Summary
For a couple of years, Nationale Vacaturebank has been seeing a decline in active users. The core challenge is that people only use the platform when they need a new job, not once they’ve found one. Together with the marketing team, we developed an idea to target latent jobseekers: people who aren’t actively searching, but would be open to a new opportunity if the right one came along.
User interviews
We started by conducting interviews with a diverse group of seven people. This was important because how someone looks for a job depends heavily on their life stage, education, location, and current employment status.
Insights
From this research, we gathered many insights. Below are the two key findings that guided our improvements to the platform.
#1. People search by location, not just job title
A major finding was that users don’t always search for specific job titles. Instead, they want to see what’s available near where they live or work. Flexibility in the type of role became secondary to shortening their commute. This was a shift in perspective, our platform had always prioritized searching by job title first, with location as a secondary filter.
Key improvements
- We enabled a location-first search, allowing users to simply enter an area and see all vacancies on a map within a chosen radius. We called this the “Google Maps for jobs.”
- We designed this feature mobile-first. Users told us they often browse jobs on the go (like during a commute) but may apply later on desktop. This was especially true for our younger respondents.
#2. Latent jobseekers want smart, passive alerts
Actively searching users already used our job alert feature. Latent jobseekers wanted something similar but more tailored. A common theme was willingness to move for a significantly higher salary or a workplace much closer to home.
Key improvements
- We added more granular profile settings, allowing users to define preferences like minimum salary, exact location radius, and how often they wanted to be notified.
- This transformed alerts from a simple keyword match into a intelligent, passive opportunity scout.
Learnings
This project was a fantastic learning experience. I conducted my first full UX research interviews, synthesized many insights into a few impactful ones, and collaborated closely with PMs and engineers to prototype and build the solution. I also ran my first A/B tests, learning how to iterate based on real user data, a crucial skill for making evidence-based product decisions.