Is Poor UX Hurting Your Chances of Finding Good Employees?
It was a hot summer day in July of 2019, where I sat out on the patio of my local Starbucks applying for new user experience jobs. Having recently been laid off, I did not expect to find myself back on the job search so soon, but here I was.
I sat there, hunched over my laptop with multiple tabs open, looking at one especially promising lead. The job description matched my skills to a tee. The company has a mission I can really get behind. And on top of that, it is in one of my dream locations.
But there was just one problem, and it was driving me absolutely CRAZY.
The job application form was a complete disaster. There was no obvious place where I could post a link to my portfolio. The website looked and behaved like it was designed in 1995. It tried to get me to create an account for no specific reason. I was getting extremely vague and cryptic error messages which looked akin to my cat walking on the keyboard, and no helpful guidance as to how to fix it. Submit buttons weren’t working, and I was being rerouted in a endless, maddening loop which never actually submitted my application in the first place.
The sad thing is, many of these terribly designed job applications were from well known tech companies, Fortune 500 industry leaders, and even design firms, most of which have a strong focus on user experience.
Tsk tsk.
This raises a serious question; why is it that companies spend so much time focusing on building a fantastic user experience in their product facing side, and yet they put seemingly no effort into the most vital pipeline for where they recruit new talent? And why is this an issue which can be found not on just a handful of sites, but bad online applications are found across the board?
What does this say about the company, when the bright eyed and bushy tailed job applicant applies for a position, just to be sent into what could be described as a house of mirrors type escape room?
The applicant is already expected to spend a lot of time in order to write a specific cover letter for a job posting, talk about why they would be the perfect fit for this particular role, create an engaging portfolio which grabs the hiring manager’s attention, come in for several interviews, and do a design sprint, all while knowing many of these applicants will get immediately filtered out by bots if they don’t include the right keywords in their resume. Additionally, hiring managers may not even spend 5 seconds to look at their resumes and may not call them back, and the applicant could easily get turned down at any stage of the interview process for any reason. Job applicants are already putting themselves out there quite a bit as it is.
Why are we making things even harder for job seekers with bad form design?
In addition to all of those issues mentioned which EVERY job applicant has to face, people who have either a UX or a UI specialty also have to muck through convoluted, and seemingly made up job titles and descriptions to find out specifically what the position is asking for. I can’t keep track of how many positions I have found where the company asks for an incredibly skilled UX/UI designer (already asking for a unicorn with a deep specialty in both of these fields, which are called unicorns for a reason) who is also a developer and knows nearly every programming language under the sun, in addition to being a GitHub ninja (spoiler alert; those people pretty much don’t exist, and it is asking to combine three full time professions which takes years, if not decades to master, into one person). Or where they ask for a role such as a UI engineer (so, someone who is a skilled developer and can also make incredible UI visuals)? Or they ask for an “entry level” UX designer with 5+ years of experience (yes, I have found these). It goes on and on.
And even worse, does this make applying for a job for individuals who may have some sort of disability even harder? After all, there are numerous, NUMEROUS complaints and lawsuits filed against websites which are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities act (ADA). Design is not just a pretty luxury service which makes people’s lives easier. Good, compliant design can prevent companies from getting sued as well.
Here are twenty issues I came across related to bad user experience which negatively affect job applicants. It is by no means an exhaustive list, it is just some examples of what I have come across in the past couple of days of my job search.
1. Weird bugs and glitches (and better text placement)
This is just one example of a weird glitch I ran into. The job expected me to fill out my contact information. It provided me with helper text to inform me of what to put into the text boxes. And yet, when I typed into the boxes, the helper text did not disappear.
Solution: One suggestion is to move the text in the same place, with the same formatting as the “greeting” and “military status” text. Not only would it be consistent with all of the drop downs, but it also avoids any weird glitches such as this one. Or, just simply have the helper text disappear when something is entered into the form.
Ideally, the drop downs should also have some helper text, with something along the lines of “select your options”. Furthermore, if helper text is to be displayed in the forms, it should be a lighter grey color, to signify it as helper text, and not actual text.
