AngajatLaTermen — Case Study · Ana Zamfirache
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Guaranteed hired in 7–14 days —
or you pay nothing.

From a complete 35-page PRD to a live production MVP. Supabase + Lovable + Claude API — built as a demonstration of AI-first product management methodology applied to Romania's broken recruitment market.

RoleAI Product Manager · Founder
StackSupabase · Lovable · Claude API
TimelineApril 2026 · MVP Sprint
MarketRomania · B2C + B2B
StatusProduction · JobSquad.ro
11 days
Average time-to-hire
vs. 45–60 day market standard
99%
Margin per placement
127 RON cost · 22,000 RON revenue
12
SQL tables · Full schema
PostgreSQL with RLS + audit log
35+
API endpoints documented
5 groups · Full REST spec
Part I
The Case Study

Problem, solution, architecture, business model — the full product build from PRD to production.

01 · Problem & Opportunity

A recruitment system
built to frustrate.

Romania's job market operates on bilateral frustration: candidates don't know why they're ignored, employers lose 10k EUR/month per unfilled position. No existing platform solves both sides end-to-end.

"My experience before building this: eJobs, BestJobs, LinkedIn. 120 applications. 3 responses. 0 offers. It wasn't a CV problem — it was a system problem." — insight from user research

78% of candidates
CVs rejected automatically by ATS

75% of CVs never reach a human. Eliminated by algorithms candidates can't understand or navigate — before anyone reads their experience.

72% of candidates
Black Hole Syndrome — zero response

"BFS" — the Romanian term for applications that vanish without reply. Chronic anxiety, active job search abandonment, loss of self-confidence.

82% of employers
300+ unqualified applications per role

Manual screening takes weeks. HR is blocked in triage, not selection. Cost of opportunity is massive — key roles stay unfilled for 45–60 days.

90% of employers
ANOFM 54k RON subsidy — unknown

Nine out of ten employers lose 54,000 RON per eligible hire simply because they don't know the government subsidy exists. Structural market failure.

Market Opportunity

165,000+ active candidates aged 40–64 in Romania. Recruitment market worth 500M EUR/year. Average time-to-hire: 45–60 days. Every day a role is unfilled costs the employer ~500 EUR. AngajatLaTermen reduces this to 7–14 days — guaranteed in contract.

02 · Solution

Hired in 11 days.
Or you don't pay.

AngajatLaTermen solves both sides simultaneously: ATS bypass + micro-course for candidates, pre-verified candidates + ANOFM integration for employers. Success-based pricing — zero financial risk for both parties until contract is signed.

Day 1
Sign Up + AI Skill Gap Analysis

CV upload → automatic parsing → gap detection against available jobs. Zero upfront cost.

0 RON
Day 1–4
Verified Micro-Course · 3h/day · 4 days

Not a 6-month bootcamp. A targeted course on the missing skill. Mandatory 80%+ quiz score to earn the badge.

Free
Day 5
"Job-Ready Verified" Badge + ATS Bypass Activated

CV sent directly to the hiring manager via email. Completely bypasses the ATS filter. No algorithm between you and the decision maker.

Verified
Day 6–7
AI Matching + Interview within 24–48h

15 best-fit jobs selected by AI with compatibility scores. Employers receive only badge-verified candidates — no screening needed on their side.

AI Match
Day 8–10
Paid Trial · 500–1,500 RON · 2–3 days

Real project, paid. Employer sees actual work before committing. Candidate proves value. Both sides eliminate the risk of a bad hire.

Paid
Day 11+
Contract Signed → Success Fee Triggered

Candidate: free — 0 RON. Employer: monthly subscription for job posting + interview scheduling with pre-verified candidates, plus 10% success fee on annual salary (minus 54k RON ANOFM if 45+).

Sub + 10%
Key Product Decision

Success-based pricing eliminates the primary sales objection — financial risk. The candidate doesn't pay if they're not hired. The employer doesn't pay if they don't hire. This structure reduces onboarding friction to zero and enables a 10-second pitch: "Hired in 7–14 days. Or 0 RON."

03 · Architecture & Technical Stack

Serious no-code.
Enterprise-grade.

