Hiring, reversed — Designing a candidate-first job marketplace
Recruitment in creative industries is slow, expensive, and emotionally draining. Candidates and employers often discover misalignment only after multiple interviews – when expectations finally surface.
This project explores a different model: what if expectations were explicit from the start?
Duration
Feb 2022 – Jun 2022 (1st iteration), Aug – Dec 2023 (2nd iteration)
SCOPE
Product framing, research, user flows, user interviews, usability testing
TEAM
me & Paulina Zagrodnik
The problem
Recruitment is a very stressful and time-consuming process for both sides. Job postings focus on requirements, not realities. Key information – non-negotiables, flexibility, working style – is missing or implied.
Without early alignment, both sides waste time on conversations that were never a fit.
The idea
We designed a recruitment app with reversed roles.
"candidates" publish structured job profiles with their offerings
expectations are split into must-haves and negotiables
working style is visible upfront
Employers browse and filter candidates before reaching out—aligning earlier and faster.
User profile: Expectations Panel that lets creatives define their needs.
User profile: Compatibility Matrix that matches candidates and recruiters by work culture fit
Why this works
Expectations first → fewer false matches
Clear negotiation boundaries → less friction
Less pitching, more matching → lower emotional cost
Validation
Early interviews with job seekers, team leaders, recruiters showed:
candidates felt more in control
employers valued faster disqualification over more applicants
Persona creation, defining user needs through desk research and 6 user interviews (conducted with creatives looking for job, team leaders and recruiters).
Designing user flows.
Mobile screens from 1st iteration