How Much does it cost to develop a Job search App?

Gone are the days when applicants had to visit multiple offices with their resumes tucked in their hands with little to no guarantee of whether it would ever pass the reception area. 

In today’s time, everything from searching for a new job to applying for one and scheduling the interview happens on mobile. Mobile applications like Indeed, Monster.com, etc. have made it a matter of a few clicks to reach the inbox of a dream company. 

This ease and comfort that the job search app domain offers has helped in not just shaping a concentrated market but have also become the reason behind the spiking interest coming in from entrepreneurs looking to enter a profit friendly sector. 

The ripple effect of this demand has been entrepreneurs seeking answers to questions like How Much Does It Cost To Develop a Job finder mobile app? 

We intend to answer the question along with details of every factor that drives it in this article. 

1. Job Search App Market
2. About Indeed App
3. Indeed App In the News
4. Must-Have Features of a Job Portal App
5. The Designing Principles That Should Guide a Job Search Application
6. Technology Stack of a Job Search Application
7. How Much Does Job Search App Development Costs?
8. Challenges Associated With Job Search App Development
9. How to earn money on your job search application?
10. How to make your job search app successful?

Job Search App Market 

One of the reasons why entrepreneurs are open and willing to spend x amount in the name of cost of job search app development with less to zero friction is the scope of the market a job finder application operates in. 

The size of the market that you just saw is dominated by a set type of applicants, who also form the user persona of the sector. Let us look into that to give you a clear idea of who would your efforts and indeed clone app development cost will be directed on. 

Ruling these applicants and the name behind the high market scope of the sector is Indeed. The businesses, started in 2004, have taken several strides to become the go-to platform of job search domain across the globe. 

The popularity of domain is in many ways what has become the reason why entrepreneurs look for an answer to what is the cost to develop job search app. 

About Indeed App

Indeed is a comprehensive job search mobile app. The app provides an extensive database of thousands of companies while enabling the users to create their profile and apply for those jobs straight through their mobile devices. 

Let us look at some of the statistics that highlight the market scope and the benefits of building an app like Indeed. 

Indeed App In the News 

One of the primary reasons why businesses spend so much amount in the creation and in estimating the Indeed like job portal app development cost is the fame that it brings along with it. Indeed, has almost always been in the news for its services and the quality that it offers. A few of those instances can be seen in:

1. Indeed recently launched a hiring platform, which is focused on employers looking for better matchmaking amongst themselves and the technology professionals. Known as Seen by Indeed, the new product is based on their other product, Indeed Prime. The only difference is that offers a more holistic view of the tech talent.
2. In the beginning of this year, Indeed partnered with Goodwill Industries International to help over 1 million job seekers find work. The plans behind this partnership was to associate with employers to host job events at the Goodwill locations, and offer training to the employees on how to build online resume and perform online job searches.
3. Last year, Indeed leased a massive new space in Seattle with the hope to keep at its expedited growth in the city. 

Must-Have Features of a Job Portal App 

When you invest in the process to develop job finder app like Indeed, you invest in three app versions – Users, Recruiters, and Admin Panel. 

Let us look at the features of what each individual app version entails – one you’ll have to consider when you build job portal apps like Indeed. 

Applicant Side of the App

1. Sign up/Login

This is the first screen of the application that your applicants will interact with. They will be given two options here – to either sign up or login. Ideally, you should give them the option to sign up or login through social media or email id, to save the time they would take to enter the app. 

2. Profile Edit

This functionality of the app deals in the creation and editing of profile. Here, your applicants will be able to enter their details and set preferences in terms of what they are looking for in their next job. 

3. Upload Resume 

This feature enables applicants to upload their resume on the application for the recruiters to view. 

4. Write Resume 

In addition to giving the applicants the ease to upload their resume right from within the application, you should also give them the option to write the resume inside the application, through the mode of question and answer forms. 

5. Job Filter 

One of the primal functions that affects the job finder mobile app cost is Search and Filter. The search and filter option should be made extensive and precise enough for applicants to get results of exactly what they are looking for. 

6. Mail Resume 

The one feature that can improve your app engagement and session time to a massive extent is keeping applicants from opening multiple platforms to send across their resume to the recruiter. The connection between email and the app should be such that the user don’t have to leave the platform to send the CV to the recruiter. 

7. Job Alerts

This would be a push notification centric feature that would update the applicants of when there is a job opening according to their set criteria. Like every well strategized push notification strategy, here also you should take into consideration the timing and the message you are sending to the users. 

 8. Save Job 

Through this functionality you will make it possible for the applicants to save a job they like to apply at a later stage, maybe when they are more prepared to apply. 