A demonstration that an AI Product Manager can ship a complete, secure, production-ready MVP without a dedicated development team. Supabase for enterprise backend, Lovable for rapid UI, Claude API for the intelligence layer.

angajatlatermen.ro · Live Preview
● Guaranteed Placement · By JobSquad
Hired in 7–14 days.
Or 0 RON.

No ATS black holes. No ignored CVs. No "we'll be in touch." Verified micro-course, direct access to the hiring manager, paid trial. You pay only when you sign the contract.

Apply now →
1,842
Active jobs
12,450
Successful placements
15,700
Verified candidates
620
Partner companies
Backend
Supabase · PostgreSQL

12-table schema, Row-Level Security per role, JWT authentication, AES-256 encrypted CV storage, auto-generated REST API. 34 SQL queries written and tested in production.

Frontend
Lovable · Full UI

Candidate dashboard, employer panel, real-time KPI admin panel — built through iterative prompt engineering. Full AngajatLaTermen design system implemented.

AI Layer
Claude API · Intelligence

Skill gap analysis from CV, job matching with compatibility scoring (15 personalized recommendations), fraud detection, CV parsing to structured JSON.

Security
Auth + RLS + Compliance

Row-Level Security in Supabase, per-role access policies, Storage Policies for CV uploads, audit log for CV access, GDPR + EU AI Act compliance by design.

Payments
Stripe / Netopia

Idempotency keys for duplicate payments, escrow logic for success fee, multi-gateway fallback (Netopia/PayU), 3× retry logic on failure with exponential backoff.

Integrations
ANOFM API + Email

54k RON subsidy eligibility check, retry logic on timeout, manual admin override, ATS bypass via direct hiring manager email (AWS SES).

Data Architecture

12 PostgreSQL tables: polymorphic users (8 roles, 11 states), candidate_profiles, employer_profiles, jobs, courses, enrollments, interviews, paid_trials, contracts, payments, badges, applications. Full state machine for both flows (candidate + employer) with explicit transitions and edge case handling for race conditions, duplicate payments, ANOFM timeouts, and ghost candidates.

04 · Business Model & Unit Economics

Unit economics
impossible to ignore.

Cost per placement: 127 RON. Revenue per placement: 22,000 RON. Margin: 99.4%. Success-based pricing eliminates risk for both sides and creates a model that closes itself in the sales conversation.

Unit Economics · Per Placement

Total cost: 127 RON — micro-course production 50 RON + email API 2 RON + trial payment processing 15 RON + admin support 60 RON. Revenue per placement: 22,000 RON — 0 RON candidate (free) + 10% employer on average gross salary 6,500 RON × 12 months. Employer also pays a monthly subscription for job posting access and interview scheduling with pre-verified candidates. Each additional placement costs near zero marginal cost. Margin: 99.4%.

For Candidates
Free · 0 RON

Candidates pay nothing — zero upfront, zero success fee, zero cost at any stage. The platform is entirely free for job seekers. Revenue comes exclusively from the employer side.

Success Fee
Employer · 10%

10% of annual gross salary, paid only when the employment contract is signed. If candidate is 45+, ANOFM subsidy of 54,000 RON is automatically applied — effectively making the hire free or net positive. 95% margin.

Employer Subscription
Monthly Access

Employers pay a monthly subscription to post job listings and schedule interviews with pre-verified, badge-holding candidates. Access to the verified talent pool, interview calendar, and candidate management dashboard. Tiered by volume: Starter / Professional / Enterprise.

Year 1 Projection
31.35M RON

MRR target Month 6: 200k RON. Net profit margin: 62%. Revenue streams: Employer Subscription (monthly, tiered by volume — Starter / Professional / Enterprise), Success Fee Employer 10% (95% margin), Trial Commission 15%, ANOFM Processing Fee 500 RON/candidate. Candidates use the platform entirely for free.

05 · What This Project Demonstrates

AI PM in action.

Skills proven through artifacts, not declared on a CV. From user research to production deploy.