2. No place to add your portfolio link?
It is understandable that most positions, such as accountants, attorneys, police officers, and almost any other non-creatively oriented profession does not require a portfolio, or anything other than a resume and a cover letter. But when you do need to hire someone who has a body of work they need to show off… where do they put the link to their portfolio? I have had to find some pretty creative ways of working in my portfolio link, which is ultimately what shows our employers if they want to hire us or not. Or, at least it gets the conversation started before our design challenge.
Sure, you could tell the job applicant to include the link in their resume. But, how do job applicants know their resume will even be read in the first place, assuming it is not filtered out by a bot before a human ever sees it?
Solution: Since a lot of people have personal websites, there should be a optional field to include a website. Most people will not use it, however it is always better to err on the side of caution and give them a field to directly add their website link.
3. Horribly outdated look and feel of the website
I really wish I could say this was an ancient artifact I dug up from my dad’s old floppy disks in the closet, covered in dust. But it’s not. This is not only a current job application site, but it is an in-house built job application site by one of the leading computer tech companies which has been around forever and has a very strong presence in Silicon Valley, and other major tech hubs around the world.
Just let that sink in for a second.
And if you look at the landing page, you will notice there is blue text located on a blue background. Can you find it? And for extra credit, can you actually READ what it says?
Solution: Clearly the website could use an updated feel. While it may not seem like a big priority, it does reflect negatively in the mind of the job applicant, as they first land on this page and say “THIS is what I have to sift through to get a job here?”.
It sends the message that they don’t care about making the job application experience easier for new candidates, which is not a good message to send from a Fortune 500 tech company that has been around forever, is worth billions, AND prioritizes good user experience in their products.
The obvious thing here, is that designating some of the re design work to their UX and UI designers is going to be key. This is a big overhaul, but one that needs to happen. Even if contract help needs to be brought in, it still shows that this company cares about good design and how it helps new candidates.
4. Creating an Account
Ok, so this one bothers me to no end, and I believe the whole “Create an account” thing can really get out of hand. For one thing, why do I need to create an account for THIS specific company, when so many other job applications have a quick apply function and/or do not require job applicants to create an account? Is creating an account really necessary if this is the only time an applicant will ever apply for a position with this company? And even if they plan to come back later to apply to other positions, how will they remember what the password is, or that they even created an account in the first place?
It is even more aggravating when the job applicant is presented with a login screen. In my case, I used the password saved in my keychain, just to be hit with a ton of intimidating red colors and a warning symbol telling me the password is wrong. So I go to reset my password, jump back to my email, select the “reset password” link, and I fill in a new password, followed by telling the system what my first pet’s name was, my mother’s maiden name, and what those unmentionables are tucked away in my underwear drawer.
Oh joy.
Employers tell job applicants not to password protect our portfolios, and with good reason. One of which is because it harms the user experience of allowing employers to access your portfolio. So why then, are job applicants being forced to create an account and jump through unnecessary hoops?
Solution: At some point, companies need to evaluate whether or not job applicants REALLY need to create an account in the first place (in most cases, I do not believe they do). Not only does this save the company from needing to save login credentials, but it also takes the burden off the job applicant to not only create an account, but also to have to remember later on down the road that they actually created an account in the first place, or what their login credentials are (assuming they are not using a keychain).
One of the few cases where creating an account makes perfect sense would be for a website such as usajobs.gov. This is a large database of jobs from all branches of government, both on the state and federal level. It includes jobs from all sorts of backgrounds, pay grades, and credentials. So instead of each department within the government requiring it’s own login credentials, further divided up into each state or region it is associated with requiring login credentials (for example, if the US Forest Service in Kansas required a unique account separate from the US Forest Service in California), it is all neatly organized into one massive website for job seekers for any government job on both the state and federal levels.
In addition, most people looking for employment in the government will frequently return to this site, especially since there are so many temporary and contract positions posted here (and many contractors move around the country for work, so having it organized into one nationwide database makes sense). Because of this, creating an account for a massive website such as this not only makes sense, it is absolutely necessary.
