Job Seeker Pain Index — Research Survey

Help us fix job search. Tell us what's broken. This is an independent research project exploring job search frustrations to inform better product design. Takes about 2 minutes. Completely anonymous — no name or email required.

Are you currently job searching, have searched in the last 12 months, or are passively open to new opportunities?

A

Actively searching now

B

Searched in the last 12 months

C

Passively open

What's your single biggest frustration with job searching? Pick the one that stings most.

A

🕳️ The Black Hole — applying and never hearing back

B

👻 The Mirage Market — ghost jobs, bot listings, fake postings

C

😔 The Emotional Tax — the psychological toll of rejection and uncertainty

D

📭 The Relevance Gap — irrelevant job matches and recruiter outreach that misses the mark

E

🤝 The Network Wall — knowing connections matter but not knowing how to activate them

F

🤖 The ATS Black Box — feeling like your resume never reaches a human

G

✏️ Other — something else is driving me crazy

If you chose other in the previous question, describe your biggest frustration in your own words — be as specific as you want.

Optional: Can you give us one specific example of this happening to you recently?

Where do you spend most of your job search time?

A

LinkedIn primarily

B

Indeed primarily

C

Split across multiple platforms equally

D

Mostly going direct to company career pages

E

Other job boards (ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, etc.)

F