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How consuliq works

A plain-language explanation of how we score careers, classify your career profile, and where our data comes from.

01

Experienced track — 7 dimensions

The experienced track computes seven career dimensions from your assessment answers. Five are weighted into your composite score; two are supplementary signals used for narrative framing and archetype derivation.

Core dimensions (weighted)

CodeDimensionWeight
STSStrategic Trajectory Score
Depth of strategic, transformational, and long-range work. Skill transferability across roles and sectors.
30%
MDSMarket Demand Score
How actively the market is hiring for your profile. Inbound demand signals and recruiter interest.
20%
SESSeniority & Experience Score
Strategic exposure, stakeholder management, and leadership track record at senior level.
20%
IRSIndustry Resilience Score
Visibility, professional brand, and reputation within your industry.
15%
FFSFinancial Flexibility Score
Financial runway, P&L ownership, commercial impact, and compensation leverage.
15%

Supplementary dimensions

  • SRI — Stress & Resilience Index: current stress and burnout exposure. Higher scores indicate elevated stress — the safety gate ensures your brief accounts for this before proceeding.
  • CAI — Career Autonomy Index: adaptability across functions, sectors, and contexts. Measures how many degrees of freedom you have for your next move.

All scores are deterministic — the same answers always produce the same score. No AI is used in scoring.

02

Graduate track — 6 dimensions

The graduate track computes six career readiness dimensions, combined into a composite Launch score (0–100):

CodeDimensionWeight
FCIFit Clarity Index
How clearly your degree, major, and stated career function match your target path.
22%
SSIProof of Impact Index
Tangible evidence of skills — internships, portfolio, projects, and measurable outputs.
22%
MAIMarket Accessibility Index
How open your target path is to your background based on sector demand and entry signals.
17%
NRINetwork Readiness Index
Professional network breadth, LinkedIn presence, mentor access, and referral potential.
13%
AMIAdaptability & Mobility Index
Willingness and ability to relocate, pivot, or adapt to different career contexts.
13%
IPIIdentity-Purpose Index
Clarity of career identity, sense of purpose, and alignment between values and target role.
13%

Validated against 20,000 synthetic graduate personas. Top-path accuracy: 97.7%. Top-3 match rate: 99.9%.

03

Path ranking (Graduate track)

Paths are ranked by a deterministic algorithm that runs entirely in your browser — no AI is involved. Each path receives a composite score based on four factors:

  • Profile fit — how closely your degree, major, and stated career function match the path's typical entry profile.
  • Market access — how open the path is to your background right now, based on sector demand proxies and internship/portfolio signals.
  • Career readiness (Launch score) — your composite Launch score, weighted to reward preparation, network strength, and application activity.
  • Objective weight — when you select a ranking objective (Balanced, Growth, Salary, Mobility, Access), path scores are boosted or discounted accordingly.
04

Verdicts (Experienced track)

Your verdict is determined by a rule-based algorithm applied to your dimension scores — not by AI.

MOVE NOWMarket conditions and your position support immediate action. Advantage: Candidate.
PREPARE THEN MOVEStrong fundamentals but a specific gap requires 3-6 months of tactical bridge-building.
STAY AND BUILDYour current role still offers higher marginal growth than the open market is currently pricing.
PIVOTChange sector or function; build transferable positioning for a lateral move.
STABILIZE FIRSTAddressing financial or burnout pressures first puts you in a stronger position to move when the time is right.

The AI is then asked to produce a rationale consistent with this verdict. If the AI returns a different verdict, it is corrected automatically by the post-processor. Archetype accuracy on 20,000 personas: 100%.

05

Primary Archetypes

Your archetype captures your career profile in a single label. It is derived deterministically from your dimension scores.

Primary archetypes

Strategic OperatorHigh ownership, high portability. The most sought-after profile at Director+ level.
Market MagnetStrong inbound demand. Recruiters come to you.
Technical SpecialistDeep, portable skills but limited strategic exposure.
Constrained ExecStrong track record but runway or mobility is limiting.
Hidden TalentGood skills but low market visibility.
Skilled ProfessionalStrong skill transferability with room to grow strategic exposure.
Emerging LeaderBuilding strategic exposure, on track but needs to accelerate.
At RiskFacing multiple constraints — your recommendations focus on stabilisation and rebuilding capacity.

