Side projects where I apply product thinking outside of formal work.
Side projects where I turn lived experience, repeated pain points, and market signals into product ideas.
Job Search OS for International Professionals
A discovery-led product experiment based on lived experience, user interviews, competitor mapping, and curriculum design — applying real PM methodology outside of work.
The origin
I navigated the Canadian job market twice — first as a newcomer, then during a career transition into banking. Over time, people in my network started coming to me for advice. I kept hearing the same confusion repeated: no clear strategy, too much contradictory information, no structured system to follow. I recognized this as a product problem — a recurring pain with no good solution. So I applied product methodology to it.
Phase 1 — Discovery
Published one LinkedIn post about my experience as an international professional in Canada. Booked 15 discovery interviews in response — using The Mom Test methodology to avoid leading questions and surface real pain.
Phase 2 — Market validation
All 15 interviews confirmed the same 4 pain points — not knowing how to network in Canada, uncertainty about resume quality, overwhelm from conflicting advice, and loss of confidence from repeated rejection. Most were already paying $35/month for LinkedIn Premium, proving willingness to pay for structured support. Mapped 8 competitors — none addressed the specific combination of structure, accountability, and Canadian market context that international professionals need.
Phase 3 — Product design
Designed a 6-week structured curriculum covering: target company list building, resume transformation for the Canadian market, LinkedIn optimization, networking and coffee chat frameworks, strategic applications, and interview prep with confidence rebuilding.
Long-term vision
An AI-powered Job Search Operating System — a personalized coach that takes a user's situation (country of origin, target industry, stage of search), creates a multi-week action plan with daily nudges, tracks progress, adapts when they're stuck, and provides step-by-step frameworks throughout the search.