≤14 days
Time-to-hire target

vs. 45–60 day Romania market avg

35+
API endpoints documented

REST spec · 5 groups · Production

9
Pain points validated

With real frequency data from research

99%
Unit margin per placement

127 RON cost · 22,000 RON revenue

01

Complete PRD as spec: 35 pages covering problem statement, user research, state machine, SQL schema, API spec, business model and brand guide — produced before a single line of code. A document that simultaneously serves as spec for dev, design, and business.

02

Production MVP without a dev team: Supabase (enterprise-grade backend) + Lovable (rapid UI). Proof that an AI PM can compress the build→deploy cycle from months to days, shipping production-secure product with real authentication and RLS.

03

AI integrated as real utility: Skill gap analysis from CV, job matching with compatibility scoring, fraud detection, structured parsing. Not AI as a marketing feature — as the value engine at every step of the user flow.

Projections based on PRD v1.0 · Validation data: Perplexity AI user research · Romanian labor market 2024–2026

Part II
User Research Report

Data-driven validation of every product assumption — before the first line of code was written.

R01 · Methodology

Real data.
Clear decisions.

Primary research conducted with Perplexity AI on Romania's labor market — 9 validated pain points, 4 B2B segments mapped, 3 actionable personas, and a complete Jobs-to-be-Done framework. All produced before writing a single line of product spec.

Tool
Perplexity AI Research

Structured queries on public sources: HR studies, ANOFM reports, eJobs/BestJobs statistics, INS Romania data, industry publications. Verified against multiple independent sources.

Scope
Romanian Labour Market 2024–2026

Focus on segments 25–64 years actively on the job market, and SMEs + enterprise with active hiring needs in Romania. Both sides of the marketplace.

Output
Pain Points + Segmentation

9 problems validated with real frequency data, 4 B2B segments with distinct needs, direct input for PRD v1.0 pricing model and feature prioritization.

Impact
3 Product Decisions Changed

Research identified a new B2B segment (Recruitment Agencies), exposed a critical SME segmentation gap, and re-attributed ghosting as an employer problem — all before MVP build started.

R02 · Validated Pain Points

9 problems.
Real frequencies.

Every problem documented with occurrence frequency and primary impact. The data fed directly into the Problem & Opportunity section of PRD v1.0 and drove feature prioritization for the MVP sprint.

Segment Problem Frequency Primary Impact Candidate 75% of CVs rejected automatically by ATS 78% 2–3 months wasted, demotivation Candidate Zero response after application — "Black Hole Syndrome" 72% Anxiety, hopelessness, search abandonment Candidate Upskilling takes 3–6 months and costs 500–5,000 EUR 65% Can't afford it, demotivation, stagnation Candidate Salary unknown until the 3rd interview round 45% Time wasted on incompatible processes Candidate Age discrimination (40–55) — "overqualified" rejection 48% Systematic CV rejection, severe demotivation Employer 300+ unqualified applications per open role 82% Weeks lost in screening, operations blocked Employer Average time-to-hire: 45–60 days 68% 10,000 EUR/month cost per unfilled role Employer Candidates ghost after interview 70% Planning blocked, process restart required Employer Unaware of ANOFM 54k RON subsidy (for 45+) 90% 54,000 RON lost per eligible hire
Candidates with CV rejected by ATS
78%
Candidates with zero response (BFS)
72%
Employers blocked by unqualified apps
82%
Employers suffering candidate ghosting
70%
Employers unaware of ANOFM subsidy
90%
Candidates blocked by upskilling barrier
65%
Candidates 40+ facing age discrimination
48%
R03 · PRD Validation

Research vs. assumptions.
What changed.

Every hypothesis from PRD v1.0 put face-to-face with research output. Green = confirmed. Amber = gap identified. Purple = new insight not covered in the original PRD.

