Firsthand

What Firsthand does

Firsthand (legally Vault, dba Firsthand) is a private career engagement platform founded in 1999 and headquartered in New York, operating a three-sided marketplace that connects career seekers, employers, and educational institutions. Its core consumer offering includes a network of 10,000+ mentors who provide resume critiques and mock interviews, the annual Vault Rankings produced from surveys of nearly 100,000 students and young professionals, expert-written company profiles, a jobs and internships board, exclusive career events, and 200+ career guides. These assets collectively reach 8M career seekers annually and feed the proprietary Vault Rankings franchise that has operated for 25+ years in the higher education market.

On the B2B side, Firsthand sells enterprise contracts to 2,000+ employers (including McKinsey, PwC, Morgan Stanley, Abbott, Home Depot, Latham & Watkins, Skadden, and Infosys) for recruiting, employer branding, virtual career fair hosting, a Training & Development platform with authoring and certification tools, and a Corporate Alumni and Mentoring platform. The company also licenses an all-in-one career engagement stack to 600+ universities and graduate schools including Yale, Harvard, UPenn, Cambridge, Northwestern, Oxford Said, and NUS, covering enrollment, career services, and alumni relations.

Revenue is generated through three recurring streams: subscription-based Insider Membership for individual career seekers, employer recruiting and branding services, and university platform licensing. Pricing on the B2B side is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; the consumer Insider membership includes a 39% discount on premium mentors. The company is privately held with no disclosed parent, has raised approximately $3.85M in disclosed funding across three rounds between 2011 and 2015, and acquired CareerEco in July 2022. Firsthand maintains global operations with named presence in the US, Canada, the UK, and Singapore.

Name

Firsthand

Legal name

Vault

Website

https://firsthand.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Firsthand (formerly Vault) is a private career engagement platform operating a three-sided marketplace that connects 8M annual career seekers with 10,000+ mentors, 2,000+ employers, and 600+ university partners across the US, Canada, the UK, and Singapore.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Career Engagement Platform

NAICS

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54), Marketing Consulting Services (541613)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Career Networks (BPAMABAB)

Keywords

• Career engagement platform
• Mentoring and alumni software
• Virtual career fair platform
• Employer branding and recruiting
• University career services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Insider Subscription: Premium membership subscription for career seekers providing access to mentors (3,000+ free mentors, discounted premium mentors), career guides (200+ guides), full rankings and profiles, exclusive job listings and internships, and exclusive events. Insiders receive a 39% discount on premium mentors.
2. Employer Recruiting Services: Services for employers to recruit candidates including survey participation for rankings, company profile creation, strategic engagement tools, virtual career fair hosting, and advertising/sponsorship opportunities. Firsthand attracts 8M young job seekers annually.
3. Schools Platform Licensing: All-in-one career engagement platform for colleges and universities covering enrollment, career services, and alumni relations. Includes mentoring, ambassador programs, career engagement, virtual career fairs, and analytics.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Firsthand is a career engagement platform that combines proprietary content (Vault Rankings, Company Profiles, Career Guides), a network of 10,000+ mentors, a Jobs & Internships Board, and Exclusive Events for individual career seekers, alongside B2B platform modules (Virtual Career Fair, Training & Development, Corporate Alumni and Mentoring) sold to employers and an Alumni Relations Platform sold to universities. It serves three distinct audiences—career seekers, employers, and educational institutions—through a freemium consumer experience and enterprise SaaS contracts.

Product overview

Firsthand is a career engagement platform providing a unified ecosystem of products for job seekers, employers, and educational institutions. The core offering includes Vault Rankings (annual company rankings based on surveys of nearly 100,000 students and young professionals), Company Profiles (expert-written employer profiles), and the Mentors network (10,000+ mentors offering resume critiques and mock interviews). For employers, the platform offers a Virtual Career Fair Platform, a Training & Development Platform (with hundreds of courses and authoring tools), and a Corporate Alumni and Mentoring Platform. For schools, it provides enrollment tools including Student Ambassador Programs, Virtual Open Houses, Discussion Forums, and Alumni Relations management. The Firsthand Insider Membership is a premium subscription tier offering enhanced access to mentors, guides, rankings, exclusive job listings, and events. Vault Law serves as a specialized vertical for legal career guidance. The platform engages 8M job seekers annually across 600+ university partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Vault Law: A specialized vertical of Firsthand focused on law career rankings and profiles
• Vault Gold
• Vault Rankings

Products and services

• Mentors Network Network of 10,000+ mentors who offer resume critiques, mock interviews, and firsthand knowledge of roles and industries to help career seekers prepare for their professional journey.
• Vault Rankings Annual survey-based company rankings covering prestige, diversity, quality of life, and overall experience, viewed by over 8M career seekers annually.
• Company Profiles In-depth company profiles written by expert editors and researchers, providing authentic and nuanced information about employers to help candidates evaluate where to work.
• Virtual Career Fair Platform Virtual event platform enabling employers to host career fairs with booths, events, chat, and video meetings/interviews, with email campaign support, interview scheduling, and candidate preselection features. Sold to enterprise employers.
• Training & Development Platform Professional development platform offering hundreds of training courses with authoring tools, knowledge assessments, and certification badging for employee onboarding and team upskilling. Sold to enterprise employers.
• Corporate Alumni and Mentoring Platform Platform connecting employees and former employees for one-on-one mentoring and alumni engagement, with built-in video conferencing, directory search, groups, discussion forums, and job board. Sold to enterprise employers.
• Jobs & Internships Board Job board featuring exclusive opportunities not listed elsewhere, sourced from university and corporate partners and alumni mentors, including rankings of top internship programs. Available to career seekers.
• Vault Career Guides Expert-written guides covering resume and cover letter templates, interviewing tips, and industry and role profiles (200+ guides) to help job seekers navigate their career paths.
• Vault Law Specialized vertical providing law-specific career rankings, profiles, and guidance for law students and legal professionals.
• Firsthand Insider Membership Premium subscription membership for career seekers offering 3,000+ free mentors with discounts on premium mentors, unlimited career guides, full rankings and profile access, exclusive job and internship listings, and early access to corporate events and career fairs.
• Alumni Relations Platform Platform for universities to manage alumni directories, email campaigns, fairs, and events, with analytics on alumni engagement. Sold to colleges, universities, and graduate schools.

