CareerConnect — passion meets profession
Designing an extension to assess job compatibility for job seekers
In Fall 2023, I collaborated with Nancy Zheng for University of Waterloo's CTRL+Y
Design-a-thon. Our challenge was to develop a solution incorporating emerging technologies that would empower job seekers to find purposeful projects, and navigate the intricacies of the current job market.
Timeline
48 Hours
Team
Nancy Zheng
Tools
Figma
FigJam
My Role
UI & UX Design
User Research
Inexperienced co-op students are overwhelmed by the amount of qualifications required for jobs, accompanied by lengthy job postings and long wait times for application updates. How might we help anxious co-op students identify job opportunities that align with their skill set and ambitions?
PROBLEM
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Understanding Student Struggles with Job Applying
Unpacking User Experiences
Through Interviews
We conducted user interviews with pre-developed questions, aiming to uncover insights into their concerns when browsing through jobs to apply for.
Clear Job Understanding: Users need help clearly grasping job description requirements.
Timely to Read: Users find job postings long, inaccurate, and tedious to read.
Pain Points
Opportunities
Skills-Based Matching: Users seek roles that better align with their skills and goals.
Overwhelming Qualifications: Users feel burdened by excessive # of qualifications.
Long Wait Times: Waiting for application updates create uncertainty and self-doubt.
Created an intuitive chrome extension in CareerConnect, assisting the user when browsing through job postings through instructive visual summaries and colour coordinated information.
Final Prototype
2 - ai analysis
SOLUTION
1 - data input
User submits their resume that clearly outlines skills, experiences, qualifications
User completes a quiz for AI to better understand preferences and goals
CC will detect a job posting and begin scanning information
AI will look for qualifications, skills, preferences and proficiency in applications required for the job
3 - feedback delivery
Users will receive a score regarding job compatibility
The software will outline what you have vs. what you are missing
CC will then suggest jobs that better match your profile
UX-UI Designer
University of Waterloo
Here’s what we found:
Job Summary:
Product Designer
Hybrid
Figma
More +
User Thinking
Undergrad Required
2 Years Experiences
This company is hiring a Product Designer to improve their discovery and onboarding experiences, cater to diverse banking preferences, and enhance financial well-being. You'll create user-friendly designs using Figma or Sketch, craft visually appealing elements, and use usability testing tools.
Feedback:
Relevant Jobs:
Proficiency in coding languages such as CSS and Javascript may increase your chances of success.
Less than a years worth of Web Application or Designer experience may harm your chances of hearing back.
Match
Good job, but there’s still room for improvement!
75%
UX Designer
Aha!
Kitchener, ON
Co-op
$1000/year
Remote
Junior UX Researcher
GHD
Waterloo, ON
Co-op
$52K/year
Remote
UX/UI Designer
LCBO
Toronto, ON
Co-op
$59K/year
Remote
Positions that may yield greater success
Quickly identify areas of strength or improvement in their resume or skillset through visual highlighting
Hover over color-coded keywords for corresponding feedback ensures users receive contextual guidance
Enhancing readability and comphrension
Color-coded keywords
Personalized insights to empower users to enhance their competitiveness in the job market
Offers actionable suggestions for resume improvement or skill development
Personalized insights and recommendations
Feedback section
Quantitative measure of alignment of the job and their qualifications
Provides clarity on their suitability for the role
Rating the compatibility of your resume and the job
Percentage match
Grasp the essential qualifications and responsibilities
Saves time and effort to determine if the role aligns with their career goals and interests
Brief overview at a glance
Job summary
Alleviates job application stress by presenting users with additional job opportunities
Increases the likelihood of finding suitable roles by leveraging AI-driven algorithms
expanding job search horizons
Relevant job recommendations
Onboarding and creating an account
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English (US)
C
Please upload your resume
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Complete our Preference Quiz!
We want to know more about your aspirations
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C
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Uploading resume and filling out quiz
Using the extension
JUMP TO SOLUTION!
© 2025 - Ibrahim Rasheed
What I learned…
Trust the process and... your team
Since this was my first designathon, I was overwhelmed by the amount of work that we had to do in the next 48 hours, but my partner kept reassuring me that we should take it one step at a time. Before I knew it, the weekend flew by and I’m proud to have won 1st place.
Differentiate from existing ideas
Upon doing research after the designathon, we realized that current solutions were very similar. You could say that great minds think alike! But we knew that had to come up with a competitive edge to make our solution different while still remaining true to the users’ needs.
