Served Up 687K New Job Applications
Serving Careers Campaign for North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA)
The Challenge
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals were hesitant to return to work, particularly in the service sectors. The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) faced the urgent need to overcome negative stereotypes within the hospitality industry, attract qualified talent, and encourage new applicants for available roles. North Carolina’s tourism sector relies on over half a million workers in food service, hospitality, and related fields. However, since the pandemic began, employers have struggled to attract and retain reliable staff due to reluctance to work in person and a lack of recognition of the industry's value. Additionally, there was a 10% gap between available positions and the number of applicants, necessitating an effective site and campaign to bridge this gap.
My Role: UX Designer
As a UX Designer contracted by Pace Communications, I collaborated with a multidisciplinary team that included designers, researchers, developers, art directors, creative directors, writers, project managers, and account representatives. My primary responsibilities focused on UX design, specifically creating the site map and developing wireframes to enhance the user experience for the Serving Careers campaign.
The Solution
The team identified five key audience segments: hiring managers, small-business owners, entry-level employees with no industry experience, mid-level workers with previous industry experience, and mid-level workers new to the industry. Our approach centered on developing the Serving Careers campaign, which highlighted authentic stories from real-world workers in North Carolina’s hospitality sector. This narrative-driven strategy aimed to reshape perceptions of the industry and showcase the tangible benefits and opportunities available to potential employees.
Objectives
The strategy aimed to illuminate the true value of careers in the hospitality industry through the personal stories of local workers. By placing these narratives at the forefront of a candidate-first website, we sought to:
Inspire Job Seekers: Demonstrate the benefits and opportunities within the hospitality industry through compelling personal stories.
Enhance User Experience: Create an intuitive and user-friendly interface that allows easy navigation, career exploration, access to powerful stories, and seamless job application processes.
Increase Employer Engagement: Facilitate connections between job seekers and employers to efficiently fill open positions.
UX Requirements
My role was to inspire, engage, and connect job seekers with employers in the hospitality industry by integrating content and functionality to create an exceptional user experience. The key requirements included:
Inspire: Organize content logically to ensure easy navigation and quick access to inspiring stories and career journeys.
Engage: Present the hospitality industry authentically and compellingly, integrating storytelling elements to motivate candidates to take proactive steps.
Find: Develop a robust search functionality that connects job seekers to hospitality job listings on Indeed.com, tailored to their location and interests.
Results
The Serving Careers campaign successfully built trust and confidence in hospitality jobs, whether temporary or long-term, effectively meeting the needs of prospective candidates. Key outcomes included:
687K new job applications attributed to the campaign.
176% above Indeed’s benchmark for job application rates.
By transforming the Serving Careers website into a user-centric platform, we achieved significant improvements in attracting and retaining qualified talent for the hospitality industry, ultimately supporting the needs of both job seekers and employers.
Learn More
Discover the Serving Careers campaign and its impact: Serving Careers