Top 20 team in the 2019 High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge at the University of Utah. https://lassonde.utah.edu/hsuec

1. Connecting students to the right industry experts.

2. Problem
CareerRocket works to bridge the gap between high schools and employers. Over 92% of high school
students don’t get any career-related guidance from their high schools. Furthermore, 54% of students
believe that their high school has not helped them figure out careers that match their interests.
This is a massive problem, as over 70% of Americans hate their jobs. As a Gallup poll found in 2017, out of
the country’s approximately 100 million full-time employees, 51 percent aren’t engaged at work because
they feel no connection to the job. Personalized career-counseling can help students consider paths that
they will love and be passionate about.
Along with poor job satisfaction, the national college debt is growing startingly quickly, surpassing $1.5
trillion last year. When students are applying to college, they should be considering career paths that they
are interested in so they can decide if a 4-year college, community college, or vocational college is right for
them. Furthermore, they should consider any career goals and degrees they plan to pursue at school so
they can make the wisest financial decision.

3. Solution
We at CareerRocket believe that the best way to learn about a job is to talk to someone who actually does
it. If a student wants to know more about a career, they simply go to our website (careerrocket.io) and
search our list of industry mentors to find one they want to ask questions and have a conversation with. For
example, if a student was interested in business and starting their own company, they may want to talk to
Enhao Gong, a Stanford entrepreneur who founded Polarr.
When a student purchases a call with a mentor, we will send the student a survey that asks some
background questions so the mentor can gain a basic understanding of the student. For example, what do
they know about the career so far? What are their favorite classes and clubs in high school? Then we will
set a meeting up between the student and the mentor through either video or phone call, depending on
their preferences. During the call, the student can get all their questions answered about the job, work out
all the pros and cons, and figure out if the career is right for them.

4. Market
Our main competitors are Nepris, Naviance, and Career Cruising. Like them, our target consumers are
students, teachers, and counselors.
Nepris is a service that allows high school teachers to set up a virtual call with one industry professional for
their entire classroom to see. However, these calls are not tailored to the needs of each student, and the
individual student doesn’t get a choice in who they want to meet. A CareerRocket call is devoted to one
student and the one student only, making sure that they meet the right experts and get all of their
questions answered.
Naviance and Career Cruising use survey-based career counseling. The student answers some basic
questions about themselves, and the system selects some careers of possible interest. However, these
surveys are often inaccurate and rarely engaging, suggesting careers that are far from what the student
may be interested in. Furthermore, high school students rarely like any surveys, and will often not take it
seriously. CareerRocket is an interactive, human-oriented service that builds a meaningful connection
between the student and their selected mentor. The student is always in control of what they want to learn
about.

5. Prototype