Let’s be honest: job hunting sucks.

You spend hours tweaking your CV, crafting the perfect cover letter, clicking “Easy Apply” forty-seven times before lunch — and then? Radio silence. A black hole. Maybe, if you’re lucky, an automated “We’ve decided to move forward with other candidates” six weeks later.

No feedback. No explanation. Just… nothing.

And on the other side? Employers are drowning in applications, scanning CVs for twelve seconds, ghosting perfectly good candidates because they didn’t use the right keyword. The whole thing feels less like a professional process and more like a bad dating app — all swipe, no substance.

We think there’s a better way.

The system is broken (and everyone knows it)

Here’s the thing nobody in HR wants to say out loud: the traditional hiring process is fundamentally adversarial. Candidates perform. Employers evaluate. Nobody’s being real.

You write a CV that makes you sound like a superhero. They write a job description that makes the role sound like a dream. You both show up to the interview wearing masks, and somehow you’re supposed to figure out if you’ll actually enjoy working together.

It’s no wonder that nearly half of new hires don’t work out within the first 18 months.

The tools we’ve built for hiring — applicant tracking systems, keyword-matching algorithms, one-size-fits-all job boards — they optimise for volume, not for fit. They’re designed to process thousands of applications, not to help two humans figure out if they’d actually get along.

So what is “Job Dating”?

Think of it like Hinge, but for jobs.

On Hinge, you don’t just see a photo and swipe. You see prompts. Values. Personality. You get a sense of someone before you ever meet them. And when you do match, there’s a reason — something specific that connected you.

That’s what we’re building with Chapta.

Job Dating means matching based on what actually matters: your values, your working style, what you care about in a workplace, and what kind of culture helps you thrive. Not just your keywords. Not just your degree. You.

And it goes both ways. Employers don’t just list requirements — they show who they really are. Their culture, their values, their quirks. The stuff you’d normally only discover three months into the job when it’s too late to leave gracefully.

How Chapta works differently

We’re building around three principles that the rest of the hiring world seems to have forgotten:

1. Values matching, not keyword matching

Traditional job boards match you to roles based on job titles and skills. Chapta matches you based on what you actually care about. Do you want flexibility? Growth? A team that takes lunch breaks together? We surface the things that determine whether you’ll love or hate a job — before you even apply.

2. Radical transparency

No more guessing. On Chapta, you’ll know where you stand. Employers commit to responding. You’ll see salary ranges upfront. If someone’s not interested, they say so — quickly and respectfully. It’s basic human decency, and yet somehow it’s revolutionary.

3. No ghosting. Period.

This is non-negotiable. We’re building accountability into the platform. If an employer repeatedly ghosts candidates, we flag it. If they don’t respond within a reasonable timeframe, we follow up. Think of it as a Trustpilot score for hiring — because candidates deserve to know what they’re walking into.

Who is this for?

Right now, we’re focused on consumer-facing roles — the kind of jobs that make up the backbone of our daily lives. Retail, hospitality, food & beverage, health & wellness. The roles where culture fit and personality matter just as much as (if not more than) a polished CV.

These are the roles where hiring is most broken, where turnover is highest, and where a better matching process could genuinely change people’s lives. If you’ve ever been ghosted after a trial shift, or shown up on your first day to find the job was nothing like the description — we’re building this for you.

What happens next?

We’re in early stages, and that’s exciting. It means we get to build this the right way — with input from actual candidates and employers, not just investors and advisors.

If you’ve read this far, you probably get it. You’ve probably lived it.

We’re not pretending we have all the answers. But we know the current system isn’t working, and we think matching people based on who they actually are (not just what they’ve done) is a pretty good place to start.

Ready to try something different?

Join the waitlist and be part of what comes next. Your next Chapta is waiting.