However, imagine needing to create an account for each of these job postings. That is where things get problematic, and it is akin to each private company requiring an account to be created for every job applicant, which we currently face with many positions.
5. So I just filled out a job application… and now you want me to create a password before I can submit it?
Related to the account creation topic previously mentioned, I found this at the bottom of the application, and it struck me as extremely weird placement. The job applications which expect you to create an account are annoying, but this is especially confusing. I did not previously have to create an account, and now I am expected to create a password before I can submit the application?
Solution: As I spoke about before, creating a job application which requires any kind of login credentials is generally a bad idea. However, the placement of this is especially random and unnecessary. It interrupts the flow between filling out information and hitting the “Submit” button by placing a big, intimidating lock at the end and forcing the user to create an account. Removing this part is a good idea.
Even if creating an account is deemed absolutely necessary, such as the case with usajobs.gov listed above, then it should take place in the account creation phase, and be completely separate from the job application form.
6. No distinguishing between buttons
Buttons which look the same but do very different functions (ie the Remove vs the Add) buttons are not good for user experience. Especially when they are right next to each other.
Solution: This is a two-part issue. When it comes to user experience design, it is critical to make the website, program, app or other digital product as difficult to screw up as possible (ideally, it should be made so it is impossible to screw up, and very easy to fix if an error has been made).
First off, the “add” button should be placed in a more prominent place than the “remove” button, encouraging job applicants to easily expand on their job history, while also keeping the remove button in a more discreet area (such as the top right) where the job applicant would have to go out of their way to delete the job title. It also helps to have a menu confirming that they do in fact, want to delete this section of their job history.
Secondly, the buttons should easily convey at a glance that this is what they are meant to do. For example, the “Add” button should have an icon such as a plus next to it, while the “Remove” button could be subtle and red, or it could have an X to denote that this is where you would go to delete the job section.
7. Bad button placement and no hierarchy
Here we not only find the same issue of buttons looking the exact same, but this time the button placement is also bad. Traditionally, buttons for advancing are placed on the right, whereas buttons for going back are found on the left. And yet, here it is reversed.
Worse yet, one section even had the Next button with a right pointing chevron, whereas the back button (replacing “Save and Continue later”) was pointing left. Which would make sense if they were in their correct placement, however in this case the buttons were just pointing at each other, and not in the proper direction. The color red is not favorable here either, as it looks as if the job applicant is being yelled at.
Again, this came from an extremely well known media company, which hires plenty of UX designers.
Solution: Again, this is a two part solution. On one hand, it is vital to take into consideration that WHERE the buttons are places is just as important as what they say. Since we can safely assume that this website was designed for a western audience. it is safe to say that the button allowing users to advance needs to be on the right hand side, while the button to go back should be on the left.
Additionally, I would recommend using a black color or something more subtle, instead of red.
8. Cryptic and vague error messages
When a message such as this one is displayed, it does not help the job applicant when they went to the trouble to fill out the online job application, just to be given a cryptic error message such as this one. In fact, it is more likely to make them feel anxiety, knowing they filled out a job application just to be told their application could not be processed, without any useful information on how to solve it.
Solution: Fortunately, this is a fairly easy solve, and it simply involves giving the job applicant directions on what to do. So instead of telling them there was an error and spitting out a cryptic error message, tell them exactly what happened, give them clear and simple directions on what they need to do apologize for any inconvenience.
In this case, a message such as “There was a server error. Please refresh your browser, or try again later. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused”. Perhaps it could even be taken a step further and give an option to email the job posting to the applicant, in case they want to reference it later once the server issue has been fixed.
9. Forcing individuals to fill out information which is not pertinent to them
I understand that you can simply enter N/A. But as user experience designers, it is out job to allow our users to accomplish the set task as quickly and easily as possible, with as few hurdles as possible. Unfortunately, the setup here is the result of what appears to be lazy design and programming. Instead of giving users the option to select what is relevant to them before providing additional fields, it forces non-relevant fields on the job applicant, therefore forcing them to compensate for poor design decisions.
