Understanding Profile Dimensions

Profile dimensions are the structured profile fields that power AI matching in MentorNeko. Where your bio is a freeform introduction, dimensions give the matching engine precise, comparable data points to work with: what you know, what you want to learn, where you are in your career, and what kind of partner would complement you best.

What Dimensions Are

A dimension is a specific attribute of your professional background or goals. Your organization configures which dimensions matter for their community. Common examples include:

• Skills: Technologies, methodologies, or domains you work in or want to develop
• Goals: What you are trying to achieve through mentorship or networking
• Seniority: Your career stage or years of experience
• Department: The functional area or team you work in
• Industry: The sector or vertical your experience spans

Organizations can also add custom dimensions that are specific to their community, such as certification levels, regional focus areas, or program-specific interests.

How Dimensions Affect Matching

When a matching cycle runs, the AI engine evaluates every eligible mentor-mentee pair across all of the dimensions configured for that program. Each dimension carries weight in the overall compatibility score, and the engine looks for complementary profiles rather than identical ones.

For example, a mentee who lists "Leadership" as a development goal is more likely to be matched with a mentor who lists "Leadership" as an area of expertise, even if their other dimensions differ. The engine also factors in seniority gaps, skill overlaps, and goal alignment to produce match recommendations that make intuitive sense to the humans reviewing them.

Filling in more dimensions gives the engine more to work with and produces better matches. Sparse profiles can still be matched, but the recommendations are less precise.

Dimension Types

Dimensions come in several formats depending on what they are measuring.

Single-Select

A single-select dimension lets you choose one option from a defined list. Seniority level is a common example: you pick one value (such as Senior, Mid-level, or Entry-level) that best describes where you are. These dimensions create clean categorical data that the engine can compare directly.

Multi-Select

Multi-select dimensions let you choose multiple values from a list. Skills and goals often work this way. You might select three skills you currently have and two you want to develop, or choose several goal areas you are working on simultaneously.

Text

Some dimensions accept a free-text response. These give you space to describe something that does not fit neatly into a predefined list, such as a specific area of focus or a short-form answer to a structured question. Text dimensions are read by the AI but are less comparable than select fields.

Number

Number dimensions capture numeric values, such as years of experience. These allow the engine to reason about ranges and gaps in a structured way.

Visibility: Public vs. Algorithm Only

Each dimension value you fill in has a visibility setting that controls where it appears.

Public dimensions are visible to other members on your profile page and as tags on your directory card. If your Skills dimension is public and you have tagged "Data Analysis," other members browsing the directory will see that tag.

Algorithm Only dimensions are used by the matching engine but are never displayed to other members. The value influences who you are paired with, but no one can see it on your profile. Some sensitive or private attributes are handled this way by default to protect your privacy.

Your administrator sets the default visibility for each dimension. In some cases you may be able to adjust visibility for individual values; in others, the setting is fixed.

Required vs. Optional Dimensions

Administrators can mark dimensions as required or optional.

Required dimensions must be filled before your profile is considered complete. If a required dimension is empty, it will appear on the profile readiness checklist on your dashboard, and you will not be able to enroll in programs until you fill it in.

Optional dimensions are still valuable and worth completing, but they do not block enrollment if left empty.

For Administrators: Configuring Dimensions

Administrators configure dimensions for their organization in the admin panel. For each dimension, you can set:

• The dimension label and description members see
• The field type (single-select, multi-select, text, number)
• The list of available options for select fields
• Whether the dimension is required or optional
• The default visibility setting (Public or Algorithm Only)

Well-designed dimensions are one of the highest-leverage things you can do to improve match quality. Clear option sets, thoughtful labeling, and the right required/optional balance give members the guidance they need to fill in meaningful data.