University of Maryland students

University of Maryland Students Develop An AI Tool That Has Transformed Job Interview Preparation

Job interviews are already nerve‑wracking, and now AI has become part of many hiring manager’s toolkits. In fact, a World Economic Forum report found that nearly 88% of employers use some form of AI to screen candidates before a human ever sees their resume, and many employers use AI beyond this for the hiring process.

USING AI TO PRACTICE INTERVIEWING

If AI is reshaping how employers hire, then students should also harness the same technology to prepare for their interviews.

This was the idea behind building STRATPATH AI – a platform designed to support students by giving them a realistic space to practice interviews, strengthen their interview skills, and receive instant and personalized interview feedback.

STRATPATH AI was created by graduate students at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, under the guidance of professor Nicole Coomber. The team included recent MSIS graduates Krishang Parakh, Aditya Kamath, Deep Dalsaniya, and Venkatesh Shirbhate, along with MBA alum Anna Huertazuela.

For the student developers, the journey has been intense but rewarding. “All of us on the team graduated from the master’s program and have learned so much side by side as we’ve begun implementing STRATPATH across multiple courses,” says Parakh. “There have been sleepless nights, and as we’re all actively looking for jobs, we’ve had to manage everything together. It’s been an exciting journey.”

The AI even simulates the pressure of interviews at consulting giants like Bain and McKinsey, complete with vetted follow‑up questions.

A MULTI-PURPOSE TOOL

Coomber says the tool actually serves a few purposes. The tool gives students a way to practice interviews in a realistic format, scoring them on creativity, communication, and critical thinking, while giving them personalized feedback almost instantly.

STRATPATH also allows students to practice their analytical framework and helps professors grade case studies quickly and efficiently.

“I was able to cut down my grading time from eight to 10 minutes per paper to about two minutes,” Coomber shares. “We trained the platform to grade it more comprehensively than I could even do, and students have really actionable feedback that would allow them to improve their skills.”

Already, more than 200 students across four classes at Smith have used STRATPATH, and they hope to have about 1,000 users by the end of this year. The team hopes that one day, their platform will grow into the leading experiential learning marketplace for students, faculty, and hiring managers.

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