The Problem

Skills-based hiring is clearly a win-win situation for companies and employees/candidates. However, the current market suffers from a variety of issues and limitations:

1. The current leading competitors are only focusing on tech roles, neglecting other major industries
2. The screening tests are widely generic and non-engaging (i.e. multiple choice)
3. The skill assessments do no offer testing of various role levels (i.e. junior, mid, senior)
4. There are not advanced SaaS assessments testing cognitive ability and soft skills
5. Assessments are for screening purposes and case interviews/work assignments have not been automated
6. Custom assessments created by companies are not easy to make
7. The previous point leads to some candidates getting an unfair advantage if taken previously
8. Time consuming as candidate has to do similar tests for every position
9. The only language is in English, an obstacle for some companies (i.e. hiring for a local lawyer)

Goals

After conducting a thorough market study and user research, the following high-level goals were set for our solution:

The platform should allow variety of assessments (screening tests, automated case interview/work assignments, game-like personality and cognitive tests, etc.) in multiple languages and targeting various underserved industries (Arabic and Spanish chosen as first two languages besides English)

The assessments should be available for different skill levels to hire fairly from junior to senior positions, randomized questions to give a fair chance to all candidates as well as allow easy customization for companies willing to invest the time to create personalized assessments using our tools

A special focus to be put on job-seekers as well and allow them to take these assessments prior to their applications to streamline their process and showcase their abilities (this can serve as a valuable sourcing database for companies as well)

In addition to providing integrations to various Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), our SaaS product would be packaged into its own ATS as well since we will be targeting start-ups and SME in Middle East and Latin America who might not have one already.

Our Solution

Following the insights gathered from the user research culminated wit the market analysis company vision, our solution consists of three products:

Assesments

Providing both pre-made and customizable AI-powered chatbot to automate case interviews and take-home assignments, as well skills-based and personality screening tests (multiple choice, drag & drop, etc.) -- either integrated into our ATS or the client ATS already being used

Job-seeker Platform

This separate product was integrated into it to both think of the job-seekers and involve them in the hiring process where they can take assessments prior to applications, build up their profile, and apply directly to companies that opt-in for this service.

The candidates will also receive personalized job recommendations using machine learning and NLP algorithms derived from their profile, assessed skills and preference survey during registration.

This candidate database will be integrated to the ATS platform as well as a USP, where employers can source qualified candidates and contact them easily.

ATS

A typical ATS with add-ons of the assessments (create, invite candidates, track performance) as well as an AI-talent search of those with verified assessed skills gathered from users of the second solutions, if given user permission

Competitor Analysis

We focused on other assessment platforms for our competitor analysis. This is because this is where our main USP (unique selling point) is. The ATS we have is set apart only by the additional features we offer (assessments, AI recruiter and talent search, etc.) The job-seeker platform as well is different enough that typical job boards. Therefore, we focused on the following assessment solutions for hiring.

User Interviews & Target Audience

Keeping the business goal of initially expanding across Middle East and Latin America, focusing on underserved industries outside of tech (while keeping technology assessments), we set out to interview a range of employees, job-seeking candidates, HR recruiters and senior professionals who are often involved in the technical interview of candidates within the target geography mentioned.

I prepared an general interview guide for HR recruiters and one for employees/candidates. Before being qualified for an interview, we ensured that the interviewees had either used assessments or have considered/heard of it before -- both on the recruiter side as well as the candidate side (also if they hadn't heard of it).

Target Audience

Working professionals who are recruiters or involved in technical hiring process as well as job-seekers

Ages 18 - 45

Residing or having worked in Middle East or Latin America
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Having worked or applied to small and medium enterprises or start-ups within that geography

Target Industries

Healthcare

Hospitality & Tourism

Retail & E-commerce

Education & Non-profit

Creative industries
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Engineering & Manufacturing

Financial Services & Consultancy

Legal & Compliance

Following our interviews, we narrowed down into four user personas whose journey and specific pain points we would try to use as a basis of enhancing our user experience, shown below:

User Journey

Hover over the image to zoom in closer

Hover over the image to zoom in closer