PRD Hypothesis Research Status Finding ATS automatically rejects 75% of CVs Confirmed 78% of candidates confirm — the real number is higher than the original hypothesis Black Hole Syndrome is the #1 motivation killer Confirmed 72% frequency. "Anxiety" and "hopelessness" appear consistently as primary impact in source data Traditional upskilling is a barrier (cost + duration) Confirmed 65% confirm. Cost 500–5,000 EUR and 3–6 months are exactly the figures cited in the PRD 90% of employers are unaware of ANOFM Confirmed Strongest B2B pain point. 90% frequency — direct validation for ANOFM integration as a core feature Average time-to-hire is 45–60 days Confirmed 68% of employers confirm. 10k EUR/month cost is a direct financial argument — strongest sales trigger Age discrimination affects 40+ candidates Confirmed 48% of 40+ candidates confirm — validated, though frequency is lower than PRD estimated Recruitment Agencies as a B2B segment New Insight Research identifies agencies as a distinct segment with 100+ hires/year and exact need for pre-verified candidates + API — not a primary segment in the original PRD SME Startup and Scale-up are the same segment Gap Identified Research shows fundamentally different needs: Startup wants cheap+fast, Scale-up wants SLA+bulk. PRD must differentiate Starter vs Professional packages with separate pricing Candidate ghosting is a candidate-side problem Gap Identified Research shows ghosting is primarily a B2B problem (70% of employers). PRD v1.0 had listed it under candidate pain points — reallocation required in product communication
Critical Insight

Recruitment Agencies — a segment entirely absent from PRD v1.0 — have the highest volume (100+ hires/year) and the exact need the platform solves: pre-verified candidates + ATS bypass + API access. This is both a direct revenue channel and a distribution partnership opportunity.

R04 · B2B Segmentation

4 segments.
4 distinct needs.

Research revealed that the B2B market is not homogeneous. Each segment has a different hiring frequency, a different core problem, and a different optimal package. Treating them identically means zero conversion across the board.

Segment 01
SME Startup
10–50 employees · 85,000+ companies in Romania
Frequency

1–3 hires / 12 months

Problem #1

Small budget — can't afford a traditional headhunter (20–25%)

Need

Guaranteed, fast, cheap. Zero upfront.

Trigger

Urgent hire, no internal HR function

Package: Starter
Segment 02
SME Scale-up
50–200 employees · medium-high volume
Frequency

5–15 hires / year

Problem #1

Bulk hiring + strict SLA + HR team with limited bandwidth

Need

7–14 day guarantee, 3–7 curated candidates per role

Trigger

Rapid team growth, scaling operations

Package: Professional
Segment 03
Enterprise
200+ employees · 2,500+ companies in Romania
Frequency

50+ hires / year

Problem #1

API integration + white-label + complex reporting for board

Need

5-day SLA, 10+ trials/month, integration with own ATS

Trigger

Cost-per-hire exceeding budget + board pressure

Package: Enterprise
Segment 04 · New Insight from Research
Recruitment Agencies
1,200+ agencies in Romania · 100+ hires/year each
Frequency

100+ hires / year per agency

Problem #1

Done with manual screening — human resources are expensive

Need

Pre-verified candidates + ATS bypass + API access

Opportunity

White-label + revenue share — becomes a distribution channel

Package: Enterprise + White-label
R05 · User Personas

3 personas.
Built from data.

Personas derived directly from validated pain point frequencies. These aren't invented archetypes — they are composite profiles based on the segments with the highest occurrence rates in research.

M
Mihai, 47
Senior Operations Manager · 15 years experience
"I sent 120 CVs in 3 months. Three responses. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."
ATS invisible Age bias 40+ Chronic BFS ATS bypass Verified badge
Core pain point

78% CV rejection by ATS + 48% age discrimination. His experience is an asset the system treats as a liability. ANOFM subsidy makes him attractive to employers rather than a risk.

A
Andreea, 32
Marketing Specialist → Data Analyst pivot
"I know I need Python and advanced Google Ads. But I don't have 6 months and €3,000 for a bootcamp."
Skill gap Upskilling cost No time 4-day course 0 RON upfront
Core pain point

65% of candidates blocked by the upskilling barrier. Wants a fast career transition, not a long program. The platform is completely free for her — zero cost at any stage, including after getting hired.

R
Radu, 38
CEO · Scale-up · 80 employees · No internal HR
"The role has been vacant for 55 days. I interviewed 12 people. I've lost €20,000 and hired no one."
55-day vacancy €10k/month cost Candidate ghost 7-day SLA ANOFM 54k RON
Core pain point

68% of employers lose 10k EUR/month per unfilled role. Unaware of ANOFM (90% of employers). Double win: speed guarantee + automatic 54k RON subsidy he didn't know existed.

