Pathfinder
How the system works
Pathfinder asks a person a set of questions, turns the answers into a profile, and ranks real career paths against that profile. The same engine sits under all three modules — what changes is who is being assessed and who is allowed to read the result.
School module
The school module lets you run the career assessment across a class, then read the results as a group and as individual learners.
Your first five minutes
A brand-new account has no data in it yet. Do these, in this order.
- 01Open the Classes tab. A brand-new account has no classes, so the screen is the create form — type a name and press Create class.
- 02Name it whatever you call it on a timetable, such as Grade 9A — 2026.
- 03The class appears with an eight-character access code, a join link and a QR code, all issued straight away.
- 04Share whichever suits the room: project the code, print the QR, or paste the link into a class group.
- 05Press Preview the assessment if you want to see exactly what the learners will be asked before they sit it.
The main job, in order
- 01
Create a class
Classes tab, then Create class. A class is simply how learners reach the assessment — there is nothing else to configure. Creating one issues its access code and join link immediately.
- 02
Share the access code or the join link
Every class panel shows an eight-character access code, a join link, and a QR code you can project or print. All three lead to the same place. Each has a Copy button.
- 03
Learners register themselves
A learner opens the link or types the code and fills in their own details: first name, last name, and optionally a student number. Learners do not need an email address and do not need an account. A parent or guardian name and email are captured, and consent must be ticked before the assessment will start.
- 04
They sit the assessment
The school assessment is 48 questions covering eight areas of thinking. It is thorough rather than quick, and it saves as it goes.
- 05
Read the class results
Results appear within seconds of a learner finishing. The Results tab shows the picture across your classes; the Class results and learner reports button on a class panel opens that one class in full.
- 06
Open a learner report
On the class results screen, click any learner to expand their scores across all eight areas. The PDF button on the same row downloads their full report.
What each screen and each number means
- Classes
- How many classes exist on this account.
- Learners registered
- Everyone who has signed up through a class code, added across all your classes. Registering is not the same as finishing — a learner counts here the moment they join.
- Recent completions, and why it can read "10+"
- This screen loads only the ten most recent completions, so ten is as high as the plain number can go. When it shows 10+ it means ten or more have come back and you are seeing the latest ten, not that exactly ten exist. It is a recent-activity figure, not a lifetime total.
- The banner about empty classes
- A class nobody has registered into will never return results. The banner counts those classes and takes you straight to the first one so you can share its code.
- Where the last completions landed
- The career areas your recent finishers pointed at, most common first, with a bar for how many of them landed there.
- Recent completions list
- The latest ten finishers, newest first, with each learner's result and score. Clicking a row opens that learner's class.
- How the class is spread
- One bar split into three groups — 70 and above, 50 to 69, and under 50. An average on its own hides whether a class is even or split in two; this is the answer that average cannot give you.
- Cognitive branches, strongest first
- The class average in each of the eight areas, ranked so the top of the list is what this class is collectively best at.
- CAPS subject streams
- How many learners each recommended subject stream applies to, with the share as a percentage. This is the finding turned into the decision actually in front of a Grade 9 learner.
- The score out of 100
- A weighted combination of aptitude and interest — 70% aptitude, 30% interest. It is the same figure that appears in that learner's PDF report, so the dashboard and the report never disagree.
- Individual results
- Every learner who has finished. Click a row to open their scores across all eight areas. The PDF button is on the row itself, not hidden inside it.
If something looks wrong
- Nothing has come back yet, and it has been a while.
- Check the access code has actually been shared, and that the class you are looking at is the one you gave out. The Classes tab shows a learner count under every class name — if it reads "no learners yet", nobody has registered against that code.
- A class says it has no access code.
- Learners cannot reach the assessment without one. Create a replacement class, or contact support to have a code issued.
- A learner's row says "Result pending".
- They registered and started but their result has not been scored yet. If it stays that way, ask them to open the link again and finish the assessment — it saves as it goes, so they will not start over.
- The QR code will not scan.
- Project or print it larger, and leave the white margin around it in place. That margin is what a camera uses to find the code.
- The dashboard says your school is not configured.
- Classes, codes and reports all hang off a school record. The screen carries the address to email to have yours activated.
Business module
The business module screens people for a job before anyone reads a CV, and shows how a candidate would sit alongside a team you already have.
Your first five minutes
A brand-new account has no data in it yet. Do these, in this order.
- 01Press New role. It opens the Roles tab with the form already showing.
- 02Give the role a title, and one line of description that the candidate will see.
- 03Choose the assessment type: Recruitment screening for people applying from outside, or Employee career path for staff you already have.
- 04For a recruitment role, pick a role category — Balanced asks all 20 questions, and any specific category trims it to the 15 that tell you most about that kind of work.
