Indeed Discovery Survey
Discovery Survey
by:Sophia Ramirez + 3 group members
This study aims to enhance the usability of Indeed for college-aged students approaching graduation. The primary areas of focus are time spent on the platform, document refinement (such as resume polishing), and the response rate to job applications. Currently, students are spending an average of only nine minutes per session, and the goal is to increase this to 15 minutes per session.
Methodology
The primary research method employed in this study was a survey distributed to a diverse group of college-aged students. To inform the survey design, we conducted a comprehensive review of Indeed's existing features, comparing them with those of other job search platforms. The survey questions were developed based on identified gaps in knowledge and common user feedback found in online reviews of Indeed.
The survey was distributed to a representative sample of the student body, and the collected data was then analyzed to inform key decisions aimed at enhancing Indeed's platform for job seekers. The insights gained from this analysis were used to guide improvements in the platform’s usability and overall user experience.
Results
The first pie chart shows that the majority of the population searches for jobs online between 0-5 times a month with 83% of participants applying to jobs only 0-2 times a month as it shows in the second pie chart.
This raises questions as to why participants are not more active in their job search and application process.
If we were to do a follow-up survey for an iterative process, some better questions based on Figure 1 would be:
• If you are searching and applying for jobs only 0-2 times a month, what is keeping you from searching and applying everyday/week?
• Do you feel unmotivated or frustrated by the job search and application process?
Figure 2 exhibits users’ opinions of the ease of use of Indeed’s platform. While this question shows us a mixed review of reaction and opinion as to how simple or difficult they consider Indeed, more than half (57%) found it easy. It is the population that was in the neutral position (30%) and those who struggle with it (13%) that we need to gear our questions to as very likely our personas population will fall under this 43% of the population. Some follow up questions could be:
• What difficulties do you face when searching on Indeed?
• What changes to the platform could make it easier to understand?
Figure 4 shows the results of a question asking if Indeed has improved the job search process for users. 29% of the selected population agreed, 7% were neutral, and 64% disagreed.
Those who agreed said that it makes searching for jobs easier as the recommendations are based on what they are looking for in a job, and it shows variety and allows for users to submit multiple applications in one place.
Those who disagreed noted that Indeed doesn’t take experience into account (pain point mentioned above), they list disorganized jobs irrelevant to their search, many job postings are expired, and they do not filter out fake jobs and scams.
This last point was interesting as The Observer asserted:
“When I started with a Fortune 500 recruitment company, which I won’t name, there were people there that encouraged posting positions that were not totally real,” Marcus told Observer. With more than ten years of experience in the field, he said ghost jobs and spam jobs, or jobs that don’t actually exist, have increased” (Bassett, 2024).
Figure 5 asks users how often they hear back from the companies they applied to. 77% said 0-2 times a month, 17% said 3-5 times a month, and only 7% said 1-3 times a week.
Most of the population here showed receiving a response only a few times a month for the jobs they applied for. There are some issues with this question that need to be improved for a follow-up session with our case study.
First, combining zero with one and two does not give us a realistic view of how many users are not hearing back from any companies at all. Here it looks like the vast majority are hearing back at least a couple of times a month, when in reality 77% could never be hearing back which makes a big difference in data. On that note, there should be a “never” option. 7% of the population contended that they hear back from employers 1-3 times a week.
The following questions should be added to gain more insight into theirs and others’ experiences:
• Do you have extensive experience/relevant previous experience to the job description?
• What percentage of jobs that you have applied for have you been hired for?
• How often do you get spammed after applying for a job?
Figure 6 shows a bar chart that reflects the listed features (9) on Indeed and asks users to click which features they regularly use.
Features most frequently used in descending order were Basic Job Search, Advanced Search, Apply Now, and Find Salaries. The least used feature was Resume Review.
Based on these findings, it can be assumed that while users are anxious to search and apply for jobs, they may not be putting the effort into polishing their resume which could be a direct reflection for the reason why candidates are not frequently hearing back from companies.
Using the Resume Review would also fulfill Indeed’s goal of increasing user minutes spent on the platform which would benefit the company and also the applicant who will improve their resume and therefore increase their chances of getting hired.
Recommendations
A number of issues arose when studying Indeed‘s site and we have come up with some strategies for expanding this time spent on the platform. Proposed solutions include:
Investigating the job listing process to ensure "entry-level" positions align with candidates' experience levels and credentials.
Creating a "College" tab on the homepage to help students easily find internships, entry-level jobs, and volunteer opportunities.
Introducing a Resume Review tool with personalized coaching and an interactive AI chat to help users improve their applications.
Launching a volunteer board for project collaboration and portfolio building, along with a discussion board for successful users to share tips.
Strengthening employer verification processes to eliminate fake job postings and spam, thereby improving trust in the platform.
These changes aim to make Indeed more user-friendly and effective for college-aged job seekers, encouraging longer platform engagement and improving application outcomes.