Finding Jobs
Learn how to discover what jobs people are actually trying to get done
Your Progress
Section 2 of 5You Cannot Find Jobs by Asking "What Do You Want?"
Users do not know what they want. They know what they struggle with.
Do not ask: "What features do you want?" Ask: "Tell me about the last time you struggled with this."
Jobs are found in stories, not surveys.
The Job Interview Method
Find 5-10 recent users. Ask them about specific moments when they decided to use your product.
Find Recent Switchers
Talk to people who just started using your product (within 2 weeks). Memory is fresh.
Ask About a Specific Moment
"Tell me about the day you decided to try our product. Walk me through what happened."
Dig Into Context
"What were you doing before? What else did you try? What almost stopped you?"
Listen for the Job
They will tell you the situation, motivation, and outcome. Write it down.
Look for Patterns
After 5-10 interviews, you will see the same job appear again and again.
Practice Job Interviews
Job Interview Simulator
Practice asking the right questions to uncover jobs. Pick a question to see why it matters.
Extract Jobs from Quotes
Job Extraction Tool
Turn user quotes into job statements. Click an example to see how.
Questions That Uncover Jobs
✓ Ask These
- • Tell me about the last time you used this
- • What were you doing before?
- • What were you hoping would happen?
- • What did you try before this?
- • What almost stopped you?
- • Walk me through that day
✗ Do Not Ask These
- • What features do you want?
- • How can we improve?
- • Would you use [hypothetical feature]?
- • Why do you like our product?
- • How often do you use it?
- • What is your biggest pain point?
Why: Good questions get specific stories. Bad questions get opinions and feature requests.
Jobs Are Found in Switching Moments
The moment someone switches from their old solution to your product is when the job is clearest. That is when the pain was big enough to act.
Key Takeaways
- •Jobs are found in stories, not surveys. Ask about specific moments.
- •Interview recent switchers (within 2 weeks) while memory is fresh.
- •Ask: "Tell me about the last time..." not "What do you want?"
- •Listen for situation, motivation, and outcome in their stories.
- •After 5-10 interviews, patterns emerge. That is the job.