Your career trajectory is not just a collection of work experiences and skills; it is a comprehensive constellation of choices, experiences, and events that have shaped your ambitions. It is often very difficult to be able to just convey this journey through a CV, a cover letter, or your interview responses.
Unsurprisingly, a huge amount of information asymmetry sits between what candidates wish could be seen and what hiring managers actually get to evaluate. Over the past few months, we have had multiple conversations with social impact professionals and students on both ends of the hiring table. While professionals we spoke to often worried that organisations expected them to present their best versions forward, people hiring for impact organisations struggled to discern genuine intent from passionate claims.
While many candidates felt unseen in the hiring process, hirers felt unsure of who truly aligns with their mission.
This is what candidates think employers assess them on:
- Certified courses, affiliations, and credentials.
- University or college they attended
- Previous full-time work experience
- Their communication skills
- Referrals
This is what candidates wished got assessed:
- Work ethic and teamwork
- Part-time internships and volunteering experience
- Unconventional career trajectories and non-traditional qualifications
- Values, beliefs, and mission alignment
- The emotional labour that goes into an application
and so many other human aspects behind an applicant.
Candidates with unconventional paths feel overlooked. Those who have built skills through lived experiences feel they don’t “count.” People from marginalised backgrounds feel the emotional labour of even applying often goes unseen. Meanwhile, hiring managers in mission-driven organisations struggle to confidently identify genuine intention, long-term commitment, and behavioural alignment.
At such a critical juncture, we envision Sinceriti as a way to reduce this information symmetry by connecting candidates committed to social impact with organisations that intentionally seek such talent. While the rest of your application speaks for your experiences and skills, we help you showcase your genuine passion and authenticity for everything you care about. We’re building a space where the nuances that you wished got assessed, actually reach organisations willing to listen.