Solution: Instead of presenting every possible field to the user and asking them to determine what is not relevant to them, these fields should be hidden unless the user selects “yes”.
As user experience designers, it is out job to allow our users to accomplish the set task as quickly and easily as possible, with as few hurdles in their path.
10. Incorrect labeling of fields
So this job position asked me to enter my phone number and instead, highlighted the LinkedIn box as being the source of the problem.
Solution: This is likely a bug, and unfortunately it is one which completely prevents job applicants from proceeding through and submitting their application. This was one of those job positions which I eventually gave up on, as no matter what I could do, it kept giving me stern error messages while simultaneously preventing me from completing the application. I eventually bounced off the page, and I am still getting emails from this company that my job application is incomplete.
So in other words, job applicants are getting blamed by the system for the job application being non-functional.
Unfortunately, it gets even worse. This job application for example, also screams at the user for something which has been made impossible for the job applicant to proceed. In this case, the form only gives the option to enter “Actual Graduation Date”. And yet, it requires a start date, which it does not provide a field for.
So once again, the job applicant is being blamed for not filling out a field which does not exist.
P.S. On another note, I have ran into issues with applications which only allow you to enter your formal education, and not additional certifications such as UX design bootcamps. For example, GPA is not relevant to certifications, and any dropdown for education should give the option for certificates, continuing education, bootcamps, etc, and not just the standard, run-of-the-mill tiers of degrees.
And the directions on the right side are also a bad idea and can be overlooked via “banner blindness” (at least, it was for me). Good design after all, is intuitive and should not require directions in the first place.
11. Forms where everything is scattered
I have seen this more often than I care to, and it is not doing the job applicant any particular favors. Scattered form fields have been proven time and time again to take longer to fill out, caused more frustration and higher bounce rates.
Solution: Start by identifying what makes sense to be group where. For example, perhaps “Preferred first name” should be grouped with “First name”, or it could have a check box users could select if the name provided is not their preferred name, which would then display the preferred first name column.
Also, cover letter and resume should be right next to each other, as this makes more sense than having them scattered across two columns in the disjointed manner that it is.
Another solution is to consider whether or not a one column vs two column approach is better to go with. Traditionally, it has been found in many user experience research studies (such as this one and this one) that having one column forms dramatically reduces the time it takes to complete. However, Hubspot found contradictory evidence when they switched from a one column form to a two column approach, and actually INCREASED conversion rates by 57%!
This would of course, require split A/B testing to determine the best form layout. I assume that the debate between one column vs two column depends on context, tasks asked, etc. In this case, it is always best to approach the problem like a scientist, rather than making assumptions. But just because Hubspot found contradictory results, does not mean that the one-column studies are invalid, or vice versa.
Also, that “Portfolio Password” section is looking awfully big. Which leads me to my next thought.
12. Boxes which are too large for the required field?
Why am I presented with a huge box in terms of salary requirements? Are they implying that they want me to tell them my life story when it comes to my expected salary range?
And here is another example of a form which is too large for the requested information. Not only will most of these fields not be required to be this long in general, but it is especially true when you are asked questions such as “what is the last four digits of your social security number”?
Do users really need an input field a mile long if they are just being requested to type in only four numbers?
Solution: Consider the length of each field, and what kind of information your users should put into each of these fields. The size of the box directly suggests the length of information they are being requested to enter.
For example, if you have a section where the user needs to enter the last four digits of their social security number, it does not make sense to have a huge text box where users can practically type their life story. Similarly, it does not make sense to have a small text box, when job seekers are expected to type a large amount of information.
13. Why is everything highlighted?!
The problem with this is that not only does it send a confusing message that everything is important, but it does nothing to help the user, either. Maybe you were the kind of kid who would highlight the whole textbook when you were studying. It’s great for ambition, but it probably didn’t help you in the long run.
Solution: Not only is highlighting unnecessary, it looks outdated as well. In this case, using the more subtly and also universally accepted star (*) to denote a required field would suffice.
