Scaling a platform for early career discovery & exploration
HireMe is an early-career job network built to bridge Nigeria's unemployment gap. Over 6 months I led growth strategy, customer discovery, product development, and multi-channel marketing — growing from 1,000 DAU at beta to 10k by mid Q3, and a platform now at 350,000 DAU.
1k -> 350k DAU
Beta launch to today
10k DAU
6-month engagement target — hit
5M NGN
ARR target
HireMe platform dashboard screenshot
16/9 — awaiting final asset
The Challenge
"HireMe's Beta launched with ~1,000 daily active users. The goal: increase user engagement and activation by 20% within 6 months, by the start of Q4."
1,000 DAU
At beta launch
+20%
Engagement & activation target within 6 months
My Contribution
Growth Strategy & OKRs
Customer Discovery
Competitive Positioning
Web Design & Product Development
Digital Marketing & Channel Strategy
Launch Planning & Partnerships
Chapter 01
Strategy
North Star Metric & OKRs
North Star Metric
% of job applications that lead to an interview or job offer
Q2 — Awareness
5x DAU within 6 months
- Grow daily active users from 1k to 5k by end of Q2
- Achieve 20% week-over-week retention in the first 90 days
- Launch campus ambassador programme in 3 universities
Q3 — Monetisation
Drive engagement, retention, and first revenue
- Convert 10% of active users to HireMe Plus or Pro
- Place 50 candidates into roles via the platform
- Hit 5M NGN ARR run rate by end of Q3
Customer Discovery
35
User interviews conducted
4
Distinct user segments identified
3
Research categories synthesised
Early stage employers
Mid-scale employers
Candidates in school
Candidates out of school
User response analysis matrix — interview synthesis
16/7 — awaiting final asset
Pain Points & Prioritisation
Resume vetting is broken
12 / 15
60% of employers cited this as their top friction
Applying into the void
8 / 15
40% of candidates receive zero application feedback
No learning & development path
10 / 15
80% of candidates want structured skill-building on the platform
Idea prioritisation matrix — impact vs effort mapping
16/7 — awaiting final asset
Customer Personas
Sarah Adebayo
"I just want to know my application was seen."
Recent graduate, 23, Lagos. Applies to 15+ roles a week and hears back from fewer than 2. Has strong academics but no network.
Goals
- Land her first full-time role within 3 months
- Build a portfolio employers actually open
- Understand what's holding her back
Frustrations
- No feedback from applications
- Resume gets filtered before a human sees it
- No way to stand out on generic job boards
David Okafor
"I don't have time to screen 200 CVs for one junior role."
HR lead at a 50-person logistics startup, 31, Abuja. Posts entry-level roles and spends 4+ hours a week filtering unqualified applicants.
Goals
- Cut time-to-hire for junior roles in half
- Find candidates who are job-ready, not just degree-holders
- Build a reliable early-career talent pipeline
Frustrations
- Inbound quality is extremely low
- No signal for candidate seriousness
- Existing platforms built for senior hires
Full persona card exports — Sarah Adebayo & David Okafor
16/7 — awaiting final asset
Chapter 02
Product & Design
Features Shipped
Resume Builder
Solved the resume vetting problem for employers by helping candidates produce structured, scannable CVs — reducing low-quality inbound and giving candidates a fighting chance at the filter stage.
Events Feed
Turned passive browsing into active community participation. Campus events, career fairs, and employer meet-ups aggregated in one place — converting the platform from job board to career community.
AI Tools Screening
Automated first-pass candidate screening for employers using skills-based filters — cutting time-to-shortlist by an estimated 60% and addressing David's core frustration directly.
Resume Builder — hi-fi screenshot
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Events Feed — hi-fi screenshot
4/3 — awaiting final asset
AI Screening Tool — hi-fi screenshot
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Web Design & Prototype
Landing page wireframe
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Final landing page — hi-fi
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Figma prototype embed or recorded walkthrough — full landing page flow
16/9 — awaiting final asset
Competitive Positioning
Positioning matrix — HireMe vs LinkedIn vs CareerBuddy vs Jobberman
16/7 — awaiting final asset
HireMe Plus — for candidates
Premium tier for job seekers: resume builder, AI-matched job alerts, application status tracking, and access to exclusive events. Designed to convert engaged users who have already applied at least once.
HireMe Pro — for employers
B2B tier for hiring teams: AI-assisted screening, candidate shortlisting tools, branded employer profiles, and direct outreach to matched candidates. Priced to compete with Jobberman Pro on value-per-hire.
Launch Plan
Dual launch plan tables — HireMe Plus & Pro, 3 phases each
16/7 — awaiting final asset
10%
Target activation rate increase within 30 days of launch
50
Candidate success stories targeted as social proof by end of Q3
20%
Average month-on-month user growth across the 6-month period
Chapter 03
Marketing
Digital Marketing
TikTok profile — before/after follower count
4/3 — awaiting final asset
LinkedIn / Instagram grid — content performance
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Newsletter analytics dashboard
4/3 — awaiting final asset
TikTok: 1.5k -> 6.3k
5% conversion to platform sign-up
LinkedIn: 105 -> 608
2.4% conversion rate
Newsletter: 3.5k -> 9k
21.3% average open rate
Collaborations & Partnerships
Megamound email campaign screenshots
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Road to 30 podcast — episode screenshots
4/3 — awaiting final asset
6 candidates
Directly placed via partnership pipeline
400K NGN ARR
Revenue attributed to partnership channel
5K reach
Road to 30 podcast audience
Events & Campus Activations
PAU Career Fair '23 — event photos / recap
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Techconnect '23 — event photos / recap
4/3 — awaiting final asset
On-campus activations — photos / ambassador programme
4/3 — awaiting final asset
Impact & Results
10x DAU
Hit 10,000 DAU by mid Q3 — 6 months ahead of stretch goal
1,200+
Job matches per candidate on average
65%
User activation within first 7 days
Today HireMe is at 350,000 DAU — a 350x growth from beta launch.
Learnings
The chicken-and-egg problem is a strategy problem, not a product problem
Candidates won't come without jobs; employers won't post without candidates. Waiting for product to solve it is a trap. We solved it with strategy — free first-month benefits pulled employers in while campus ambassadors built the candidate side through community, not advertising.
Community beats job board every time
Positioning HireMe as a community changed user behaviour. People came for connection, not just jobs. That stickiness drove 65% of users to complete their profile and apply within 7 days. A job board gets visitors. A community gets members.
Growth at scale requires a channel mix, not a single bet
TikTok, LinkedIn, newsletter, podcasts, career fairs — no single channel got us to 350k DAU. I treat channel strategy like a portfolio: diversify, measure, and double down on what converts.
Next Project
Lume
A WealthTech app bringing investment-grade gold to African investors — UX, interaction design, and investor pitch deck delivered in a three-month contract.
View case study