- 05Press Create role. You get a candidate link, a QR code and an access code. Share the link and completed assessments arrive in the Pipeline, scored and ranked.
The main job, in order
- 01
Create a role
A role is the container for one screening link, one ideal profile, and everyone who applies to it. Each role gets its own link, so you always know which job a result belongs to.
- 02
Set the ideal profile
On the role card, press Set ideal profile. Five sliders describe where this job actually sits. This step is optional, but without it candidates are scored on general career fit rather than on fit to this specific job.
- 03
Share the candidate link
Each role card carries its own link, QR code and access code, with a Copy link button. Candidates answer before submitting a CV, which is what makes it a fair, bias-reduced first step.
- 04
Work the Pipeline
Completed assessments land in the Pipeline tab, ranked. Search by name, sort by Fit or by Recent, and switch between Everyone and Shortlist. Every row spells out its suggested next step.
- 05
Open a candidate
Click a row and the full profile opens beside the list: their behaviour across five areas, how they score against every team you have built, interview questions generated from their own answers, and the recruiter dossier.
- 06
Shortlist, compare, and interview
The bookmark on a row adds someone to the shortlist. Compare puts two candidates side by side. When you are ready, Export shortlist in the Insights tab downloads the people you have marked.
What each tab is for
- Pipeline
- Everyone who has completed an assessment, ranked, with the candidate detail panel beside the list. This is where hiring decisions actually get made.
- Team Fit
- Build a team from people you have already screened. The matrix works out that team's average behaviour, and any other candidate can then be measured against it.
- Roles
- Create roles, copy candidate links, and set each role's ideal profile.
- Employees
- For staff you already have, rather than applicants. Shows their profile, the growth paths already open to them, and the gap to where they want to go.
- Insights
- The picture across everyone: how your people are spread on each dimension, where candidates land, and the shortlist export.
What each number means
- Candidates
- Completed assessments across your live roles. The line underneath tells you how many roles are live.
- Awaiting a decision
- People who have finished but have not been shortlisted yet. This is your actual to-do list, which is why it is the one figure that changes colour when it is not zero.
- Shortlisted
- People you have marked as ready to interview.
- Average fit
- The average fit score across every completed assessment, with a count of how many sit above 70%.
- Strong fit, Moderate fit, Low fit
- The three bands a score falls into: 70 and above is a strong fit, 50 to 69 is moderate, below 50 is low.
- Role fit against career fit
- A row is labelled with which one it is showing. Role fit is the distance from that role's ideal profile, and only exists once you have set one. Career fit is the general result. The sort, the averages and the row all use the same number, so the list is never out of order.
- Next
- A suggested next step, worked out from the only two facts on the record — whether they are shortlisted and how they scored. It is a suggestion, which is why it says so.
- Synergy
- How close a candidate sits to a team's average behaviour profile. High means they fit the existing shape of the team.
- Contrast points
- The specific areas where a candidate sits furthest from the team average. Read these as the reason to hire them, or the reason not to — a team of identical people has no contrast at all.
- Overall suitability
- A single figure for a screening candidate, alongside the detail that produced it.
- Targeted interview questions
- Questions generated from that candidate's own answers, to ask in the live interview.
- Gap-based interview questions
- Questions raised where a candidate sits more than 15 points away from the role's ideal profile. They only appear once an ideal profile has been set.
- Strengths and watch points
- What the answers support, and what to probe. Watch points are prompts for a conversation, not verdicts.
The two assessment types
Recruitment screening is 20 questions about how someone would handle real situations at work. It is for external candidates, and it is the one to use for hiring.
Employee career path is 30 questions that place an existing staff member on the same five dimensions as the individual module, and surfaces the paths already open to them. It is for development conversations, not for screening.
Choosing a role category on a recruitment role trims the set from 20 questions to the 15 that best separate people for that kind of work. Balanced keeps all 20.
If something looks wrong
- No completed assessments yet.
- Every role has its own link, and results only arrive once that link has been shared and used. Go to Roles and copy a link — or create the first role if there are none.
- Compare is greyed out on a candidate.
- Compare works on career-vector assessments, not on recruitment screening results. You can also only compare two people at a time.
- Export shortlist will not click.
- There is nothing to export until you have shortlisted someone. Bookmark at least one candidate in the Pipeline first.
- Team Fit says no teams have members yet.
- A team needs members before anyone can be measured against it. Build one from your screened candidates, and every profile after that gets scored against it automatically.
- A candidate shows career fit when you expected role fit.
- That role has no ideal profile yet. Open the role card and press Set ideal profile — scores and gap-based interview questions both come from it.
- The list looks short.
- The Pipeline loads in batches. If a Load 50 more button is at the bottom, there are more behind it. Clearing the search box and switching back to Everyone also brings back anything a filter is hiding.
