Treat Job Applications as your Product

Treat your job applications as your product.

For whomever posts opportunities online, I implore you to go through them as your persona - the candidate.

It’s crucial to review job postings from the candidate’s perspective to avoid common application pitfalls that can lead to errors, data issues, memory constraints, and ultimately frustrations.

The most common problems that I’ve witnessed include:

Required fields - Some applications force you to enter information in free-text fields even if the question doesn’t apply to you.

Date fields - Applications defaulting to today’s date can cause submission errors, requiring manual date selection.

Currency values - Fields allowing only numbers may fail when requesting country currency information.

Memory issues - Uploading resumes might fail due to memory constraints, irrespective of the file size.

Source explanation - Redundant requests for information like source explanation on job boards can be eliminated.

Duplicate entries - Unnecessary repetition of filling out military, disability, and citizenship status multiple times should be avoided.

Survey requests - Immediate post-application surveys can skew feedback as the candidate experience is limited to the application process.

By treating your job applications as products, you can gauge metrics like retention and churn, influencing candidates’ likelihood to return for future applications. This approach ensures a smoother application process and enhances the overall candidate experience.