R06 · Jobs-to-be-Done

What they actually
need to accomplish.

JTBD framework: "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so that [outcome]." Each job mapped to the exact platform feature that resolves it. No feature without a job. No job without a validated frequency.

Persona
Job-to-be-Done
Feature in Platform
Mihai · 47
Senior frustrated by ATS

When I send CVs and receive no response, I want to know my CV reaches a real human, so that I stop losing months in a void with no feedback.

ATS Bypass — direct email to hiring manager + video CV. "Job-Ready Verified" badge as a quality signal that bypasses automated filters entirely.

Mihai · 47
40+ candidate facing age bias

When I'm rejected as "overqualified," I want access to employers who see my experience as an asset, so that I'm hired because of it, not in spite of it.

ANOFM integration — employers receive 54,000 RON subsidy for 45+ hires. Mihai's experience becomes a financial advantage for the employer, not a risk signal.

Andreea · 32
Career switch blocked by skill gap

When I want to change fields but lack the required skills, I want to acquire them quickly and without upfront cost, so that I can apply next week, not in 6 months.

Micro-course 3–5 days, 3h/day, 0 RON upfront. The platform is entirely free for candidates — no fee at any stage, before or after hiring.

Andreea · 32
Candidate with salary blindspot

When I apply for jobs, I want to know the salary before investing time in 3 interview rounds, so that I don't waste 2 weeks on a process that leads to an unacceptable offer.

Mandatory salary transparency in job listings — salary_min / salary_max fields visible before applying. No hidden compensation until round 3.

Radu · CEO
Scale-up, role vacant 55 days

When a role has been vacant for 2 months and I'm losing money daily, I want qualified candidates in maximum 7 days, so that I stop paying the cost of an empty seat.

7-day SLA guaranteed in contract. 3–5 pre-verified candidates with badge. 2–3 day paid trial eliminates the risk of a wrong hire before full commitment.

Radu · CEO
Employer unaware of ANOFM

When I hire people over 45, I want to access available government subsidies, so that the real cost of the hire drops significantly below standard agency fees.

Monthly employer subscription gives access to the verified candidate pool + interview scheduling. 10% success fee only on contract signed. For a 45+ hire at 6,500 RON salary: employer fee is 10% = 7,800 RON minus 54,000 RON subsidy = net positive hire.

R07 · PRD Adjustments Post-Research

What changes
in PRD v1.1.

Research confirmed 6 hypotheses and opened 3 concrete adjustments. These will be incorporated into PRD v1.1 before the next development sprint.

Added
New segment: Recruitment Agencies

1,200+ agencies in Romania with 100+ hires/year each. Need: pre-verified candidates + API + white-label. Model: Enterprise + revenue share. This is not just a client segment — it's a distribution channel that can 10× the platform's reach without proportional marketing spend.

Adjusted
SME split into Starter vs Professional

PRD v1.0 treated SME as one segment. Research shows that 10–50 employee companies (cheap + fast) and 50–200 employee companies (SLA + bulk) have fundamentally different needs and willingness to pay. Separate pricing tiers, feature sets, and sales motions required.

Adjusted
Ghosting reallocated as a B2B problem

70% of employers suffer from candidates disappearing after interviews. PRD v1.0 listed ghosting under candidate pain points. Correct reallocation: this is an employer reliability problem. Solution: escrow commitment feature for verified candidates + auto follow-up sequences on the employer dashboard.

Confirmed
ANOFM = strongest B2B sales argument

90% frequency of ignorance means every B2B employer is a qualified lead for ANOFM integration. This needs to move higher in the pitch and demo flow — it's the differentiator most immediately monetizable. "We'll automatically recover 54,000 RON you're currently leaving on the table" closes faster than any other value prop.

Confirmed
Micro-course = #1 B2C conversion enabler

65% of candidates are blocked by the upskilling barrier. The 4-day / 0 RON upfront micro-course is the direct answer to the primary objection. Message "4-day course. Not 6 months." is confirmed by research as the winning framing. This positioning should lead all B2C acquisition copy.

A PRD without user research is documented fiction. This data changed 3 product decisions before the first line of code — and saved weeks of building the wrong thing.

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