3. Demographics
• Nationality: American
• Gender: male
• Age: 55-60 years old
• Employment Status: unemployed since 4
years (15+ experience in manufacturing)
• Additional Info: Financial status- insufficient
annual salary and indebted
4. Case 1: Empathy Map
• “I have 15 years of experience in ceramics’ manufacturing”
• “I have applied to jobs through social networks, editing CVs, Internet sites,
linked-in, Monster, Indeed,…”
• “I left the last job I had because I had a salary higher than my colleagues,
who ran their own houses, I sacrificed myself for them”
• “I tried to open my own business, but I faced issues of not accepting my
idea due to bureaucracy”
• “I am living on half the minimum wage”
• “They will take my house and my car, and I will end-up with a bicycle.”
• “A friend of me referred me, and he told me that I am best fit for a job, but
they will not employ me, I don’t know why, but they will get back to me
later, that was 6-7 months.”
• “They have no problem with recruiting somebody my age, I have seen
others who were recruited.”
• “I teach 3 courses in a *top+ university *to sustain a living+”
• “I am ready to work any kind of job”
5. Case 1: Empathy Map
(Cont’d)
Do section: There was no chance to observe how does his application to
a job
Thinks:
• He thinks he has very good experience
• He thinks that sometimes being overqualified can be a
reason for not being accepted for a job
• He thinks he has done all what he can do to find a job
but he can not find it
Feels:
• He feels age might represent a problem to him
• He feels that the system is unfair, when it comes to the
recruitment
• Many times the recruitment is not transparent or fair
• Employment through friends is the most efficient
method
6. Problem Statement
Sam, as a former senior
manufacturing manager, needs
to find an activity to generate
income, while being above 50
and overqualified
8. Demographics
• Nationality: Japanese
• Gender: Female
• Age: 24 years
• Employment: currently a bachelor student (no
recruitment history)
• Additional info: currently studying in Norway, and
after finishing her studies, will apply to a job in
Japan
9. Empathy Map
Say:
• “ I have applied to online …*job boards+”
• “I have to be in the city where a company is located to carry an interview.
This is a common problem in Japan, since most of the universities are
located in Tokyo and most big companies are located outside of Tokyo.”
• “I can do great things in small companies rather than large ones. And I need
more information about small companies, so that I can apply to them”
• “There are thousands of applications that go to big companies.”
• “There are lots of cheating that happen during online assessment for big
companies”
• “There are no use of connections at all *when applying to a job in Japan+”
10. Case 2: Empathy Map
(Cont’d)
Think:
• Large companies are very competitive
• She thinks she would need to apply online to small
companies but no information is available online
Feel:
• She has very little chance of getting accepted in a big
company, that’s why probably she wants to cut it short
and apply to small ones right away
• She feels that she can be more autonomous in a small
company and her achievements can be visible
11. Problem Statement
Asuka, as a graduating student,
needs to have access to a
wider variety of job offerings
since competition is strong while
applying to big companies.