14. They must REALLY want to know where I heard about this job from!
I mean, they not only asked me the question twice, but even made them required fields, and marked the text and boxes in red!
Solution: Double check where redundant information has been placed on the form. Like how employers frown upon typos and errors on resumes, it also looks bad to employees when they find errors in job applications, such as this one.
15. The page which seems as if it is more eager to collect data on job applicants than it is interested in actually getting to know them.
I understand that companies want to get to know the demographics of their job participants. However, when job applicants are being required to identify things which do not benefit them, such as where they heard about the job, it slows down the process and frustrates the user. If it is not directly related to the job applicant applying for the job, why are they being forced to answer it?
Some even worse examples I found included forms (including well known Silicon Valley tech companies) requiring users to identify their sexual orientation. It is even worse when they are not given the option to decline to answer.
Yikes.
Although I identify as a heterosexual, cisgender male, even I found myself uncomfortable being required to answer this question, kind of like being forced to invite someone into your underwear drawer. It’s personal information, and it is frankly none of anyone’s business, especially the prospective employers.
Requiring information such as this makes me as the job applicant feel like I am more important as a statistical number, than I am as a person.
Solution: Make these fields optional. Yes, I know the company wants to collect data on it’s job applicants. But in my experience, forcing the user to answer a question they don’t care to answer is never good. If they cannot skip it, they will often hit the dropdown menu and select the first thing they can so they can proceed. How widespread this behavior is, I have no idea. However, it greatly increases the chance of collecting incorrect data, which does not help the company anyway. At the very least, making the field optional will increase the accuracy of the data collected, since the information is being volunteered.
I have noticed across nearly every job board that they require job applicants to mention things such as ethnicity, disability status and veteran status. I am assuming some of these more widespread questions are required by law to be asked, in which case it would at least be nice to quickly identify somewhere on the page WHY I am being asked these questions, and that it does not affect the job applicant’s chances of being hired.
On the note of required fields, I also ran into this weird glitch, which completely prevented me from submitting the application. Since it was a required field, I could not proceed without telling them where I am from. And yet, it required feedback from the database to identify which country I live in, which was apparently not connecting properly.
So in other words, I was unable to complete and submit this application because of this weird loophole as well. Again, this is another situation where having this as an optional field would have been really nice.
16. So… what exactly am I supposed to fill out here?
The problem here is that the job applicant is being thrown a random form field, and therefore expected to know what they are supposed to fill in here. Although I can take a guess that I should say something along the lines of “I agree” in the box below, we never want to make the job applicant guess as to what the are supposed to do next.
Solution: Something such as a required checkbox or a required dropdown would suffice here. Also, since this field is not required (but seems important), it would be useful to make it required, but adding a star (*) to the left of the text.
17. Using check boxes when radio buttons are more appropriate?
The problem here is that the inappropriate selections are being presented to the job applicants. We are presenting them with check boxes, instead of radio buttons to make their selection. So it is entirely possible that someone could select both check boxes, and therefore give no relevant data to their potential employer.
On the plus side, it DOES include the very unlikely crowd who falls somewhere in between. Kinda like when you flip a coin and it lands on it’s side.
Solution: Jokes aside. this section needs radio buttons, instead of check boxes. Check boxes are good for tasks which may involve more than one valid answer, such as medical forms requiring patients to select all of the symptoms they are experiencing among a generated list. However, in this case it is detrimental to both the job applicant and the employer to give them more than one option to select. While they will almost certainly not select both, the job applicant could accidentally select both buttons at once, which in turn helps no one. Radio buttons by contrast, will only allow job applicants to make one, and only one selection.
18. Bad placement of open positions CTA & drowning users in non-relevant information.
I remember coming to this page, and looking all over for where I was supposed to apply. I first thought to scroll to the bottom to look for the CTA to apply, where CTAs are usually located. However, it was not there. Bewildered, I scrolled up to the top. I kept looking. And looking. And looking.
Finally, I found it. And it was smushed among all of the other text where this company brags about itself, which I didn’t care about. I knew I was interested in working with them, and I just wanted to go straight to apply.
