OUR MANIFESTO

We seek to uplift job seekers in their careers and help them fulfill their hopes, ambitions and livelihoods. Here are ten beliefs that drive us to do what we do.

Your next job matters.

You shouldn't settle for less than you're capable of, because your next job can accelerate or hold back your career more than you think. Everything from rate of promotion to how much money you'll make increases or decreases exponentially depending on how and where you go next.

Everyone should have a chance, no matter which school they attended, what area they're from or how much money they have.

Incredible people come from everywhere. Given the opportunity and some guidance, we believe people can do amazing things. A service that helps people unlock their true potential should be accessible to everyone in price and availability.

Advancing your career shouldn't be a chicken and egg problem.

We believe that past work, not credentials, prepare people for the real world. We help people frame their work in the right way to advance their career rather than get pigeonholed in where they were before.

Applying alone rarely ever works. Networking is essential.

Regardless of who you are or who you know, we believe that networks can be built from scratch. Learning how to do this and how networking can help propel your career shouldn't be regarded as rocket science. It should be and can be consistently taught and encouraged.

The interview process is a winnable game.

People aren't naturally gifted at interviewing well. This is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced because it's the first impression you give someone. It even leads to better communication in the workplace. While it might not be an exact science, there are plenty of well-defined patterns that can 10x your chances of crushing an interview.

Effective career services must be both deeply personal and powered by technology.

Using technology, career services can be personalized on a 1:1 scale yet also be equally effective for an entire student population. By learning from collective data, launching your career can become data-driven rather than an unsolvable mystery.

Anxiety is an inevitable part of the job seeking process. Career services should address that anxiety and help you build confidence.

It can be terrifying, confusing and lonely to figure out what you want to do, how to do it and where to start. Career services today don't address any of the anxiety that comes as a part of the job seeking process, but it should be one of their top priorities.

Career services actually work when everyone involved has aligned incentives.

Going to college, getting into debt and still being unhappy with your career isn't a plan for success, yet it's today's harsh reality. It's nearly impossible for a counselor to help hundreds or thousands of university students at a time and still be effective, but what if career services were actually goaled on the success of their students?

When everyone pays it forward, the entire community wins.

When mentees become mentors, a positive loop occurs again and again, helping the next generation of job seekers and the generation after them. Our fellows pay it forward and become mentors for other aspiring tech professionals after they've succeeded.

There's more to your life than your career.

Today, we're told to work so hard that sometimes we ignore life, family and friends. Though Pathrise is all about your career, we still believe that it's equally as important for your career to be in sync with your life goals; a happy balance of everything you value.