JobsInKent.com is by far Kent's largest job site, receiving over 25 million hits in October 2018
from Kent based jobseekers.
To create a new Saved Jobs Panel/ Dashboard that would change the way the users actively applied for jobs and how they interact with the featured jobs panel, thus enabling greater click-throughs and job applications.
Problems: Users were only applying for a maximum of one to two jobs per visit/ login. The team had already undertaken user research where they discovered that key areas of the website were not actually being used and user applications were minimal.
The second issue, which I identified, was that the 'jobs listings panel' needed redefining in order to make it far more engaging and intuitive to the end user.
On a daily basis I liaised and collaborated with JIK's developers, designers and analysts to gain a clearer understanding of how their website worked and what could or could not be achieved.
My key aim was to look at how end users would have a greater success rate if using a simpler system which would enable them to apply for multiple jobs at once, along with the ability to keep track of all their applications and saved jobs in one area. I also looked at how the jobs panel/ dashboard should be set out in order to achieve that. The page needed to be clear and intuitive for the end user; for both desktop and mobile.
With the original page, when selecting a job, a user would have to go through a number of processes to save and apply for each position. As a result, users would often only select one or two roles during a given week, hindering their success rate. After a job seeker had selected a job and gone through the process for applying, they would close their browser or log off. This would mean less job applications with fewer interviews or job prospects.
After looking at the prior research conducted and going over key areas that were not being used, I noticed that this was due to laborious form filling for each application – one of the biggest put-offs for end users. In order to allow the job seeker to apply for more jobs they would require a function which would do the work on their behalf; alleviating them from having too many click-throughs or forms to fill in, whilst keeping everything in one place.
The pros were having a listings panel that allowed the user to view other jobs listed which they could select and apply for; according to their generated keyword search.
From the users’ prospective and the data obtained, the page was not engaging enough and the process for applying was too long and drawn out. This meant that users were less likely to use this area of the website.
The objective was to look at how to make the saved jobs page more intuitive and engaging to the job seeker - encouraging more jobs being applied for whilst having all the necessary information on one page.
The idea of creating a dashboard style page/ interface was to ensure that all important information could be managed on one page, with no additional click-throughs. This allowed the end user to carry out a number of key tasks and objectives at the click of a single button. This enhanced the user journey and enabled the user to do the following:
Quick Apply Panel:
In order to generate a system that would entice the user to select more than one job, I implemented the Quick Apply feature. This allowed the user to select and apply for multiple jobs together or to maintain the option to apply individually, whichever preference they desired. The user also had the option to save the job for later (to review), which automatically moved the saved job to the saved jobs panel. Jobs that required the user to apply via another method or required additional information (e.g. a cover letter) were highlighted in orange.
Quick Tab links (top right):
Having clear content, such as visible tabs which showed the jobs users were applying for, the list of jobs they had saved and how many recommended jobs there were, was a great way for users to gain a clear indication of their journey so far. These were also used as quick links to each section.
Saved Jobs Panel:
All saved jobs were saved in the Saved Jobs panel. This was also highlight in the quick tabs link (top right). When the user decided to apply for the role they would then select the Add in Apply button/CTA which would move the saved job to the Quick Apply panel or they could choose to delete the job should it no longer be required.
Recommended Jobs Pannel:
Having the Recommended Jobs Panel allowed the user to view, save or apply for newly listed roles which they may have not previously seen. The CTA's worked in conjunction with the above panels.
When the user selected the Add to Apply button/ CTA the job would move to the Quick Apply Panel. Selecting the Saved Jobs button/ CTA would move the role to the Saved Jobs Panel and so forth.