Overview
This is from application to offer accepted date. This impacts multiple people such as the applicant, the recruiter, the hiring firm and sometimes even the existing staff due to staffing shortages and expanded job duties. With all the job sites that exist, social media platforms to connect job hunters and firms looking to fill roles the process still takes a significant amount of time.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
I wanted to increase the efficiency of the hiring process because of the unproductive waste of time in which an applicant typically experiences.
Secondary Research
The secondary data gave a glaring sign that the hiring process was not just the hiring manager's responsibility, but the journey of the applicant as well.
82% Americans agree searching for a new job is a stressful experience
49% Have gone for an interview they knew they were not qualified for
27% Of candidates lied about qualifications
Primary Research
The research required was needed from five hiring managers and five people who recently obtained a new job in the last year.
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Hiring manager can take up to five days to review a potential candidate
First phone call is screening of generic questions
Multiple screening calls pre and post interview
Assessment is given as a screening service at the end rather than the beginning
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Three weeks later till second interview with no communication
First phone interview was a screening process
In the first in person interview was just general questions
Two screenings for the same role from a recruiter
Synthesize
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From here based on my interviews and how I structured the questions I knew of three steps to organize. Those included application, interview and offer. But as I saw the items in front of me two things stuck out, those were time and screening. So, I made five new areas that were based on these five codes. Once this was complete, I noticed a lot of the Post-Its were about screening. I then broke those down to pre and post screening. Then this allowed me to see where challenges existed in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. I did see good feedback and wanted to isolate that as a good news code. A place we want to look up in the path. Inside the process challenges were three of the same “time” of delay which were three weeks to interview. I wanted to have that visual as a place to remember. My conclusion was that pre and post screening cause delays in the process especially when the screening is done outside the path to the next step. The steps needed to an efficient process are challenged when screening takes place outside the path.
How Might We?
How might we have a better upfront structure of the hiring process?
How might we reduce redundancies in the hiring process?
How might we reduce the time of screening candidates?
User Flows
Most complaints were in the beginning of the process. The general screening questions were repetitive and seemed not as important. The MVP starts as a log in, then the checklist which simply led you to the screening questions. Then from there the user could schedule the in person or over zoom interview.
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Then from there the user could schedule the in person or over zoom interview. This would allow the applicant to know what is going on better, and skip the wait for a phone interview for general questions. They could take more control at the beginning of the process to increase efficiency and reduce concerns for not knowing what the next steps are. Overall they could have more control of everything up until the interview. After that if another interview is needed or an offer is negotiated the control for I would say 60 to 70% of the hiring process is in the users hands. Increased speed and awareness of status.
The accompanying illustrations provided for the applicant were deliberately simplified to ensure clarity. The user's journey involved logging in and completing specific tasks, such as taking an assessment and scheduling an interview. As part of my initial testing process, I included a pathway to reset a password, which served as a preliminary question to warm up.
Applicant and Sketches
Hiring Manager Sketches
The following sketches were provided for the hiring manager's interface. Similarly, the warm-up task involved inquiring about password resetting. However, for the hiring manager, there were additional functions such as reviewing an applicant's information, checking their assessment responses, and attempting to reschedule an interview time. This was necessary because the user test simulated a scenario where you, as the hiring manager, were unavailable at the time the applicant requested for the meeting.
Presented below are the low-fidelity frames I created to illustrate the more important frames of the process followed by the applicant. On the right-hand side, we have the manager's interface where they can review various aspects such as assessment responses and send a new interview time. These frames provide a simplified representation of the user journey for both the applicant and the hiring manager, focusing on key areas of interaction and functionality.
These frames below are the high fidelity frames transitioned from the above low fidelity frames.
Testing
The objective was to determine simply if the design was easy to use. Second, uncover any initial problems with first time users. Finally, if spacing, color, and typography have any issues to the user.
It does not have a navigational tab or anything except the two questions for one prior and next. The solution was to remove the hiring advocate at the top and create a profile navigation tab.
Question review for the hiring manager and for the applicant three of the five were unsure about scrolling down. The solution was to shrink the size of the questions to the same size as the applicants.
Feedback Second Round
When the user was instructed to download resume the user clicked the instructions rather than the button the instruction was referencing. All participants did not engage with the navigation tab when asked for tasks that would simplify the path.
Review Here
Conclusion
The research showed a need for some assistance through the hiring process. The three week period prior to an interview is the area that needs the most attention. Focusing on a minimalist design, users learned the prototype quickly. Additional User Flows will likely be needed for the application.
Future Iteration
MVP Changes
Adding a New User tab to the home page
Moving the navigation tab to the bottom
Remove the button group on bottom except at log in
After Launch
Add a messaging feature for applicant and hiring manager
Video assessment
Introduce Hiring Manager Analytic
Hiring Conversion Rate
Access to similar industry applicant
Applicant Relationship Management tools
Introduce applicant subscription service
Resume assistance
Salary Negotiations
Interview Question Prep