How matching works
We match on what you are interested in, not on who is free.
You tell us the job you are aiming at and what is stuck. Our matching algorithm scores every available mentor against that, AI reads what you wrote in your own words, and a person signs the match off before your 30-minute session is booked.
What we match on
Six signals, weighted in this order.
01
Your interests and goal
The single thing you want to walk away with. A career change, a first job in tech, a promotion case, a move abroad. This carries the most weight of anything we look at.
02
Industry and role
The field you are heading into and the kind of role you want, matched against where a mentor actually works today rather than a job title from five years ago.
03
Stage of career
A student, a first jobber, a returner and a mid-career manager need different mentors. We match the gap between where you are and where the mentor has been.
04
Country, city and language
Local hiring norms matter. We look at your country and city, the language you want to talk in, and whether the mentor knows that market or the one you are moving to.
05
Time zone and availability
A perfect mentor you can never meet is not a match. Overlapping hours are part of the score, not an afterthought at booking.
06
Safeguarding requirements
If you are 16 to 18, only mentors with consent on file and a current enhanced DBS check or the local equivalent can be scored at all.
The process
From your question to a mentor, step by step.
01You answer a short set of questions
Five minutes, in your own words. No CV upload, no long form. The last question is the one that does the work: what do you want to be different after half an hour?
02AI reads what you wrote
Free text is turned into structured interests: the industry, the role, the skill and the blocker. It picks up that “I keep freezing in interviews for finance grad schemes” is an interview confidence request in financial services, not a generic career chat.
03The algorithm scores every eligible mentor
Each mentor available in your window gets a score across the six signals, with your stated interest weighted highest. Anyone who fails a safeguarding or availability rule is removed before scoring, not after.
04A person checks the shortlist
Our team looks at the top matches and confirms the one that makes sense. This is where judgement beats maths: a mentor who changed career the same way you are about to may outrank a closer job-title match.
05The session is booked and briefed
Your mentor gets your question before the call, so the 30 minutes start on the problem instead of on introductions.
06The result trains the next match
You rate whether the session hit the thing you asked about. Those ratings tune the weights, so matching gets sharper the more sessions the network runs.
INSIDE A MATCH
What happens between your question and your mentor.
Showing step 01 / 06 · Read
Swipe the cards, or use the arrow keys.
Where the line sits
What the algorithm decides, and what we do.
The technology narrows thousands of possible pairings down to a handful in seconds. Choosing between that handful, and standing behind the choice, stays with people.
- AI helps read and rank. It never books a session on its own
- A human confirms every match before anyone meets
- Interests outweigh convenience: we would rather wait a few days than match you badly
- No mentor pays to appear higher, and no mentee pays to be introduced
- Under-18 matches are blocked until consent and checks are on file
- You can ask for a different mentor, no explanation needed
The benefits of matching this way.
Interest-first matching decides whether half an hour is useful or wasted. This is what it changes for the people on both sides of the call.
- 01You get a mentor who has done the job you are aiming at, not whoever had a free slot
- 02The mentor arrives already knowing your question, so the 30 minutes go on the answer
- 03Cross-border matching means your options are not limited to your own city or employer
- 04A person confirms every match, so a bad fit is caught before you are in the room
- 05Feedback after each session tunes the next match, so the network gets sharper over time
- 06Safeguarding rules are applied to the match itself, before anyone is introduced
Common questions
How long does matching take?
Most people are matched within a few days. If your interest is narrow, we would rather take a little longer and get the right person than send you to whoever is free tonight.
Does AI pick my mentor?
No. AI reads your question and helps rank mentors against it. A person confirms the final match before anything is booked.
What if the match is wrong?
Tell us and we will match you again. You do not need to give a reason, and it costs nothing.
Can I ask for a specific industry, city or language?
Yes. Those are part of the questions at the start and are scored directly, so say exactly what you want.
What does my mentor see about me?
Your first name, the question you asked and the context needed to prepare. Nothing more than that.
How does matching work for employers and universities?
The same engine runs behind cohort programmes, matched across your group with reporting on who was reached and on what topic.
Tell us what you are aiming at and we will find the mentor.
Get matched