For many recent graduates, the transition from university to a professional career feels less like a step and more like a leap across a canyon. At Futureboard Consulting, my goal was to build the bridge.

By turning direct user interactions into high-impact long-form content, I helped transform the graduate job search from a source of anxiety into a structured path to success.

The Challenge: The Information Mismatch

The problem wasn’t a lack of information—it was a lack of relevant information. Graduates were being flooded with generic career advice that didn’t address the specific hurdles of modern corporate hiring. To fix this, I knew I couldn’t just write “articles”; I had to design a content experience based on real human data.

The Strategy: Research-Driven Storytelling

I treated this project like a classic UX design cycle: Research, Synthesis, and Deliver.

• User Interviews: I conducted deep-dive interactions with graduates to understand their “pain points.” What were they afraid of? Where did they get stuck in the application funnel?
• Synthesising Insights: The interviews revealed a massive gap in understanding how to translate academic achievements into “corporate value.”
• Long-Form Solution: I created a series of long-form guides and interactive articles. These weren’t just tips; they were blueprints. I broke down complex hiring processes—from assessment centres to behavioural interviews—using the actual language and concerns I heard during the interview phase.

Top student concerns	Solution
Poor grades or gaps in education	Understanding how to turn setbacks into positive examples of their character or experience
Non-specific degrees/qualifications	Using their degrees to establish transferable skills and a willingness to apply themselves
Upskilling	Outside and on the job, especially if they were searching for jobs, they could still use that time to develop new skills
Leveraging volunteer or extracurricular experience	Understanding that all experiences support them as well-rounded candidates

The Solution: Content as a Mentor

By basing the content on actual user interactions, we created a resource that felt like a mentor rather than a textbook. We provided graduates with the specific “insider” tools they needed to secure jobs, effectively humanising the corporate recruitment process.

The Result: Empowerment Through Data

The impact was clear. By listening to the users first, we developed content that saw higher engagement and, more importantly, higher success rates in graduates securing roles. It proved that in the world of consulting, the best way to help someone get a job is to first understand the person behind the CV.

Proof of Concept: A “User Pain Point vs. Content Solution”