Problem 🔎
Too many of us are stuck in jobs misaligned with our career goals, with no idea how to pivot. It’s not that we can’t figure it out — it’s just too much work. Not only do we have to research & craft our career strategy, but we also have to figure out which skills we’re missing and actually build them (via courses & projects). It’s an incredibly manual & obscure process most of us simply don’t have the time & mental energy to manage. 😩
This has major consequences both at the individual and societal level. Individuals are constrained from unleashing their true potential, negatively impacting their success & happiness. For society, this reflects a severely under-performing human capital system in both allocation & output. In fact, around 25% of the workforce (according to a study by LinkedIn Learning) have reported having no sense of career path and are stuck in that state. 😨
Having gone through this incredibly arduous process myself (and helping those around me), I know of the huge toll it can have on one’s life. My own pivot from consulting to product analytics took over a year, consisting of online courses, self-teaching, and side-projects. Though it somehow worked out okay, the process definitely could’ve been way shorter & less painful.
Solution 💡
Currently, the career development process is very primitive, with resources limited to generic career guides & quizzes. Consequently, we end up doing an insane amount of manual research (on the same things! 🤯) to craft our career strategy and use generic to-do lists/spreadsheets to track progress. This imposes huge behavioral barriers, leading most to procrastinate and drop off.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we each had a “career coach” who does all the research & planning, and just “shows us the way”? 🤔
That’s exactly what we’re building with PathBase, an AI career coach that ensures you take the best possible steps towards your dream career. It identifies the top skills you should focus on, recommends the best ways to improve, and tracks your progress throughout the entire journey.
PathBase combines job market data with machine learning to generate a series of concrete, actionable steps consisting of top learning resources on the web (courses, articles, books, etc.) and guided projects — so you can focus on actually building your dream career. 🚀
As you progress in your journey, you can visualize your progress & key career insights via a powerful dashboard (just like a personal finance app 💰).
Pretty exciting, huh? And that’s just the beginning! 😆
Vision 🔮
Our mission is to optimize the global workforce — help every professional build powerful careers by getting the most out of their experiences, no matter where they are.
We split this vision into 3 phases, each unlocking powerful insights & opportunities to boost your career journey.
Phase 1: Core Journey🧙♂️
We envision a game-like experience (think “World of Warcraft” 🏹) where every professional can design & iterate their unique skillset (just like a startup). They would complete courses & projects to “level up” skills, get rewards, and unlock more advanced projects aligned to their goals. The result is a continuous, guided journey that equips you with the resources you need at every step. 🐾
This is where we are today, closely working with early users & iterating furiously to build the best career-building experience ever! 🔥
Phase 2: Workplace Integration 🧩
Things will get even more exciting once we integrate with workplaces, ensuring you get the most out of the resources, projects, and job opportunities at your company. The goal here is to best mold your employee experience to fit your career goals.
Companies will also benefit tremendously from the platform, as they can assess their organizational skill gaps. More importantly, they can co-optimize their employee experience so it helps employees’ career goals while also filling the company’s critical skill gaps. 📊
Phase 3: People-to-People 🤝
Once a significant volume of users uses the platform to build their careers, we’ll be able to facilitate connections that help further each professional’s career goals.
Though still in the design phase, here’s what we’re thinking:
- Communities around common career paths/goals/industries.
- Matching people for project opportunities (at work & on the side).
- Connecting people with mentors with the same career goals.
Closing Thoughts
Building dream careers should be a fun & exciting journey, not the manual, crappy process it is today that leaves tens of millions stuck. This is a problem I’m genuinely angry about and very serious about solving. 👿
Start your next big career move by trying out the app and sharing it with your family/friends/coworkers who may find this useful! 🚀
You can also find us on ProductHunt, Facebook, and Medium.
Update: I’ve temporarily closed new user signups as I’m making significant improvements to the app. Sign up to our waitlist and you’ll be the first to know once the updates are ready! 😊
