🛠️ The Platform

🧠 1. Career Blindness

"I didn't know that was even a job."

• Most students and job seekers — especially from underserved communities — have limited exposure to career options beyond what's modeled at home or school
• You're solving this by showing career ladders, credential pathways, and pay progression in a visual, swipeable format.

🧭 2. Credential Confusion

"Do I need a degree for that? What kind? From where?"

• Many don't know which credentials are required, preferred, or stackable
• You're solving this by mapping roles to the CTDL schema, showing issuer, expiration, and upgrade logic
• You're also exposing non-degree pathways like bootcamps, microcredentials, and licenses

💸 3. Economic Gatekeeping

"I can't afford to guess wrong."

• Students from low-income backgrounds can't afford trial-and-error career moves
• You're solving this by showing cost-to-upgrade, employer-paid tuition, and credential ROI
• You're also surfacing grant-funded roles, paid apprenticeships, and upskilling stipends

🧾 4. Résumé Bias & Hiring Inequity

"I have the skills, but I don't have the résumé."

• Traditional hiring filters out nontraditional talent — freelancers, caregivers, career switchers
• You're solving this with résumé-free, credential-first matching, badge overlays, and contributor logic
• You're also reducing bias with rubric-based scoring and async interview flows

🧪 5. Compliance & Traceability Gaps

"We need audit-ready contributors, not just applicants."

• Employers in regulated sectors need verified credentials, clearance logic, and contributor documentation
• You're solving this by embedding schema-linked intake, license tracking, and security clearance filters

🧠 6. Lack of Strategic Career Guidance

"I don't know what to study, or why."

• Many students choose majors without understanding career outcomes
• You're solving this by showing credential-to-role logic, pay progression, and advancement pathways
• You're also helping users see how one credential unlocks multiple roles, not just one job

🧭 Founder Strategy

We're not just building a platform — we're building a career GPS for the credential economy.