99–249 + GST a month or NZ$990–2,490 + GST a year, every student included. Free 1-month pilot for 5 students | Free | School subscription (price list on their website) | – | – |
Based on publicly available information as at October 2026. Tahatū Career Navigator is run by the Tertiary Education Commission. Career Central and ChatGPT are trademarks of their owners. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@week-by-week.com.
One licence for your whole school.
From NZ$99 + GST a month
Your price depends on your Year 9–13 roll – S, M, L or XL – not on how many students join. Every student can join, staff accounts are unlimited and you're never billed for usage. Pay monthly by card and cancel any time, or yearly by invoice from NZ$990 + GST – a year for the price of 10 months. Free for students.
Size S incl. GST: NZ$113.85 a month or NZ$1,138.50 a year.
What this could look like for a student
Imagine Anna, a fictional sixteen-year-old from Nelson.
During a careers lesson, she joins Week by Week and talks about helping her nana. Every Wednesday, she cleans the kitchen. When she notices Nana isn't drinking much water, she puts a jug somewhere easy to reach.
To Anna, these are just things she does.
The AI coach helps her recognise the care, observation and reliability those experiences could show.
Nursing appears as one possible direction to explore. Anna's first step is to find two places that offer nursing training and note what she would need to get in.
At her next careers conversation, she can bring those questions to her adviser and decide what to explore further.
An example: one 16-year-old student over six weeks.
Follow Anna through her first six weeks with the AI coach: everyday wins that turn into skills, a step that slips during practice exams, a question she saves for her careers adviser and a direction she chooses herself. It shows what can happen between your careers sessions.
A use case: Anna is made up – every app screen is real. Illustrations and voice made with AI · 5:08 min
Transcript
I'm Anna. I'm sixteen, and I'm from Nelson. My story is made up, but the app you'll see is real. Everyone keeps asking me what I want to do after school. I always say, “Something with people, I guess.” Translation: no idea. What I don't mention is that I've been helping Nana every Wednesday for two years. Mostly cleaning her kitchen and keeping her company.
Last winter, I noticed she kept forgetting to drink. So I put a jug of water on her table. We started marking a little tick for every glass. She grumbled. Now she tries to beat her own score. Then our school started using Week by Week, an app with an AI coach. I thought it would tell me what job to do. It asked me about the things I already did. Like helping Nana. What did I actually enjoy about it? I hadn't really thought about that.
“I like noticing what would help,” I said. “And then doing something about it.” I'd never put it like that before. I told it about tennis, helping Nana, and a science result I was proud of. They showed up as little wins in the app. Then it helped me see the skills behind those things. Being reliable. Noticing when someone needs help. Sticking with something. And each skill had an example from my own life.
I'd never thought I had much to put on a CV. Turns out I had somewhere to start. Next morning on the bus, I looked at my career suggestions. Nursing was one of the options. The app showed how it connected with the things I'd told it, and what the training would involve. I'd never really pictured myself as a nurse. Now I wanted to find out more.
My first step was to compare two nursing courses and check their entry requirements. Chemistry and I aren't exactly friends. So I wrote down a question for our careers adviser. “Which subjects would keep nursing open for me?” The next Sunday, my cousins and I made a roster so Nana gets weekend visitors too.
At my weekly check-in, I added that as another win. The app helped me put a name to what I'd done. Organising people. Making a plan that actually works. Then practice exams hit. I was wrecked, and my next step didn't happen. I told the app and waited for the guilt trip. It suggested something smaller. Save one nursing course to look at after exams. That, I could do.
When our tennis coach got sick, I helped run the junior session. Twelve kids. I managed. Nobody cried. I logged it as a win, and the app helped me recognise another skill: leading a group. I asked what that might mean for my career options. Nursing still interested me. But now I could see another possibility for later. Leading a nursing team.
Turns out I like getting people organised, too. Sue next door is a charge nurse. The app helped me draft a message asking if I could ask her a few questions about nursing. I checked it and sent it myself. Her first piece of advice? “Get good at nursing first. Managing can come later.” That made sense.
Then I looked at a local care job in the app. It listed first aid as one of the requirements. I didn't have that yet. I tapped “Work on skill” and made a first aid course my next step. That weekend, I was practising CPR on a dummy called Gary. Gary made it. Through Connect, I also found three other tennis players at school. We use nicknames, and messaging has safety checks built in.
Now we play doubles at lunch. I'm the worst. Don't care. Last Wednesday, Nana asked me too. “So, what do you want to do after school?” “Nursing,” I said. “I'd like to start on the wards. And one day, maybe, lead a team.” Nana smiled. “Well, you've been practising on me for two years.” I haven't got my life sorted. The app never promised I would. But this direction feels like mine. I picked it myself.
And for the parents watching: my school provides access, so there's no cost to me. I signed up with a nickname, without giving my real name or email. I choose my goals and agree to my next steps. And when life gets busy, I can take things at my own pace.
A useful starting point for your careers conversations
Week by Week gives students space to think between appointments, notice their strengths and try something manageable.
Your careers team brings the personal knowledge, judgement and support that an app cannot provide.
Start with a small group and see how it fits your programme—and whether it helps students arrive with more to talk about.
Try it with a small group
The free pilot gives five students access for one month, with no card required.
The month starts when the first student logs in, and the pilot ends automatically. If you choose a school licence afterwards, their accounts and saved work carry over.
Monthly licences are paid by card and can be cancelled at any time. Yearly licences are paid by invoice, with a purchase order number if your school uses one. The licence year runs to 31 January.
