...

Background on International Students

Imagine a freshman at a top college in the country top U.S. college who sees everyone getting ready for the career fair in September. He  He is new to the country and doesn’t understand exactly how recruiting works. His  His friends tell him that he needs to talk to recruiters at the career fair, collect business cards and send follow up emails, and most .  Most importantly, he needs a high-quality professional one-page resume that summarizes his previous experience to future employers.

Building a Resume

He is not sure how to get the resume built, and his one friend tells him about IvyPlusResumes.  Here, he can go online, make his resume, print it out, and build a resume, make it publicly viewable to recruiters, and print it out.  He opens IvyPlusResumes, creates an account, and begins using the site.  Please relax as you consider the challenges of recruiting for international students.  Feel free to think aloud and ask any questions.

Scenario Tasks

Task 1

In order to write a resume, list all of the necessary details about your past experience.

...

We conducted six user tests with our paper prototype during the class sessions.  Two of these students were international (one was a graduate student and the other was an undergrad).  We also ran two additional tests on international students in a dorm.  Below are typed notes regarding each task and a summary of the feedback we received regarding each task.

Task 1

Notes

• Users generally click on input field and then start typing
• A couple of users use tab to move between input fields
• User sometimes tries click on hint bubbles
• User expected correct examples in hint bubbles
• One user would have preferred separate start and end date input fields
• One user thought “Relevant Coursework” meant include a single class
• One user tried to add a long-form description into “Comment” field
• Bullet points could prompt the user to use short, direct descriptions
• “Address” field might be confusing (is it a mailing, home, or college address?)
• “Comment” field might be confusing, consider changing to “Accomplishment”, “Task”, or “Objective”
• “Add Comment” link sounds like it saves the text typed in the “Comment” field
• Missing a “Save” or “Next” button on first iteration

...

One tester asked us why we did not pre-fill education and biographic information on the resume, since they thought it was always necessary.  In the second iteration, we pre-filled the biographic information these details and people appreciated it.

...

• Added “Save and Continue” button on the bottom right corner
• Added a calendar selector for the date fields across the first task

Task 2

• Added a “Save and Continue” button on the bottom right corner
• Removed the “Save” button
• Pre-populated Education and Biographic Information in the resume as users always added these details to the resume
• Limited user input in Task 2 to a one-page resume.  We will consider a pop-up notification indicating that the student is trying to add too much information

...