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How I Redesigned and Developed a Government-Approved Bilingual Job Portal in Just 10 Weeks

3 min readJun 12, 2025

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🚀 Week 0–1: Kickoff & Discovery

  • Engaged stakeholders — Skills leadership and internal users — for deep-dive strategy workshops.
  • Defined core objectives: deliver a customizable WordPress-based job portal targeting Chicago’s underemployed communities.
  • Scoped features: job listings, translation, user accounts, Salesforce + Zapier integrations, responsive UX, admin feed, and employer dashboard.

Week 2–3: UX/UI Foundations & Early Development

  • Crafted wireframes for ~38 core pages: job boards, listings, filters, search results, login flows. Redesigned logo.
  • Obtained stakeholder feedback, iterated on interactive prototypes focused on mobile-first responsive design.
  • Built foundational structure: set up PHP/JS project, integrated robust templating, and WP config.

Week 4–5: Feature Build-Out & Integrations

  • Job listings plugin: custom post type, advanced filtering, pagination, employer credentials.
  • Authentication system: user roles, registration, login, reset flows.
  • Language translation: WPML-like solution ensuring bilingual access.
  • Salesforce integration: syncing candidate and employer accounts; leveraged REST APIs.
  • Linked Zapier workflows for automated email notifications, candidate screen alerts, and data sync triggers.

Week 6–7: User Experience & CRO Optimization

  • Enhanced UI with sticky nav, dynamic calls-to-action, and whitespace to streamline job discovery.
  • Introduced A/B tests for variations in page layouts, button placement, and headlines to boost click-through and application rates.
  • Ran heatmaps and session recordings to refine content hierarchy and spacing.
  • Ensured WCAG compliance: aria-labels, keyboard navigability, color contrast audits.

Week 8–9: QA, Performance & Final Touches

  • Conducted roundtable reviews with domain experts and end users.
  • Optimized site speed: compressed assets, implemented caching, lazy-loaded images.
  • Finalized backups, prepared staging environment.
  • Delivered comprehensive documentation and trained the Skills crew on maintenance, translations, and job plugin controls.

Week 10: Launch & Handoff

  • Deployed to production — officially joining Chicago.gov’s select job portal network skillsforchicago.org.
  • Held client training and walkthroughs.
  • Monitored post-launch performance, quickly addressed bug fixes, and handed over administrative control.

✅ Project Highlights & Takeaways

  • Scale & impact: 38+ fully responsive pages built with PHP/WordPress/Javascript.
  • Integrated workflows: Salesforce and Zapier workflows streamlined operations.
  • Accessibility-first: met WCAG standards for inclusivity.
  • Conversion focus: A/B testing, heatmaps, and optimizations driven by marketing objectives.
  • Empowered client: documentation and support enabled staff autonomy and future growth.

Final Thoughts

In just 10 weeks, SkillsForChicago.org evolved from vision to a fully functional, conversion-optimized, accessible job portal. More than a site, it’s a platform advancing equity — connecting job seekers and employers in Chicago’s high-need neighborhoods, in line with the mission of Skills for Chicagoland’s Future.

Looking ahead, this establishes a strong foundation for ongoing enhancements — new integrations, iterative UX improvements, and potential scalability across regions.

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JoeChre
JoeChre

Written by JoeChre

Developer. Writer. Entrepreneur. jcg.dev

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