If a school licence ends, AI features and editing pause. Students retain access to read their work for the period explained in the school agreement.
What you'll want to know.
How long does it take to set up?
About five minutes on your side. We set up your school's account within 1–2 working days and send you a staff link. You create a join code, print the QR poster or share the link, and each student joins in about two minutes.
What can staff see?
Each student's nickname, age, year level, when they joined, when they were last active and how many AI credits they've used this week – plus totals for your school. Staff see nicknames, not names, and the dashboard doesn't show what students write. This is deliberate: students are more honest when they know their answers are private.
If I can't see their answers, how do I know who to follow up?
You see nicknames, not names, so you may not know who is behind a nickname unless the student tells you. The dashboard shows how many students have joined and how active they are. To follow up, invite students to share their nickname or what they've found with you – for example in a careers interview. It's their choice.
Do students need an email address or a school login?
No. Students join with your school's code. They choose a nickname, tell us their age and pick a username and password to log in. Instead of an email address they get a recovery code to reset their password – and staff can set a temporary password for them in the school dashboard. The temporary password works for 24 hours and opens the student's account. The student sees the reset in the app.
How much class time does it need?
Plan one lesson for the first session, so students can join and start their first conversation together. After that, the weekly check-in and next step can fit into form time or students' own time. Week by Week opens up step by step, so nobody has to do everything in one go.
Does it replace careers interviews?
No. It's an AI coach that works between your sessions, not instead of them. Students arrive having thought about what they enjoy and which paths fit, and they choose what to show you. Your careers programme stays at the centre.
Will it steer students towards university?
No. The AI coach is built not to assume university – or starting a business. It suggests paths that fit what drives each student, which might mean an apprenticeship, training, work or study, and the student decides what to explore. If a student says they'd like their own business one day, their paths show that route too.
What does it cost?
One licence for your whole school, set by your Year 9–13 roll: from NZ$99 + GST a month (roll up to 400) to NZ$249 + GST (roll 1,101 or more). Or pay yearly – from NZ$990 + GST to NZ$2,490 + GST – a year for the price of 10 months. We take your roll from your latest roll return to the Ministry of Education, tell you which figure we used and review it at each yearly renewal; for composite and area schools, we agree the size with you. Every student can join and staff accounts are unlimited. There's no charge per student and you're never billed for usage: the licence includes a shared pool of AI credits, and if you need more, you can add 5,000 credits (about 20 more students) for NZ$200 + GST. It's free for students. See pricing for all four sizes.
Can we pay by invoice or purchase order?
Yes, with the yearly licence. When you request it, you give us your accounts team's billing email and your PO number, if you use one. We email the invoice there, and you have 20 days to pay – by card on the invoice page or by bank transfer. Next year's invoice comes with our reminder in late November and is due by 31 January. The monthly licence is paid by card and you can cancel it any time. Want to switch from monthly to yearly? Get in touch and we'll arrange it.
Can we see a demo first?
Yes. Try the AI coach yourself right now: no sign-up, an empty trial account for 24 hours with 30 AI credits (web research isn't included). The demo is for ages 16 and up. For a walkthrough with us, get in touch and we'll find a time that suits you. Or start the free pilot with 5 students for a month and see how they use it.
What happens when our licence ends?
AI features and editing pause, but students can still log in and read everything for at least 120 days – so if your school stops at the end of the school year, they can read their work until at least 31 March. If you start a new licence, everyone carries on where they left off. Students who want to keep going on their own can choose a personal plan: their account then moves out of your school, you no longer see it, and their work stays with them. Students under 16 need a parent's or caregiver's OK before the plan can start. If a student doesn't choose a plan, their account and content are deleted 12 months after your school stops using Week by Week, unless you or the student delete them earlier.
What about students under 16?
Through a school, Week by Week is for ages 13 and up. Because students join under a nickname, there's very little personal information involved – but we recommend you let parents and caregivers know your school is using it. We can give you a short template letter.
What if a student is in crisis?
Week by Week is an AI careers coach, not a counselling service. Nobody watches conversations live, and it doesn't alert school staff. Automated checks look for signs of crisis in much of what students write, and they can miss things. If one fires, the student sees where to get help, such as 1737. In chat, the AI coach also gently raises it and points to a trusted adult such as your school counsellor. “Need help now?” is always in the menu. Please make sure students know who to talk to at school.
Where is the data stored?
Week by Week runs on Cloudflare's global network. AI replies are generated by Anthropic (Claude) in the United States. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, student conversations aren't used to train their models. Voice typing is optional. If a student uses it, the browser's own speech service turns their voice into text. The audio goes to the browser's maker, for example Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Edge) or Apple (Safari). Week by Week only gets the text. Details are in our privacy policy.
How does it fit with Tahatū and our careers programme?
It complements them. Tahatū is the government's free careers website with job information and tools; Week by Week adds a personal, ongoing conversation with an AI coach that turns a student's own experience into career paths and weekly steps. Students can look up the jobs from their paths on Tahatū and bring their ideas to careers interviews.
Does it work on phones and Chromebooks?
Yes – it runs in any modern browser. Nothing to install.
Can students contact each other?
Yes, if they choose to. Connect lets students find others who share an interest – by default only from their own school, and only within their age group (13–15, 16–17 or 18–30). They only see nicknames, and every message is checked by the AI for inappropriate content before it's sent – under-18s can't share phone numbers, addresses or social media names. Automated checks can miss things, so students can block and report anyone at any time; reports go to the Week by Week team. Connect is part of Week by Week for every student and schools can't switch it off – but nobody has to use it.