Re-envisioning a job website to hire for skill, not just degrees

The tech industry is facing cultural and demographic homogeneity issues and is looking for solutions to these complicated issues. Re-envisioning the job application website for entry-level employees who are new to the tech sector. Gearing the Bare Skills (New Collar) site toward individuals breaking into the tech industry and who are proficient in other industries, those transitioning mid-career or simply casting a diverse net. Once such solution is to begin recruiting talent from people outside of preferred networks.

Team & duration

With my focus on design concepts and research, I collaborated with one UX Designer and three Developers as part of a one-day design challenge.

Brainstorm & Research

Competitive & Comparative Analysis

Our research process started by looking at existing job sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor. We discovered that with most of these sites, your skills are buried under the education section.

Interviews

We interviewed four people in San Francisco’s Financial District to Gaining an understanding of people’s most recent job search, what they currently do for a living and what they think about how an emphasis on skills over degrees affects the job market.

Key Takeaways and Insights

Synthesizing our research led to key insights:

People think hiring for skills over education is a great idea.
Lacking a formal education doesn’t take away from your value.

Design & Prototype

Working in a cross functional team gave an understanding of what could realistically be built given time constraints. Our first step was to get into a design studio and sketch out some concepts for our website.

The major feature in the design decision was to take a job posting and match it with the skills on a user’s profile. The goal was to generate user confidence to apply for positions by giving the match percentage for the position. We listed skills above education in the layout of the website.