Robert Half Talent Solutions

ROBERT HALF

Robert Half Talent Solutions

Principal Product & Experience Strategist · Bottle Rocket · 2021–2024 · Consumer Mobile · Product Leadership

Robert Half is one of the largest professional staffing companies in the world. Their native iOS and Android app serves job seekers across the US and Canada, handling everything from job search and profile management to interview scheduling and time reporting. I led product strategy, UX architecture, and an 18-person cross-functional team through a three-year engagement and four annual release cycles. The result: a 4.8 App Store rating, 50,000+ reviews, and six Golden Stevie Awards.

CONTEXT

Two markets, two languages, four releases a year.

The app served two markets with different regulatory requirements and had to operate fully in English and Canadian French. Every design decision had to hold across both contexts. Four major release cycles per year meant work was always in two states at once: shipping one version while designing the next.

JOB SEARCH AND DISCOVERY

The core job search experience needed to surface relevant opportunities quickly, without requiring users to learn a complex filter system.

The app combined intuitive search and filtering with the client's proprietary matching AI to surface jobs that fit what users were looking for. One-tap applications kept friction low and encouraged users to build accounts and apply broadly. A personalized dashboard gave each user a fast, clear view of their activity and what needed attention next.

THE PROFILE PROBLEM

Data analysis revealed something specific: candidates were missing job matches not because they were unqualified, but because they weren't updating their profiles after placements. The gap was not in the matching algorithm. It was in the completeness of the input.

The solution was targeted micro-interactions at moments when the system already knew something had changed. Rather than asking users to remember to update their profiles, the app prompted them with specific, relevant information it could already surface, at the right moment and in the right context.

Candidates in the cohort receiving these prompts were placed more than twice as often as the control group.

INTERVIEW SCHEDULING

Scheduling is time-sensitive and high-stakes for job seekers. The app sent notifications for time-sensitive opportunities and provided clear flows for selecting time slots or proposing alternatives when offered times did not work. Once scheduled, users could access details, add the interview to their calendar, reschedule, or cancel, without leaving the app.

SCALE AND PROCESS

Two process problems needed solving simultaneously: the client's and our own.

Robert Half's internal review cycles had a tendency toward churn. I responded with structure: defined review gates, meticulous documentation of every decision and change, and consistent transparency about what additional rounds of feedback would cost in time and scope. Over the course of the engagement, their teams arrived to reviews more prepared and aligned, because the process made the expectations clear.

On our side, I held every internal review to a high standard of cross-disciplinary honesty. All disciplines were present at all stages, and the expectation was direct critique rather than diplomatic hedging. A team that catches problems before the client sees them, and trusts each other enough to have hard conversations about the work, is the reason a product stays tight across three years and four release cycles a year.

A 4.8 App Store rating across 50,000+ reviews is one way to measure what that produced.

Two process problems needed solving simultaneously: the client's and our own.

A 4.8 App Store rating across 50k+ reviews is one way to measure what that produced.