Buff Hire
University of Colorado Boulder

Project Type Independent
Role Product Design, UI/UX Design

The University of Colorado Boulder needed an engaging way to introduce strategic communication students to the endless possibilities in the creative industries. Following extensive UX research, I concepted, designed, and prototyped a job search application to not only benefit students and alumni but expand the university's reputation across the field of public relations, advertising, and design.

Boulder, Colorado is an ever-growing advertising and design hub, providing students from CU's new College of Media, Communication and Information with endless career opportunities. But, helping students take advantage of these opportunities is only possible with an innovative platform designed to actively connect students to the creative industries. By getting the creative community and alumni more involved, the College of Media, Communication, and Information can use Buff Hire to build lasting connections to the industry and place their graduates into the most competitive roles from Boulder to cities across the U.S.

Explore the creative industries & common career paths.

Buff Hire's experience provides users with an engaging platform to discover new possibilities, while its clean and modern interface inspires students and alumni to apply for their next role.

EXPLORE INDUSTRIES
Students can quickly learn about the three areas of emphasis in the degree program: public relations, advertising, and design. 

EXPLORE CAREER PATHS
Buff Hire enables students to explore popular career paths in each area of emphasis, quickly providing an overview, companies where buffs work, and notable alumni.

Explore job openings, companies hiring, and networking events.

FEATURED JOBS
The featured jobs visible to each user depend on the career paths they save with the star icon. Insights from the research phase revealed that students want to quickly see the listings' deadline, requirements, and date posted which is provided for each job.

HIRING COMPANIES
Companies and alumni can create an account to post job openings directed at CU Boulder students. This is especially helpful to Boulder's boutique advertising and design agencies that actively seek young creative talent. 

UPCOMING EVENTS
CU Boulder can post upcoming events directed at strategic communication students, and students can easily RSVP to the event using the check icon. 

Favorite jobs and companies for a personalized job search experience.

By saving jobs and companies with the star icon, the user will get more accurate suggestions for "featured jobs" in the home feed as well as notifications for new job postings from their favorite companies. It also enables users to quickly access jobs and companies of interest to apply or reference later.

Search for jobs, companies, and events from any screen.

With Buff Hire, it's quick and easy to search for job postings, companies hiring, and networking events at any point with the global search bar. Users will see similar jobs, companies, or events to the one they are searching for to expand their options. It's easy to save jobs and companies as well as RSVP to events directly from the search results. 

Message job posters directly to build connections.

Companies will have the option to enable messaging when posting a new job opening. With the message feature, students and alumni can get all their questions answered, ask for informational interviews, and start to build meaningful connections in the industry. It also allows companies to get to know their candidates and see who is truly interested and willing to reach out. 

Build a profile to showcase experience and stand out. 

Add degree information, a resume, and a portfolio for potential employers to quickly access. The profile is also where users will showcase the networking events they'll be attending. Users can easily add a profile overview, job experience, leadership/activities, and honors/awards with the plus icon.