Job Posting System — Full Product Design (PRD/FRD)

• By Mohsin shakoor
• August 27, 2025August 27, 2025
• Education

1) Purpose & Goals

• Enable vendors/clients to post well-scoped jobs quickly.
• Enable freelancers to discover, evaluate, and apply with clear proposals.
• Improve time-to-hire, quality of matches, and transparency for both sides.

2) User Roles

• Vendor (Client): Posts jobs, reviews applicants, hires, manages contracts.
• Freelancer: Creates profile, searches jobs, applies, messages, delivers work.
• Admin/Moderator: Reviews content, handles reports/disputes, manages categories.

3) Core Entities & Fields (Field-Level Spec)

A. Job (Vendor → “Post a Job” form)

Required fields

• Job Title (text, 10–80 chars)
  Example: “Redesign Homepage in Figma”
  Validation: Must include a verb + deliverable.
• Description (rich text, 200–3000 chars)
  Structure prompt shown in UI: Scope, deliverables, success criteria, tech stack, references.
  Disallow: Emails/phone numbers if using on-platform messaging only.
• Budget Type (enum: Fixed, Hourly)
• Budget
  • If Fixed: Min Amount + Max Amount (USD/PKR/…)
  • If Hourly: Rate Range + Estimated Hours
• Timeline
  • Start Window (date range)
  • Deadline (date) or Estimated Duration (e.g., 2 weeks)
• Category (select one; hierarchical)
  e.g., Design → UI/UX
• Skills (multi-select tags; 3–10)
  e.g., Figma, Prototyping, Design Systems
• Experience Level (enum: Junior, Mid, Senior)
• Engagement Type (enum: One-off, Ongoing, Part-time, Full-time contract)
• Work Mode (enum: Remote, On-site, Hybrid + Location if not remote)
• Language(s) (multi-select; proficiency optional)
• Visibility (enum: Public, Invite-only)
• Application Questions (0–5 short questions)
  e.g., “Share a similar project link.” “What’s your approach and timeline?”

Optional fields

• Attachments (PDF/JPG/PNG/ZIP up to 25MB; up to 5 files) with virus scan
• NDA Required (checkbox; forces NDA acceptance before viewing full details)
• Preferred Timezone/Hours Overlap (text/select)
• Budget Notes (text)

System fields

• Status (enum: Draft, Published, Closed, Archived, Flagged)
• Owner (Vendor ID), Created At, Updated At

B. Application (Freelancer → “Apply”)

Required

• Cover Letter/Proposal (300–1500 chars; prompt displayed: approach, milestones, risks)
• Bid
  • If job is Fixed → Proposed fixed amount
  • If Hourly → Proposed hourly rate + estimated hours
• Proposed Timeline (date or duration)
• Portfolio Links (1–3 URLs) or Attach Samples (up to 3)
• Answers to Vendor Questions (from job)
• NDA Acceptance (if required)

System

• Application Status (enum: Submitted, Shortlisted, Interview, Offer, Hired, Rejected, Withdrawn)
• Timestamps; Freelancer ID; Job ID

C. Messaging (Vendor ↔ Freelancer)

• Thread per Job + Applicant, attachments allowed (10MB/file), typing indicators, read receipts.
• Safety filters for emails/phones if platform requires on-platform comms.

D. Contract (Post-hire)

• Hire Type (Fixed, Hourly)
• Milestones (title, amount, due date) for Fixed; Weekly Timesheets for Hourly
• Escrow (if supported), Cancellation Policy, Dispute Hooks

E. Reviews (post-completion)

• Rating 1–5, Comment, optional skill tags endorsed.

4) Workflows

A. Vendor – Post a Job

1. Go to Post a Job → fill fields (guided prompts + char counters).
2. Preview job → Publish (or Save as Draft).
3. On publish: Confirmation + quick link: “Invite freelancers” / “Share job link”.

Validation & Errors

• Title too short/long → “Use 10–80 characters and be specific (e.g., ‘Build Shopify landing page’).”
• Description missing scope → inline prompt: “Add deliverables and success criteria.”
• Budget missing range → “Enter min & max or switch to Hourly.”

B. Freelancer – Discover & Apply

1. Search/Filters: keyword, category, skills, budget range, type, experience level, posted date, language, location, remote only, client rating.
2. Job Card shows: title, budget, type, key skills, time posted, badges (NDA/Featured).
3. Open Job Details → Apply (if eligible).
4. Fill proposal + bid + timeline + answers → Submit (get confirmation & thread).