9. View Employer Profile and Contact them 

Through this functionality, you should make it possible for the applicants to view employers’ or job posters’ profile and get a holistic view of all the open jobs they have posted. Additionally, you can give them the feasibility to contact them from inside the application to enquire about the opening or confirm if they have received the CV. 

Recruiter Side of the App

1. Registration

Like in the case of applicant side of the application, recruiters would also be able to login into the application. And for them too, this would be the first screen they interact with. The functionality of adding social media or email login would ease the process for them as well. 

2. Upload Job Opening

The next feature that should be considered in case of job application app development is uploading job opening on the app and on their individual profile. 

3. Send Job Invitation 

Through this feature, the recruiters will be able to send invitations to the shortlisted candidates, informing them of the next part of the process. To make it easy for them, you should connect this with email, so that the invitation directly reaches the applicants’ inbox. 

4. Filter for Resume 

Recruiters side of the application should be given a Filter functionality to make it possible for them to shortlist candidates who applied for the profile on the basis of their set criteria. 

5. Download Resume  

You should give recruiters the option to download a resume they like within the application and then save it on their device from inside the app. This functionality, specifically, will call for a native application, which in turn will increase Indeed like job portal app development cost.

6. Make Payments 

An important part of monetization of a job application mobile app is recruiters making payment to the platform for hosting them or promoting them as a trusted brand. What makes it easy is if you add the functionality of making payments from inside the application. 

7. Dashboard

Every recruiter should be given a dashboard to manage their job openings post and view the interest they have received over time in one place on their app. This functionality, normally works best in case of web application, compared to mobile. 

Admin Side of the App

1. Dashboard 

One of the primal features of the admin side of the application is the Dashboard. Through this section of the application, the admin would be able to manage all the recruiters, users, along with the data of all the applicants in one place. 

2. Job Ad Management 

The admin should be held responsible for the management for all the third party advertisements that run on the application. 

3. Recruiter and Applicants’ Profile

The admin of the application should be given the functionality to edit applicants’ and recruiters’ profile, when asked or necessary. They should be able to manage what information is posted about a company, also they should be given the access to check the genuinity of the posting and ensure that it is not breaking any community guidelines. 

4. Real Time Analytics 

The admin should be given access to view, create or modify reports highlighting the number of jobs posted, number of applications received, how are users interacting with the application, the session time, section of the app where they are leaving the app, etc.

5. CMS

A necessary feature that must be present on the Admin side of the application is the CMS. Through this functionality, recruiters would be able to upload, edit, and or delete any content on the application. 

6. Review 

All the individual feedback and reviews made on the application by the recruiters and applicants should be sent to the admin for review and to work on. So, there should be a section on the application where the reviews and feedbacks gets collected.

The Designing Principles That Should Guide a Job Search Application

If you look at the Indeed app design, you will find that there are a number of frictions in the process of completing a job application flow. First, the users are made to manually fill in their information in the application’s Resume section before applying for a job. Next, there are multiple instances where the app will redirect them to the job post’s original website in the browser to repeat the entire application process.

What we recommend is enabling applicants to create their profile and resume within the application itself, so that the job posters will be able to view all the details in the same format. Additionally, you should ask them to fill in the details once and not multiple times in case of multiple job postings. 

What we love about Indeed application is how fast its Search functionality is. The function is designed in a way that its geo senses work to utmost preciseness, making the process of Searching and Filtering a quick and efficient one. 

The next thing that works in the favour of Indeed is how easy it is to create a Resume on the application. The tool guides new applicants or freshers in getting started with the Resume making process, lowering the learning curve to a massive extent. 

Designing Better Than Indeed – Bring Tinder to Job Search 

The job sector which has moved to applying for jobs through mobile application is dominated by millennials. And if there is one thing millennials love, it is interactivity and engagement. One way to achieve that is through a Tinder like application. 

When you bring the rush and thrill of matches to the scary process of job search, the equations change and your application becomes an engagement magnet. 

Merging the powering cross-industry ideas like this can not just help you elevate your offering but also change the standards while giving your users reasons to engage with your application. 

Designing a different from the set standard application which doesn’t abide by the standard templates, come with an attached cost which goes in the name of user research and interviews. So, if you too are planning to take a different route to guarantee high engagement on your application, it would be a need to up your overall budget set aside for the Indeed like job portal app development cost. 

Technology Stack of a Job Search Application 

There are multiple structures, frameworks, and tools that come together to define the job search app tech stack. 

While the choice of tech stack may vary from one app development company to another and between the scope of the project, the ones that are usually chosen are:

Twilio and Bandwidth for push notifications, PayPal for payment acceptance, Nexmo for phone verification, Datastax for management of data, AWS for cloud, and Spark or Hadoop for realtime analytics. 

The choice of technology is another thing that tends to carry a massive effect on the cost of job search application development. The more advanced tech stack you choose, the higher would be the overall job search mobile app development cost breakdown. 

