Today, we're excited to finally unleash our Job Board out into the wild. For the past year-and-a-half, we've talked to folks about how incredibly hard it is to hire great product design talent. It's thrilling to be able to finally launch our Job Board and expose companies to our network of 450,000 product designers, including those on Forrst and Pattern Tap.
With our listings viewed over 6 million times, we knew it was time to flip the switch and let this puppy loose. But we needed the private release to figure out what it really took to hire a product designer or engineer. We learned some valuable lessons and we wanted to share those with you.
1. Designers Want to Work With Passionate Co-Workers
We really looked into what entices a potential candidate during our private release. After all, we'd been on the hiring side when it came to brining on new ZURBians. What makes a candidate passionate about working for a company? What draws them in? More than that, what will sustain them when their workload is heavy and they have pressing deadlines?
We knew from experience what drove our designers. But does every designer think the same? Is it something that was universal? We decided we needed more data and surveyed some 120 designers. We asked what were the top five workplace factors that contributed to their happiness. The numbers were very telling and validate a lot of what we've long believed. We found they valued their culture, their co-workers and the projects they work on. Let's take a look at the top five:
- Passionate co-workers: 46.7% of those surveyed wanted their cohorts to have passion in what they do.
- Projects: 42.7% said the types of projects they work on contribues to their happiness.
- Company culture : 39.2% felt a strong company culture made all the difference.
- Flexible working schedule: 32.5% said being able to take time off when needed was important.
- Company vision and goals: 28.3% valued a company's vision and goals.
Knowing what designers want, what is important to them is crucial no matter the size of the company or what industry you work in. These are the things we take into consideration when looking for candidates and something that has driven our approach on our Job Board.
2. Designers Want to Avoid Companies With Dispassionate Co-Workers
We recently looked into what designers weren't looking for in a job. Although our data is still preliminary, here's what we've found so far. And some of the results were very much the anti-matter version of the top five factors that made work enjoyable. Let's take a look at the top three so far:
- Co-workers without passion: 42.4% said they didn't like it when their co-workers were apathetic.
- Office politics: 40.7% didn't like when politicking goes on.
- Micromanaging: 39% dislike being micormanaged.
We're still in the throes of conducting the survey and we'll follow up with the final results soon.
3. Videos Help Increase Engagement
Our friends from Inflection participated in our private release, posting a job and while it did fairly well they decided to repost it. This time they made one change — they added a video about their culture. Less than week later, something amazing happened, something that made us go, "whoa!"
The time potential candidates spent reading the listing skyrocketed. They spent 3:04 minutes reading the listing, 53 seconds more than before. Not only that, but the bounce rate dropped, from 83% to 74%. But it wasn't just that they slapped a video up and called it a day. Inflection spent the time giving folks something of value, a video that really highlighted their company culture and outlining exactly what the company's vision is. It was the perfect compliment to the listing, giving potential candidates a real sense of where they'll be working and who they'll be working with.
4. No, Really ... Well-Written Posts Entice Potential Candidates
We've seen a lot of job postings elsewhere that lacked any spark and didn't seem to be interested in connecting with potential candidates. We found them a bit lackluster. Which is why we worked to tailor all job posts to fit our audience and the Design community. Here's what we learned from the editorial process:
- Don't start off with the job right out of the gate. You've got to start off with an introduction. Tell potential candidates a bit about who you are, what your mission and vision is. Most of all, highlight how you're going to work together.
- Don't be photo shy. Photos are a great way to illustrate your work environment and culture.
- What do you bring to the table.Just as important as the job requirements is telling a future employee how they'll be rewarded for their hard work.
We even put together a Notable post to help show companies what goes into making a great listing. A well-written post can make all the difference in the world. If a potential candidate isn't snagged in the first few lines, they may never apply. We even took our own medicine and rewrite our own job listing for a Designer.
Final Thought
It's tough to find great talent. But keeping in mind who your potential candidates are and crafting job listings that appeal to them will go a long way in bridging the gulf between companies and hiring great talent. Which is why we've launched our Job Board. We're in a unique position to bring companies closer to our audience of passionate designers and engineers.