Quantifiable outcome

• Career seekers on Firsthand are 18% more likely to graduate with a full-time job
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• McKinseycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMcKinsey appears as a partner employer on Firsthand, using the platform to recruit candidates and engage with career seekers. The company logo is featured in Firsthand's partner section indicating an active recruiting relationship.
• PwCcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPwC partners with Firsthand for recruiting purposes, leveraging the platform to reach 8M young job seekers annually and connect with potential candidates through career fairs and events.
• Morgan StanleycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMorgan Stanley uses Firsthand to recruit candidates, with the firm appearing as a featured employer and partner in Firsthand's ecosystem of top-ranked companies.
• Home DepotcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHome Depot partners with Firsthand for recruiting purposes, utilizing the platform's career fair capabilities and access to university talent pools.
• Latham & WatkinscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLatham & Watkins uses Firsthand to recruit legal professionals and engage with career seekers, appearing as a top-ranked employer in the legal sector.
• AbbottcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAbbott partners with Firsthand to recruit diverse candidates, utilizing the platform's employer branding and candidate engagement tools.
• SkaddencoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSkadden appears as a partner employer on Firsthand, using the platform to reach and recruit top legal talent from university partners.
• InfosysminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInfosys appears as a partner employer on Firsthand's homepage, utilizing the platform for recruiting and employer branding purposes.
• Yale UniversitycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerYale University offers Firsthand to its students and alumni as part of its career services, providing access to mentoring, job listings, and career fair platforms.
• Harvard UniversitycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHarvard University is a university partner, offering Firsthand's career engagement platform to its students and alumni for career guidance and recruiting.
• University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerUPenn partners with Firsthand, providing students and alumni access to Firsthand's mentoring platform, career guides, and employer connections.
• University of CambridgecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity of Cambridge is a Firsthand university partner, offering the platform's career engagement tools to students and alumni.
• Northwestern UniversitycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerNorthwestern University offers Firsthand to its students and alumni as part of its career services ecosystem.
• National University of Singapore (NUS)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerNUS is a university partner providing Firsthand's career engagement platform to its international student and alumni population.
• University of Oxford Said Business SchoolcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOxford Said Business School partners with Firsthand, utilizing the platform for MBA career services and employer connections.
• McMaster UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMcMaster University is a university partner offering Firsthand's career engagement platform to its students.
• RSM (Rotterdam School of Management)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerRSM is a university partner providing Firsthand access to its business students and alumni.
• University of ConnecticutminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity of Connecticut partners with Firsthand for career engagement services.
• University at BuffalominorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity at Buffalo offers Firsthand's platform to its students and alumni for career guidance.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Handshake: Handshake is the leading career platform purpose-built for university students, employers, and career services centers. It directly competes with Firsthand's school licensing and employer recruiting products in the same early-career market with similar technology and buyer relationships.
• WayUp: WayUp is a job platform focused on students and recent graduates, connecting them with employers for internships and entry-level roles. It directly competes with Firsthand's career-seeker and employer recruiting products in the early-career segment.
• Symplicity: Symplicity provides career services and student affairs software to universities, including job boards, mentoring, and alumni modules. It competes with Firsthand's school platform licensing product at the institutional buyer level.

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the dominant professional network with broad career, recruiting, and learning offerings that overlap with Firsthand's mentoring, employer branding, and training platforms. It is a much larger incumbent competing for the same employer and individual career-seeker wallet.
• Glassdoor: Glassdoor is an employer reviews and rankings platform most comparable to Firsthand's Vault Rankings and company profile products. It competes for employer branding budgets and for the attention of job seekers researching employers, though it does not specialize in early-career candidates.
• Indeed: Indeed is a large-scale job board and recruiting platform that overlaps with Firsthand's jobs, internships, and virtual career fair offerings. It competes primarily on job seeker volume and employer reach rather than on career content or mentoring.

Emerging players

• RippleMatch: RippleMatch is an AI-driven early-career recruitment platform connecting students and recent graduates to employers. It competes with Firsthand in employer recruiting for early-career talent and is innovating faster on matching technology.
• Pymetrics: Pymetrics offers skills-based assessment and matching tools used by employers in early-career recruiting. It is an emerging competitor in the talent-matching layer that complements or competes with Firsthand's employer services.
• Yello: Yello is a talent acquisition and campus recruiting platform used by employers to manage university recruiting events and candidate pipelines. It is comparable to Firsthand's employer recruiting and virtual career fair products at the corporate buyer level.

Regional players

• JobTeaser: JobTeaser is a European career platform embedded in universities to connect students and graduates with employers. It overlaps with Firsthand's school licensing product and targets a similar buyer persona, but primarily across European institutions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firsthandinc
• Facebookfacebook.com/FirsthandInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/firsthand

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Firsthand