- The account says it is pending.
- The screen carries the address to email to have the account activated.
Individual module
The individual module tells one person which career paths fit them, and gives them a dated plan for the next ninety days.
Your first five minutes
A brand-new account has no data in it yet. Do these, in this order.
- 01A new account is empty on purpose — there is exactly one thing to do, and the screen is that one thing.
- 02Press Begin assessment.
- 03Answer the questions honestly rather than as you think you should. There are no right answers, and the result is only useful if it describes you.
- 04When you finish, the dashboard fills in: your top match, your profile, the full ranking, a 90-day plan and matching jobs.
- 05Start with the Career Map tab, then open the 90-Day Roadmap and tick the first item.
The main job, in order
- 01
Take the assessment
30 questions — sliders, visual choices and scenarios. It is thorough, and everything on the dashboard comes from that one sitting.
- 02
Read your primary match
The top of the dashboard names the career area closest to your profile, the subject stream it belongs to, and what the work actually involves.
- 03
Look at the whole ranking
The Career Map tab ranks all 20 career areas. The first six are shown; the rest are one click away. There is no cut-off — this is the entire result, not a selected highlight.
- 04
Work the 90-day roadmap
Three phases: Explore and validate, Build foundational skills, then Apply and launch. Tick items off as you do them; progress saves to your account and is still there next time.
- 05
Check the jobs
The Jobs tab shows open roles in your top career area only, so it is not a general job board. Every listing links out to the original posting.
- 06
Download the report, and come back
Download report gives you the whole result as a PDF. Retake assessment runs it again later — once you have sat it more than once, the Career Map gains a Profile evolution section showing how you have moved.
What each screen and each number means
- The big percentage, labelled profile proximity
- This is a distance, not a grade. It says how close your profile sits to that career area's profile. 100% would mean an exact overlap and nobody scores that, so the gap is not a mark against you — it is where your development sits. A 70% is not a C.
- Five dimensions
- The radar and the list beside it are the same five numbers, shown twice. The list is the readable version; each dimension runs between two ends, and sitting near either end is a description, not a score.
- CAPS subjects
- The school subjects that keep this path open. For a learner still choosing subjects, this is the most useful thing on the page.
- Archetype blend
- Your top three matches expressed as shares of each other. It answers how strongly the first one leads — three close numbers mean a genuinely blended profile.
- Skills to develop
- What this path asks for that you would need to build. The 90-day roadmap is generated partly from this list.
- SA demand
- How much hiring is happening in this area in South Africa.
- 90-day roadmap counter
- How many actions you have ticked, out of the total for your current top match. Retaking the assessment can change your top match, and the roadmap is rebuilt with it.
- Assessments
- How many times you have completed it, and the date of the most recent one.
- Stretch paths
- Ranks two to four from your ranking, with what each involves. They sit next to your primary match rather than in a different direction, so the same work carries over to them.
- Profile evolution
- Your five dimensions across every sitting, oldest to newest. Movement is normal. The direction means something; the size of any single step does not.
- Live via Adzuna, or Seed listings
- Whether the jobs shown came from the live feed or from the built-in sample set. Refresh asks the live feed again.
The five dimensions, in plain terms
Every career result is built from these five. Neither end of any of them is better than the other — they describe the kind of work that suits someone.
- Analytical to Creative
- Whether someone reaches for logic and evidence first, or for invention and new angles first. Neither end is better.
- Systems to People
- Whether the work that suits them is built around things and processes, or around other people.
- Structured to Flexible
- Whether they do their best work to a clear plan, or when conditions keep changing.
- Achievement to Meaning
- Whether they are driven more by results and progress, or by work that matters to them.
- Technical to Expressive
- Whether they lean toward precision and craft, or toward expression and communication.
If something looks wrong
- The dashboard is empty.
- You have not completed the assessment yet. The screen has one button; press it.
- The result does not sound like you.
- Look at the full ranking rather than the top row alone. If two or three sit close together, your profile is genuinely blended and any of them fits. If it still reads wrong, retake it — answering as you think you should rather than as you are is the usual cause.
- No jobs are showing.
- The list is filtered to your top career area only, so it is often short and sometimes empty. Press Refresh to ask the live feed again, and work the roadmap in the meantime.
- Roadmap progress looks wrong.
- The roadmap is built from your current top match. If you retook the assessment and your top match changed, the plan was rebuilt to match and the count is against the new one.
- The report will not download.
- The PDF is built in your browser and takes a moment on a slow device. Wait for the button to stop saying it is generating before pressing it again.
Signed in already? The same guide for whichever module you are on opens from the Guide button in the dashboard header, so you do not have to leave the screen you are asking about.