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Gone in 60 seconds. The Candidate Registration Process

Author: Thomas Shaw
Date: 1:25am Monday 09 November 2009

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Most sites make it very hard for a job seeker to register for an account. The first problem they face is being redirected from the initial page they were viewing to a separate registration page. Secondly, there are often required fields like username, email address or password which require validation of some sorts.

Previously, I have talked about using jQuery Modal Boxes to improve your recruitment website. Using this technology we can eliminate the first problem in redirecting job seekers to a separate webpage, saving page download time, and make the process much more enjoyable.

The second problem is a bit more complicated.

Most job sites will wait for the user to submit a form before processing any errors. Some will validate one field at a time, others will report on all the errors at once.

Unfortunately, if you have a form that has multiple required fields, you could have the job seeker submitting the same form over and over again. Boring... By now the job seeker would have given up and left your site!

By implementing a validation process that checks the fields as you type (or as you move to the next field). You can notify the user of any errors or suggestions immediately, instead of wasting their time processing the form once completed.

The job seeker registration process should be as simple as possible. If you spend some time improving the use of your website, you will offer the user a much enjoyable experience.

Direct URL: http://www.recruitmentdirectory.com.au/Blog/gone-in-60-seconds-the-candidate-registration-process-a292.html

Tags: user experience seek.com.au seek password strength jquery modal boxes ui ux online recruitment job sites job boards candidate registration form validation validation process job seeker

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	Mark (4:37pm Monday 09 November 2009) Nice to see SEEK's quick adopter strategy at work, although in this case, 12 month's behind JobsJobsJobs with the jquery reg and some of our other forms. As a note, the username validation has been on the SEEK registration form for some time.
	Thomas Shaw (5:53pm Monday 09 November 2009) Hi Mark, True, and I posted an example of your implementation in this post Improving your Recruitment Website - jQuery Modal Boxes But saying that, what effect has your implementation on the splash "job spotter signup form" before the the external application form had on the application count?
	Mark (12:03am Tuesday 10 November 2009) Thanks. I did see your earlier comment. I haven't seen any noticeable change in app volume; however, a small number of users may have dropped out as with any form. External applications are always problematic. Cheers.
	Peter (11:28am Tuesday 10 November 2009) I think it is common knowledge that SEEK applies a "fast follower strategy". I am not sure "quick adopter strategy" is the best description for what they do I think "copycat strategy" is more aligned to what they do. Take this new form for example, it is all over the place in IE8. On top of that the apply page has also been copied but to make it look different they have added a login pop-up. Good try but that doesn't make sense because now you have to fill this in twice. How odd?
	Tag44 (7:10pm Tuesday 10 November 2009) Thanks for the post and sharing your information.