A combination of LinkedIn, OLX and Monster

SearchedOn can be considered as a consolidation of 3 portals in 1, namely LinkedIn, OLX, and Monster.

Scope wise, it is a pretty giant website as it was aimed to be a single drop point for the corporate world.

Target Portals :

1. Android Application
2. iOS Application
3. Website

IT Review:

I have already helped companies built similar projects in the past, but each feature as an independent project in itself. Hence, finding the right company and merging all the features to optimize it requires significant effort on UI and backend.

Features:

Users:

1. Candidate
2. Companies
3. Admin

1. Candidates:

• Login/Signup
• Posting like LinkedIn
• Post Reactions like LinkedIn
• Tab for Job openings
• Applying for Jobs
• Creating a Resume
• Access to paid Resume formats provided only by Admin
• Festive Greeting Messages Feature based on the country
• Separate tab to post requirement and finding vendors
• Ability to upload products they want to see
• Purchase of the products on classified like OLX

2. Company/ HRs:

• Can post the current job openings
• Find candidates
• Can connect with other companies
• Can view the social posts

3. Admins:

• Admin has full authority for CRUD operation on profiles, posts, etc.
• Will upload corporate resumes.
• Will upload Resume formats.
• Keep a check on the transaction on the Classified Portals.
• Promo code.

Analysis:

While analyzing the requirement, it occurs to me that having so many functionalities on the portal would make it look clumsy and confusing.

Hence, I suggest keeping all the options in a single drawer from where the multiple portals could be accessed.

Also, this works to reduce the development and designing cost.

Challenges:

The biggest and probably the only challenge is to show the features. Which are as good as 3 independent portals in 1 which means a huge number of clickable options. Furthermore, It takes us about 1.5 months with several revisions to achieve the final design as per the client’s comfort. I would have loved to share with you the final design but I have NDAs, nonetheless, the one I created looks pretty close to twitter.

Process:

• Understanding the project,

In case you plan to build a similar website you should consider working with your development team in the below format.

Documenting the requirement

• Change Request Document
• Flow charts
• User Case Diagram
• Activity Diagram
• State Diagram

Understand the problem the portals are trying to solve:

Users currently have to handle multiple platforms which makes information redundant and takes much more effort to manage. Hence, it is an attempt to solve the need to go to multiple platforms by outperforming the existing ones.

• The behavior of Target Audiences:

It is tough to note down any specific target audience as the scope of the project is huge. Consequently, there could be multiple domains of an audience who could be targeted but for the launch. However, we suggest focussing on 3 audiences, as the corporate officials, HRs and the people looking for new employment.

1. Recruiter:

The recruiters want to know who all are available for hiring and ways to quickly discover and reach them.

• Finding the relevant person.
• Customized resumes help candidates to showcase their skills better.
• Sharing the information with co-workers.
• Followup with candidates to manage the process.

2. Candidate:

Candidates want to be discovered and acknowledged for their achievement, talent, and credibility.

• Create an optimized resume by selecting from a range of available templates.
• Hire a professional to write the resume.
• Apply for openings.
• Revert to HRs for hiring requests.
• Sell/Buy products.
• Engage socially in the corporate world.

Project Management:

Bit of self-branding. As a policy, I only act as the Project Manager for our clients we do not build the projects or have any development team in-house. Also, this enables us to find the best company at the right cost for our clients without any alternate intentions.

A Project Manager, we handle the Designing, Development, follow-ups, timely delivery, feedbacks, and all the project related management. Although, for clients, it is only us who are answerable. Single point of contact.

Moreover, We have a network of tried and tested 100+ companies across the globe for different budgets and requirements.

• Graphic designer:

The core focus is to highlight the 3 ways in which the user can use the portal. While looking at the portal they should be aware of their options and privileges.

1. 1. • Wire-framing
      • Designing the screens of the application,
      • Prototype:

I use the In-Vision tool to create a good prototype. Before starting the development you should have the exact experience of how would your application feel like once it is created. Therefore, Envision has a commenting facility which helps the client to easily communicate their thoughts on the minor details of the design with precision to the designer.

• Development Team:

The way I do it is, I intentionally give half information and create loopholes to check how good the development company is to whom I am planning to outsource the project. Furthermore, The company’s ability to think of innovative ways and how quickly they can catch the loopholes is a test of their talent.

Criteria to choose an IT company:

1. • The company which satisfies the technology stack.
   • Manages multi-Layer organization management.
   • Handled Payment gateway.
   • Worked on the Job Marketplace model.
   • Worked on the Social Media model.
   • Work on an E-commerce model.

I personally generally prefer to keep the requirement document simple and easy to understand for the client. No matter how complex the requirement. Whereas while communicating with the developer team I prefer to have a more elaborated document and track the deliverables.