C. Vendor – Manage Applicants

• Applicants Tab: sortable by rating, relevance, bid, experience.
• Actions: View profile, view proposal, Shortlist, Message, Reject, Make Offer.
• Bulk actions: shortlist/reject multiple.
• Audit: time-stamped changes.

D. Hire → Contract

• Vendor clicks Make Offer → define contract terms → Freelancer Accepts → Contract Active.
• If escrow/payment: prompt to Fund Milestone 1 before work starts.

E. Close Job

• Vendor clicks Close Job (auto when hire is made, optional for multiple hires).
• Remaining applicants notified.

5) Job & Application Lifecycles

Job Status Flow:
Draft → Published → (Flagged) → Closed → Archived

Application Status Flow:
Submitted → Shortlisted → Interview → Offer → (Hired | Rejected | Withdrawn)

Automations

• Auto-close after X days without activity (configurable).
• Nudge emails: “You have 10 new applicants,” “Respond to shortlisted candidates”.

6) Search & Discovery

Filters: keyword, category, skills, budget type & range, experience, posted date, remote, language, client rating.
Sort: Most recent, Budget high→low, Best match (skills/keywords), Most applicants (for social proof).
Saved Jobs & Alerts: Freelancer can save jobs and receive daily/weekly alerts.

7) Dashboards

Vendor Dashboard

• My Jobs: Draft/Published/Closed with counts.
• Applicants per Job: table with status, bid, timeline, rating.
• Messages: centralized inbox.
• Insights: time to first application, avg bid, skill match heatmap.

Freelancer Dashboard

• My Applications: status tracker.
• Recommendations: jobs matching skills history.
• Profile Strength Meter: prompts to improve profile.

Admin Console

• Moderate jobs, approve flagged items, edit categories/skills, run reports, export data.

8) Notifications (Email/In-App)

• Vendor: on new application, new message, acceptance/withdrawal.
• Freelancer: on shortlist/interview/offer/reject, new message, job closed.
• Rate limits to prevent spam; daily digests.

9) Permissions & Policies

• Only verified vendors can publish jobs (optional setting).
• NDA gate: applicants must accept before viewing full specs.
• Anti-spam: cooling-off between posts, profanity/PII filters.
• Reporting: users can report job or applicant; admin receives case.

10) Localization, Currency, Time

• Multi-currency budgets (store in base currency + original).
• Show timezone on deadlines; convert for viewer; date format per locale.

11) File Rules

• Allowed: PDF, DOCX, PNG, JPG, ZIP.
• Size: up to 25MB each, 5 files/job; 10MB/message attachment.
• Virus scan + type validation; strip EXIF for images if needed.

12) Analytics & KPIs

• Jobs Posted, Applications/Job, Time-to-First-Application, Time-to-Hire.
• Fill Rate, Offer Acceptance Rate, Quality Score (based on reviews).
• Funnel for Freelancer: views → clicks → applies → shortlisted → hired.

13) Acceptance Criteria (MVP)

• Vendor can publish a job with all required fields and see it in listings.
• Freelancer can search, view details, and apply with proposal + bid.
• Vendor can shortlist, message, and hire one applicant.
• Notifications sent for each key event.
• Admin can flag/unflag a job and archive it.

14) Example (Fully Filled “Post a Job”)

• Title: “E-commerce Product Page Redesign (Figma + CRO)”
• Description: “We need a CRO-focused redesign of 3 product pages for a Shopify store. Deliverables: wireframes, hi-fi mockups, and a clickable prototype. Success = +10% conversion. Tech: Figma, GA4 insights…”
• Budget Type: Fixed
• Budget Range: $600–$900
• Timeline: Start next week; deadline in 14 days
• Category: Design → UI/UX
• Skills: Figma, UX Writing, CRO, Prototyping, Design Systems
• Experience Level: Mid
• Engagement: One-off
• Work Mode: Remote
• Languages: English (Fluent)
• Questions:
  1. “Share a similar redesign case study.”
  2. “Outline your 3-step approach.”
• Attachments: Brand guideline PDF
• NDA: Not required
• Visibility: Public

15) Roadmap (Post-MVP)

• Escrow + Milestones, Interview scheduling, Video calls, AI-assisted job description & proposal scoring, Spam detection, Skill tests, Featured jobs.

16) QA Test Scenarios (Samples)

• Post a job missing budget → inline error; cannot publish.
• Apply without answering vendor questions → blocked with specific error.
• Nudge emails triggered after 48h of no vendor action.
• “Invite-only” job not visible in public listing; invite link works.
• Attachment type spoofing blocked; large files rejected gracefully.

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