simple steps to stay motivated on the job hunt

HOW DO YOU KEEP DISCOURAGED, UNEMPLOYED

PEOPLE ON THE JOB HUNT?

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SOME FACTS

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In October ’12, the unemployment rate was at 7.9%

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That doesn’t include the people who have given up

looking for jobs

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What if we could raise their morale and get them back

on the job hunt?

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What could we achieve with that?

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-Potential economic impact-Raise standards of living-Improve health

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So who was my target audience?

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Target Audience - Sam

Sam (fictional)-44 years old-father of two-unemployed programmer-down on his luck-five months unemployed

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HOW DO WE GET SAM TO DO WHAT

HE ALREADY WANTS TO DO?

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Change his homepage to a job site

Join a mailing list / newsletter for employment opportunities

Sign up for an account on job site

WELL, HE COULD...

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HOW I DESIGNED AND TESTED THESE

BEHAVIORS

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RUNNING TRIALS

(Thanks for tweeting, BJ!)

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(A FEW) TRIALS I RAN

-health issues --> forced to quit-have been working part -time-electrical engineering degree-hard time breaking into CS / marketing jobs-looking for entry-level office work because of health problems-using LinkedIn to find opportunities

S.L.

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(A FEW) TRIALS I RAN

M.B.-unemployed after moving from LA to Palo Alto-looking actively, cautiously optimistic-few jobs for skill set-setting up informational meetings to gain connections-volunteering to network-using Jewish Vocational Service (JVS.org) to find opportunities

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1. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...

many people already have accounts on certain job sites

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1. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...increase user activity

it’s just a matter of getting them to check or browse them more

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1. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...increase user activity

I know this because participants in my trials told me that they already have accounts on the sites

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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BEHAVIOR DESIGNincrease user activity

It’s harder to do something they are unfamiliar with than to get them to do more of what they already do

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2. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...

unless they’re already tech-savvy, most people don’t know how easy it is to change their homepages / default new tab pages

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2. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...

I know this because participants in my trials were reluctant to change their homepages until I followed up with simple, terse steps

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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BEHAVIOR DESIGN

Sometimes people overestimate how hard it is or

long it will take to do a simple behavior.

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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BEHAVIOR DESIGN

Sometimes people overestimate how hard it is or

long it will take to do a simple behavior.

Explicitly listing out, in terse bullet point format, how to do a behavior can help.

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3. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...

most people aren’t fully aware of the newsletters or learning/networking opportunities that job sites provide

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3. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...

I know this because one of my participants cited JVS.org (Jewish Vocational Service) as having good resources and workshops (for people of any religion)

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3. WHAT FEW PEOPLE REALIZE IS...

So sign up for some other accredited sites; they might be spammy, but you can always unsubscribe, and there may be some gems in the newsletters.

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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BEHAVIOR DESIGN

Educate people on (make explicit) the positive consequences of desired behaviors.

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Contact me!-Andrew Han-freshman at Stanford-student in BJ Fogg’s Behavior Design class

Thank you!

Questions? Comments?

@handrewsayshandrew@stanford.edu

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