International Job Search Platform Enhancement

When migrating from one country to another, many support sites advise potential ex-pats to first secure a job in the location they are hoping to move to. With all the websites and blogs offering advice and even job posts, it can still be difficult to find work in another country.

What is needed is an addition to the most popular job boards that not only allows job searchers to find specific international work but also allows employers to employ the types of workers that fit their requirements. The selling point of this addition is that it prioritizes the things that international job seekers and employers would prioritize such as work authorization, sponsorship, and school enrollment. The ultimate goal is to limit how many pointless job posts searchers will have to scroll through to find the ones that meet their needs.

For this addition, I focused my research on Reddit, Quora, and articles that focus on teaching and preparing job seekers for the international job hunt. I chose this method because no one knows better what the international job market is like than those (who have been) in it. My research provided me with two major requirements for job seekers from employers.

Work authorization and Sponsorship, some employers are willing to sponsor new workers for visas but due to different laws and finances, not every employer can do this. (Job posts usually feature this information in the body of the post but not always.)

Some employers only want to hire international employers who are enrolled in an educational institution/working on a certain degree. (This is common for labs.)

To solve these primary issues, I created two web pages. Once for Jobseekers (J.Seekers), and one for Employer (J.Employers).

As this is intended to be an addition, the goal is not to create a completely new site but rather add elements to any job site that would improve job searching for those focused on international work. So for both pages, I started with a generic job profile page and altered it so that when a user/employer searches for work/posts a job position, they don’t get any domestic results. The elements function as high-level filters for the new set of position/candidate results.

1. “Job Search.I” – the I stands for international. This drop-down will change the site from the international version to the domestic version (Job Search.D).

2. The left side of the page is for the user’s profile. It doesn’t change between the different site versions. It contains the user’s name, location, resume, contact information, and job preferences.

3. This section is for location preferences and only exists in the Job Search.I version.

4. Users get to choose their top 3 location preferences.

5. For each location, the user must note if they are (1) authorized to work in this location and (2) will need sponsorship from the employer to work in the location.

6. The user must choose their enrollment status. There are three options: “I am enrolled in an educational institution,” “I am not enrolled in an educational institution,” and “I will be enrolled in an educational institution within 6 months.”

Once the “Location Preferences” section is filled, all job posts presented when searching will only show posts from these locations that fit the user’s work status, requirements, and enrollment status.

1. “Job Search.I” – the I stands for international. This drop-down will change the site from the international version to the domestic version (Job Search.D).

2. The left side of the page is for the Employer’s profile. It doesn’t change between the different site versions. It contains the company/organization name, location, current job posts, contact information, and employee preferences.

3. This section is for location preferences and only exists in the Job Search.I version.

4. Employers get to choose their top 3 location preferences for hiring new employees. They also have the choice of “Anywhere.”

5. For each location, the employer must note whether they need all applicants to be (1) authorized to work in their location or (2) in need of sponsorship from the employer to work in their location.

6. The Employer must choose the enrollment status that most fits their job posting needs. There are three options: “Enrolled in an educational institution,” “Not enrolled in an educational institution,” and “Will be enrolled in an educational institution within 6 months.”

Once the “Location Preferences” section is filled, all job posts for this employer will only be present to J.Seekers that fit the limitations for the work status, requirements, and enrollment status.

This simple prototype displays possible options for the checked boxed as well as the enrollment options.