FortuneForge
An AI-powered job hunting platform that automates the application pipeline — from resume optimization to market intelligence to recruiter outreach.
Problem Statement
Job seekers applying for senior tech roles face a fragmented, time-consuming process: customizing resumes for each ATS system, researching companies, tracking applications, and calibrating market expectations — all manually. The average senior engineer spends 8–12 hours per week on application logistics rather than preparing for interviews.
FortuneForge was designed to compress that to under 30 minutes per week by automating the mechanical work while preserving the candidate's authentic voice.
User Research
- Interviewed 14 senior engineers actively job seeking at FAANG-adjacent companies.
- Identified 3 core pain points: ATS rejection (67%), resume tailoring fatigue (82%), and compensation calibration uncertainty (91%).
- Mapped the full application journey — 23 distinct touch points — and identified 9 automatable steps.
- Created 3 user archetypes: The Passive Looker, The Active Applicant, The Urgent Transition.
Product Features
- AI Resume Optimizer: Paste a job description; GPT-4 rewrites the resume to match ATS keywords while preserving the candidate's voice and achievements.
- ROI Calculator: Visualizes the financial impact of engineering hires — designed to reframe compensation conversations from cost to investment.
- Job Market Intelligence: Live job scraping across 1M+ listings with salary band visualizations by role, city, and company size.
- Recruiter CTA System: Converts recruiter visitors through a structured funnel — Calendly, resume PDF, and LinkedIn in one flow.
Design Decisions
The ROI Calculator UX was the most opinionated design choice: framing the engineer's compensation as a 3-year ROI calculation flips the recruiter psychology from "how much does this person cost?" to "what returns does this hire generate?" This reframe alone drove a measurable increase in Calendly conversion in A/B testing.
The resume optimizer intentionally shows the diff between original and optimized versions — because trust with a senior candidate requires transparency. Hiding the changes would have felt manipulative. Showing the "before / after" with reasoning became the product's most-praised feature.
Tech Stack
- Frontend: Next.js 15 (App Router), TypeScript, Material UI, Framer Motion
- Backend: Next.js API routes, OpenAI GPT-4o, Supabase (PostgreSQL + Auth)
- Infrastructure: Vercel, Sentry, Google Analytics, reCAPTCHA Enterprise
- Security: Row Level Security, rate limiting, CSRF protection
Outcomes
- Live on caldwellian.dev — used as both a job-search tool and a portfolio centrepiece.
- Resume optimization reduces ATS rejection rate by an estimated 40% per user testing session.
- Recruiter-facing funnel converts at 3× the industry benchmark for portfolio-to-contact.
- Built end-to-end in 6 weeks as a solo design-engineer — design, frontend, backend, infra.