Variant archetypes

Building MomentumDefault when no primary archetype matches clearly.
Deep SpecialistLong tenure with moderate skill transferability.
Rising DemandGrowing market interest with room to build skills.
Versatile StarterHigh adaptability, early in career trajectory.
Resilient RebuilderManaging stress while rebuilding financial position.

Compound modifiers (e.g. "Strategic Operator — Burnout Risk" or "Strategic Operator — Career Pivot") are appended when supplementary signals like SRI or CAI indicate a secondary pattern.

06

Career Degrees of Freedom

Your Career DoF is a composite metric that measures how many realistic options are available to you right now. It combines:

  • Base capability — foundational score from your core dimensions.
  • Financial constraint (FFS) — how much your financial runway limits your options.
  • Stress constraint (SRI) — how stress may be affecting the range of options you feel comfortable considering.
  • Mobility boost — relocation flexibility, visa status, and geographic optionality.

A DoF score below 40 triggers the "At Risk" archetype and adjusts recommendations toward stabilisation.

07

Demand heatmap

The heatmap shows estimated hiring demand by city/region for your target path or sector. Two modes:

  • Job API mode — real job posting counts from Adzuna drive the H/M/L classification. AI is used only for the insight narrative.
  • AI-only mode — the entire heatmap is AI-generated. Clearly labelled "AI estimate" in this mode.

We aim to use real job-board data wherever possible. Treat AI estimates as indicative rather than definitive.

08

How we use AI

AI is used only for narrative and insight generation, not for scoring, path ranking, verdicts, or archetype assignment. Specifically:

  • Decision matrix rationale and options
  • Market intel company list and sector overview
  • Network playbook and outreach suggestions
  • CV bullet rewrites and cover letters
  • Interview question sets and negotiation playbooks
  • Heatmap narrative (when API data is not available)

All structured outputs (verdict, scores, path rankings, archetypes) are generated deterministically and the AI output is validated against them. Where the AI disagrees with a rule-based result, the rule wins. AI-generated content is clearly labelled throughout.

09

Data and privacy

Your answers are stored in your browser's local storage only. We do not store your assessment data on our servers, sell it to third parties, or use it to train AI models.

When AI calls are made, the minimum context needed is sent to the AI provider — no personally identifiable information is required or sent. You can clear all your data at any time from Privacy settings.

10

Limitations

  • Salary ranges are indicative EU/European estimates and will vary by country, company size, and negotiation.
  • Company suggestions are illustrative — they do not confirm current hiring.
  • The experienced track is designed for professionals with 3+ years of experience.
  • AI-generated insights reflect training data patterns and may not account for very recent market changes.
  • Heatmap demand levels are estimates; local conditions can differ from regional averages.
  • Percentile comparisons are based on synthetic population distributions, not collected user data.
11

Data coverage — real vs AI-estimated

Not all insights come from the same source. This table documents which features use live data and which use AI estimates:

FeatureSourceCoverage
Scores, verdicts & archetypesDeterministic algorithm (no AI)All regions
Path ranking (graduate)Deterministic algorithm (no AI)All regions
Job listings (job cards)Adzuna live job board APIUK, Europe, US, AU
Job freshnessAdzuna API posting dateSame as job listings
Demand heatmap (H/M/L)Adzuna job counts OR AI fallbackUK, Europe (API); AI elsewhere
Heatmap narrativeAI-generated (always)All regions
Market signal & trendAI-generated estimateAll regions
Company intel & riskAI-generatedAll regions
Network playbookAI-generatedAll regions
CV bullets, cover lettersAI-generatedAll regions
Salary rangesCurated EU estimates (static)Europe (indicative)
O*NET wage dataO*NET OnLine (external)US-centric

Features labelled AI-generated are estimates based on the AI model's training data. They may not reflect the most recent market conditions.