MAKS

Highlights

• Blueprinted and visualized core processes
• Redesigned service for jobseekers
• Co-created new CRM

How might we support underprivileged job seekers to effectively demonstrate their skills?

Nonprofit MAKS aids underprivileged people in Brussels to get a job, through digital skills workshops and job search support.

One of the projects at MAKS is the video CV. A multimedia introduction of jobseekers that they send along with their CV. My challenge during this pro bono project was to increase the effectiveness of the current video CV approach.

Here’s a video about our process and results (in Dutch):

We structured our collaboration via the typical double diamond design process

That means that we first took time to better understand the problem space and to define challenges for the project. Only after that was done, we started investigating solutions.

Our initial exploratory workshops lead to two guiding questions:

• How could we structure and externalize the job coaching approach?
• How could the video CV and storytelling become a key component of the job coaching at MAKS?

Blueprinting the job coaching approach

Through interviews and workshops, we co-created a blueprint of the coaching approach.

This process yielded two main tools:

• A visual checklist symbolizing a mountain climb.
• A stop-motion video that introduced the coaching team and their approach.

Here’s a video (in Dutch):

Administration simplification

While we were at it, we also simplified the administration of the job coaching. The job coaches were frustrated with their current tooling in Excel. So we reviewed their current way of working, and decided to try Airtable to build a custom CRM that the team could update themselves.

This proved to work well. The internal IT champions amongst the job coaches immediately understood how it worked. We co-created the first version, and the champions were able to expand the Airtable to meet their job coaching needs.

The champions and I organized a workshop to introduce the new version to the rest of the team, and they were off to a stellar start.

Researching and co-creating a new video CV format

With those first practical challenges addressed, we could move on to our more long-term design goal: investigating how the video CV could fit within the job coaching approach.

We interviewed potential employers to understand what worked and what needed improvement in the current video CVs.

Insights from user testing the video CV’s

The video CV should not just replicate a CV but rather demonstrate the jobseeker’s skills. We coined it as a ‘video demo’. This also served as a preparation tool for the jobseeker, building their confidence for an actual interview.

Testing the new video demo format

We tested this concept by creating a new video demo and requested feedback from potential employers. The feedback was used to further refine the video demo concept, creating a checklist and a guide for job coaches to help job seekers create effective video demos.

Here’s a preview of that guide.

The MAKS team is now creating its first video demos

And the team is applying for grants to continue developing the format further.