Challenge: "I don't want to log into another platform just to message a candidate"

When job seekers apply to jobs, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and make mistakes. They have to manage emails, scheduling, interviews, and follow-ups while updating spreadsheets, Notion, or Trello just to stay organized.

We built Joblin to solve this. The first version was a shared job board and task tracker designed to improve communication between recruiters and candidates.

When we tested the initial version, candidates saw the value, but recruiters were hesitant. Many of Joblin's early features like task tracking and follow-up reminders overlapped with what recruiters already had in ATS tools like Greenhouse, Lever, and iCIMS. Recruiters shared that adding another tool to their workflow felt redundant and would create more overhead. Joblin's first version only works if both sides use it, the challenge was that if recruiters didn't use it, the tool lost its value.

The Problem Still Remained

Recruiters weren't willing to adopt the tool, and integrating with ATS systems would take time and resources we didn't have.

Meanwhile, candidates were still struggling with the same problem. Managing applications across emails, spreadsheets, Notion, and Trello was time-consuming and messy. It required constant copy-pasting and manual updates just to stay organized. We started asking ourselves: How can we help candidates stay organized without depending on recruiters to use the tool?

How We Approached the Design

With clarity from recruiter interviews, we redefined Joblin as a candidate-first communication and tracking tool. We simplified Joblin to do one thing well: help job seekers manage recruiter communication and track their job search. The new Joblin helps job seekers stay organized, spot important messages, and to reduce manual work.

✉️ 1. Joblin Email for Every User

When a candidate signs up, they receive a unique Joblin-generated email address (e.g., emma.wang@joblin.app). They use this email when applying to jobs.

All job-related communication flows into one place. It also allows Joblin to automatically organize emails into threads by job or company.

💬 2. Threaded Inbox with Classifier

Joblin's core feature is a classifier that organizes emails into threads and highlights what candidates need to act on, like interview invites or recruiter messages. Emails are grouped by job or company, and each thread is labeled as either “Action Required” or “No Action Needed” so candidates can easily see what needs their attention. When a task is complete, candidates can mark the thread as done, and it will no longer require their attention.

📅 3. Auto-Sync Calendar Invites

When Joblin finds a calendar invite (.ics file) in an email, it automatically forwards it to the candidate's Gmail. This way, the event shows up in the candidate's own calendar.

🌐 4. Public Profile Overview

Joblin lets candidates create a simple public profile that shows their job interests, resume, and availability. This gives recruiters the context they need up front and reduces back-and-forth during the first conversation.

Recruiters appreciated this feature and said it helped reduce the time spent on the first conversation. Job seekers liked it too. They didn't have to answer the same things again and again.

Outcome & Next Steps

Joblin is now redesigned and prototyped with a clear focus on job seekers. Core features like email routing, a smart classifier, and calendar forwarding are in place and ready for testing. Our next step is to test with job seekers to see how they use Joblin emails, whether the classifier helps them focus, and how easily they manage calendar invites.

We'll also observe how Joblin compares to the tools they already use, like Gmail, Notion, or spreadsheets. Based on the feedback, we'll refine the thread grouping logic, and adjust the onboarding flow to help users get started with less friction.

Reflection

This project taught me the value of starting small, testing early, and being okay with things being scrappy at first. Building a product is a cycle. There's no perfect version, just continuous learning and improvement. I also learned how important it is to focus on the core pain points and work with what you have.

Most importantly, I learned that good design it's about communication, collaboration, and having enough technical understanding to make ideas real.