Why Career Compass?

Career Compass is the tool I wish I had years ago when trying to figure out how to communicate my career goals. As someone with a diverse background, I've always struggled to find the right words to turn my varied skills, experiences, and interests into a compelling career story. Career Compass won't give you the perfect answer, but it will help you take that crucial first step in articulating your career aspirations. Career Compass combines proven methodologies from "Never Search Alone" by Phyl Terry and "The 2-Hour Job Search" by Steve Dalton. After completing Career Compass, I highly recommend reading both books to continue your career journey with even more tools and strategies.

"Never Search Alone"
by Phyl Terry

"Never Search Alone" is all about bringing community and support into what can be an isolating job search experience. Many of the background questions in Career Compass are inspired by the Mnookin Two-Pager exercise from this book. The core idea that candidates should iteratively refine their must-haves, preferences, and career goals through thoughtful questions until they form a cohesive statement comes directly from "Never Search Alone".

  • Mnookin Two-Pager Exercise: Structured self-reflection on your background and experiences
  • Iterative Refinement: Continuously refining your must-haves and preferences through guided questions
  • Community Support: Building connections to combat job search isolation
  • Cohesive Statement: Synthesizing your responses into a clear career narrative

Key insight: The iterative process of refining your career story helps you communicate your value more effectively to potential employers.

"The 2-Hour Job Search"
by Steve Dalton

"The 2-Hour Job Search" provides candidates with a practical, actionable, and efficient job search process. The recommended roles, companies, and industries you'll receive from Career Compass are designed to help you create your own LAMP (List, Advocacy, Motivation, and Posting) list and identify key terminology for filtering searches on platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed.

  • LAMP List Creation: Building your List, Advocacy, Motivation, and Posting strategy
  • Targeted Search Terms: Using specific terminology to filter job platforms effectively
  • Efficient Process: Streamlined approach to maximize job search productivity
  • Platform Optimization: Leveraging LinkedIn and Indeed with strategic keywords

Key insight: Career Compass recommendations provide the foundation for creating your personalized LAMP list and identifying the right search terms for your target roles.

Who is Career Compass for?

Career Compass works best for job seekers who aren't locked into hyper-specific industries or companies. For example, if you just graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and want to apply your skills but aren't sure which role, company, or industry to target, Career Compass is perfect for you. However, if you just graduated from law school and are specifically looking for law firms, Career Compass might not be the ideal tool. This is largely due to the general knowledge base of current AI models.

  • Generalist Focus: Best for candidates with diverse backgrounds and transferable skills
  • Broad Industry Coverage: Effective across multiple sectors and role types
  • AI-Powered Analysis: Leveraging Claude 3.5 Sonnet for intelligent career matching
  • Flexible Recommendations: Adaptable to various career transition scenarios

Perfect for: Recent graduates, career changers, and professionals exploring new directions who need help articulating their diverse skill sets.

Technology Stack

Frontend & Framework

  • Next.js 15 - React framework with App Router
  • React 18 - Component-based UI library
  • TypeScript - Type-safe JavaScript development
  • Tailwind CSS - Utility-first styling framework
  • Cursor AI - AI-powered code editor

AI & Backend

  • Claude 3.5 Sonnet - Anthropic's advanced AI model
  • Vercel - Serverless deployment platform
  • Puppeteer - PDF generation and automation
  • MarkdownIt - Markdown parsing and rendering
  • Node.js - Server-side JavaScript runtime

Development & Quality

  • ESLint - Code linting and quality assurance
  • Prettier - Code formatting
  • VS Code - Development environment
  • Git & GitHub - Version control and collaboration
  • React Hook Form - Form state management
  • Error Boundaries - Graceful error handling
  • Responsive Design - Mobile-first approach
  • MIT License - Open source licensing

Built with evidence-based methodologies • Powered by AI •Career Compass