Make It Stop!

Something needs to be fixed. As an aspiring UX Designer, I’m always looking outward at user problems and forcing myself to be unbiased. This time, I was the user with a problem. So how was I going to fix it?

Step One: Research the Industry

Recruiters are looking for a sharp resume with no typos that concisely and effectively communicates the skill of the applicant — at a glance. They see so many applicants a day that they need something quick that lets them sort the good from the bad.

Oftentimes, an employer doesn’t know the exact skills they need to fill a position; they only know that they need to improve the visual impact of their product and get users to user it more.

I could go more in depth, but for now I’ll focus mainly on these two pain points.

Step Two: Identify User-Solution Dissonance

I’m not the first person to think of a solution to this problem; what is out there and why isn’t it working?

Applicants are making beautiful (not visually stunning, rather concise and effective) resumes, but recruiters aren’t making it that far.

People are applying to positions that do not match their skill set.

Too many people are applying and it’s hard to filter out the bad.

Step Three: Brainstorm Solutions

“…but recruiters aren’t making it that far”

What did I see in my application process that made me think this? I uploaded my resume and I was then asked to fill out a lengthy form containing most of the things my resume contained. It’s redundant to do both, so maybe it’s time to kill the resume and blend it all into a single solution for employers to read.

“…do not match their skill set”

Rather than employers listing every skill they can think to cram onto a job description, let’s have employers list all the skills they’re looking for in a position and applicants list every skill they have. The job fit percentage or score will help employers to quickly identify if they have a match applying and the applicant can quickly determine if a position is ideal for them.

“…it’s hard to filter out the bad.”

This is the toughest. Talent acquisition officers know how to do their jobs well, so this one would require more primary research. I’d want to interview some hiring managers about how exactly they go through the selection process.

Still, sometimes it helps to form a hypothesis and let your research either confirm your hunch or prove you wrong, so I’ll take a stab at it.

Since each employer is looking for something different, the filtering process can’t just be a blanket solution. The skills matching idea goes a long way to alleviating the filtering process; culture fit is something that is usually assessed in person and a GitHub or Dribbble really helps to verify skill level. Culture fit can possibly be prescreened by building a social media analysis tool for recruiters to use, although I’m certain they already exist. Okay, let’s not just rank the applicants against the ideal candidate, but against one another and create a holistic match score. Employers can add additional criteria to help filter out people that don’t match (like 3+ years experience), and we’ll ask for this information from applicants well before the application stage to ensure filtering occurs intelligently.

Step Four: Sketch Out the Solution

In the UX process, this is the first time I would even consider drawing pretty pictures, and that’s if you think lines on paper can be considered pretty. In fact, I would sketch something rough, and then start researching again to find how existing solutions tackle the problem visually.

I sketch first to make sure I don’t box my designs into the thinking that other solutions use. Obviously they aren’t the perfect solution if I believe I can address the problem more effectively, so they’re more of a launch pad to see if I am missing out on obvious components of the solution they have already thought out.