If someone came to your job application page, always prioritize getting them to the job board itself. Not in trying to sell them on why they should work with your company. If they are on this page, assume they already want to work here, and stop trying to hard sell them on what they already want.
Solution: The biggest way I can see this page benefitting is by including large, clear CTAs and prioritizing the callout in a different placement, font size and most importantly, with plenty of room to be visible to people scanning the page. It is also important to reduce the sea of “bragging text” which drowns out the very reason people are applying to work with this company in the first place.
Many job pages have a callout on the bottom of the page. Now, it is perfectly acceptable to have more than one callout on the page. For example, one could be at the top, and another could be at the very end. However, it needs to be clearly distinguishable as a CTA to people who are skimming the page and directly want to apply.
19. More poorly laid out (and poorly described) job application pages
It is honestly surprising, and also a bit disappointing when I go to a a job application page, just to find double-spaced job descriptions which are also centered. Not only does it look extremely lazy and poorly thought out as this is very difficult to read, but it signifies how little thought this company is putting into it’s first interactions with the client.
Again, this is from… you guessed it… a major Fortune 500, heavily design-centered tech company.
Solution: The clear solution to fix this is to left align everything, remove the double spacing and give each category it’s own separate space. For example, the “UX Designer” overview paragraph should be clearly separate from the “responsibilities” section, which should also be clearly be separate from the “requirements” section.
On another note, it is frustrating when job applicants provide vague statements as to what they are looking for. In this example, they are clearly asking for a user experience designer. However, when you read the requirements section, they are asking for someone who has been either a UX designer, or a UI designer, but every other requirement asks more for the “left brain” flavor of UX designers, while UI is far more creative in nature. These are two very different specializations which, although they do mingle, are still very different.
When companies get roles like this mixed up, it makes me wonder how well this job is managed, or if the company actually knows what it is asking for. So providing clear expectations is key.
20. Honorable mention: The Great Wall of Text
Everyone who has ever applied for a job online has experienced this. Everyone. I have decided to call it “The Great Wall of Text”, similar to the Great Wall of China. In addition to being practically unreadable with no paragraph breaks, it is also often littered with random words and punctuation which makes the company look less credible.
The solution here is obvious. Don’t lazily copy/paste job descriptions into other job boards, since they are impossible to read. It’s bad enough for anyone trying to read the job description, much less someone with dyslexia or a screen reader.
Closing Thoughts
The point of this article, while humorous in nature, is meant to call out a serious issue every job applicant faces, UX designer or not.
Job applicants must already jump through a lot of hoops to get their resume, portfolio and experience in front of employers. Why must they also be subject to neglected design, especially from large tech firms and highly user experience centered, major companies?
Clearly, your company has something of great value to offer to these job seekers, or they wouldn’t have applied. They took time to apply for this position, put their best foot forward and hope for an interview. Qualified, enthusiastic job seekers want this position as much as employers want them.
But the process of getting them on board needs to be far easier than it is.
The purpose of this article is NOT meant to lambaste companies, but to call to attention what I have noticed across almost every site out there; bad user experience in the job application process can be anything from slightly irritating, to downright maddening, and sometimes even literally impossible to submit (often due to bugs).
From a current job seeker (and on behalf of all job seekers out there), this is a plea. Please improve the user experience of your job application. We want to be a part of your company as much as you need us to fill your job requirements. But making ourselves known to your company needs to be an easier process than it is.
And if the job application process is this tedious for many high profile tech positions, I can’t imagine how much worse it is for some companies where building websites and digital products is not the primary focus of the company, such as hospitals, law offices, schools and many others. I have heard horror stories from a friend of mine who is a physical therapist at a local hospital, and the process he described for new hospital staff applying for a position through their current website sounded downright excruciating.
Good design is not only something which makes everyone’s lives easier, but in many cases it is required to be able to properly complete tasks. If you an employer, PLEASE look at your job application. See how easy or difficult it is to use. If you have an established UX team, ask them to improve it. Not only does this make our job of applying to work with your company easier, it also makes finding good talent for the employer as well.
Before you go
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