How Much Does Job Search App Development Costs?

The job search app development cost would depend heavily on these factors:

1. The chosen feature set 

The feature set that you choose to go with in the application will largely affect the cost of job search application development. While, the features that we have enlisted will be considerably less to design and develop, if you go with an advanced set, it would automatically increase. Example, if you add gamification or video/voice call functionality in the app, the overall job portal app development cost budget would increase.  

2. The team size involved 

Usually, the team composition needed to create a job search application is made of – 

• Project Coordinator
• Business Analyst 
• Android Developer
• iOS Developer
• UI/UX Designer
• Backend Developer
• Quality Analyst

Now the more people you hire in each role, the greater would be the overall cost of job search application development. 

3. The technology set 

The choice of frontend and backend development frameworks and tools also carry a massive impact on the cost of job finder app development. A clear example of this can be seen in the case of Microservices vs Monolithic. The cost of working around a Microservice framework is a lot more expensive than in case of Monolith. 

Additionally, there are some languages like Go or R, whose developers are not easily found and thus the cost of development automatically increases. 

4. The location of the agency 

The next factor that carries a great impact on the cost of application development is the location of the agency. While an app development company based out of Eastern nations would charge less, the price that a westen nation agency would quote. The difference can, in fact, be as stark as $100 – $120 per hour in the weatern nations to $50 – $80 per hour in eastern nations like India. 

5. Choice of platform 

The choice of platform also carries a unignorable impact on the job search app development cost. Usually, to begin with, you can either go with an Android app development company or invest in iPhone app development services, depending on whether your user base belongs  or can go with cross platform option. 

Later on, you should think about expanding onto desktop version as well. 

Challenges Associated With Job Search App Development

Development of a job search application which comes with very high concurrency doesn’t come free of issues and challenges. Understanding what those challenges are, can give you a headstart in terms of what you’ll do when you encounter them. 

Candidate Matching Algorithm 

Mismatching of candidates is one of the biggest issues that stare at a job search application system. The issue most often than not result in candidates being less or overqualified for a job, resulting in a wasted effort from the company’s end. 

It often comes across as an issue from the end of outdated search algorithms which run on SEO principles. 

The job search program of today is more inclined towards cutting edge technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence. The systems which are developed on these technologies are a lot more reliable and precise. 

Job Postings’ Reliability 

The users of job posting sites like Craigslist or Monster.com often complain about issues such as outdated job posts and spam. This happens either because of lack on the side of the moderation team or when the recruiters get access to applicants’ contact information, which they then use to spam them. 

The solution to this can be in an algorithm which checks date of job posting, company/ person who made the post, and the status of the post. It will also get solved if you start charging fees for posting jobs. 

How to earn money on your job search application?

There are multiple ways to earn money on the job board application. Below, we’ve mentioned some of the most popular job portal monetization strategies – 

• Listing fees – here, the recruiter would pay for the time their job post is displayed on the application. 
• Resume access fees – you can charge companies for getting access to a database containing resumes of thousands of job seekers and applicants. 
• Subscriptions – you can charge a subscription fees from recruiters, which they would pay in return for unlimited job posting within a time frame. 
• Premium features – through this feature, you can charge the users for advanced services. For example, you can charge recruiters in return of giving them space to advertise their app in front of targeted user base or you can charge job seekers for hiding their resume from being viewed. 

There is a lot more than making an app popular than knowing the job portal monetization strategies. Let’s look at what should a successful job search app should entail in the next section. 

How to make your job search app successful?

Making your take the place of the other top job search apps in the market would call for a heightened level of innovation and feature additions. Whie top job search apps like Indeed have already covered all the prominent features that make an app great, there are some other features which are worth considering. 

In-app Communication 

An in-app communication facility like messaging or voice/video call should be given to the recruiters and applicants. Through this, they would be able to get in touch about their application on the same platform without visiting multiple applications. 

Multilingual Facility 

App Localization is considered one of the best practices for ensuring high engagement in the app. The strategy would work in your favour both when you are looking to enter a multilingual nation and when you are planning to make a presence across borders. 

Interview Schedule 

This one functionality can save hours of a recruiter and company that goes behind calling and emailing applicants to ask and then confirm their availability for a job interview.

eLearning Lessons 

Although not directly related to the job search and application process, offering eLearning lessons from inside the app on basic topics can help the applicants ace the interview and selection. This can even turn out to be an amazing monetization strategy. 

Document Management 

Applicants should be given the functionality to store and manage all their documents from one place inside the application. This way, they will not have to upload the documents every time they apply for a job. 

Now that you know everything that goes into deciding the job search app development cost, it is time to get in touch with a mobile app development agency that knows the process inside out and understand the vein of the industry.