# PathHold

> Free AI career guidance that interviews teens (13+) and adults, matches them to a curated U.S. career catalog, and recommends the cheapest sufficient path. College is one option, never the default.

- Site: https://pathhold.com
- Start a free interview: https://pathhold.com/interview
- Notes on official news: https://pathhold.com/news
- Why we exist: https://pathhold.com/#why
- Tagline: A path you can hold.

PathHold is informational guidance. It is not mental-health counseling, career licensing advice, a job offer, or a guarantee of employment or business success. Ages 13 and up only. Under 13 is blocked (COPPA). Ages 13–17 need guardian consent.

## Why PathHold exists

College became the default answer after high school. A lot of people then borrowed for a program the job never required. PathHold exists so someone can talk through how they like to work, see only real jobs from a maintained U.S. catalog, and hear the cheapest path that qualifies them — including no degree, or a business they fund themselves — before they borrow. PathHold is not a counselor, recruiter, or school. It will not invent a job or a salary.

## What PathHold does

1. Talk — A conversation (not a quiz) about how the person likes to work and live.
2. Fits — 3–5 careers from a fixed catalog, with approximate U.S. pay bands, a why, and a caution. Jobs and salaries are never invented.
3. Path — The cheapest sufficient training, or a clear reason more school is required.
4. Keep the plan — Optional signed-in plan: steps, due dates, notes, and a timeline that can be rewritten when life changes.

## What we track in the interview

- Age band (13–17, 18–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55+)
- Location
- Interests
- Energy sources vs drains
- Work values: pay, stability, autonomy, helping people, status, creativity, outdoor/physical work
- Existing skills
- Deal-breakers
- Constraints: money, time, family, physical/body, relocation
- Whether they want to own the work (employed vs own a shop/practice)
- Free-form notes

Internal RIASEC-style work-theme scores are used for matching only. PathHold does not assign personality types or diagnose mental health.

## What we track after the interview

- A recap of what we heard
- Tradeoffs / tensions
- Ranked catalog fits with why, caution, and a catalog fit score
- Recommended education or self-fund path
- Why this path, and why not more school
- Time-to-entry and typical cost (approximate U.S. catalog ranges, not quotes)
- Detailed implementation steps (who to contact, what to search, what done looks like)
- Anticipated typical results by timeframe (catalog ranges, not guarantees)
- Honest costs of waiting or of extra school the job does not need
- Alternative routes and when to choose them
- Self-fund ladder when they want to own the work

## What we track on a saved plan (signed-in)

- Chosen career
- Plan status: active, paused, or changed course
- Steps: todo, doing, done, skipped, optional due dates
- Standing notes
- Timeline: created, completed, notes, status changes, AI refresh of open steps
- Completed work is kept when the open list is rewritten

## What we recommend

### Training and funding paths

- On-the-job training
- Paid apprenticeship
- Trade / vocational school
- Certificate program
- Community college / associate degree
- Bachelor's degree — only when typically required
- Graduate or professional degree — only when licensure needs it
- Self-fund the business — earn first, customers next, reinvest profit; not an MBA or a loan on a dream

### Catalog families (examples; matching uses the full catalog)

- Trades: electrician, plumber, HVAC, welder, carpenter, CDL driver, auto tech, CNC, millwright, elevator, heavy equipment, A&P mechanic, solar, wind, water treatment, landscaping
- Health support: CNA, medical assistant, dental assistant, pharmacy tech, EMT, veterinary assistant, LPN, PTA
- Licensed care when the credential is real: ADN RN, dental hygienist, radiologic/respiratory therapist; physician, pharmacist, PT only if that is the aim
- Public / local: firefighter, police, library technician, K–12 teacher, real estate, claims, B2B sales
- Tech and desk: IT support, web developer, cybersecurity, software engineer, paralegal, accountant
- Ventures: owner-operator trade, local service business, independent specialist, self-funded founder

PathHold will not invent an occupation that is not in the catalog.

## Guardrails

- Never invent jobs, employers, or salaries
- Never call college the only grown-up path
- Never diagnose mental health or assign a personality type
- Never guarantee a job, license, or business
- Never push an MBA or a loan on an untested idea
- Entrepreneurship is first-class via self-funding

## Audience

- Teens 13–17 choosing a first path after school
- Adults changing careers or returning to work

Both can finish as a guest. An account is only required to keep a plan.

## Official pages

- [Home](https://pathhold.com/): Why PathHold exists, how it works, what we track, what we recommend, common questions
- [Interview](https://pathhold.com/interview): Age, consent, then the conversation
- [Notes](https://pathhold.com/news): Short original notes on official news about student costs, cheaper doors, and the labor market. We link out. We do not copy articles.