The brief
In 2020 the IT solutions provider msg systems commissioned us to develop a recruitment and careers portal that would set industry standards. Since many of the client’s existing websites were built with Joomla, this project was to be based on Joomla as well.
The target audience was IT professionals. The portal’s aim was to give these professionals a chance to get to know msg systems as a potential employer — with information on career prospects, locations, company values and personal experiences from employees.
The portal was to present 300–400 current job openings — both for positions at msg systems and at the roughly 20 subsidiaries. Job listings were to be added or removed daily, either manually by the subsidiaries’ HR departments or automatically via an external feed from the existing SAP-based HR system.
Visitors should be able to sort and filter job offers by location, entry level, technical focus and company. Applicants should also be able to submit applications either directly via the portal or through the existing external HR system.
About the client
msg systems AG is an independent, internationally active group of autonomous companies with more than 8,500 employees. The group is headquartered near Munich. Its core competence lies in intelligent IT and industry solutions.
Our solution
Given the project’s complexity and scope and the planned integrations with existing systems — for both data import and export — the first phase focused exclusively on specifying the final requirements.
The main task in this design phase was to create something modern and visually appealing while complying with strict corporate design guidelines. Finalizing the design required close collaboration between our lead project manager and the client’s marketing team, including several feedback and review cycles.
We implemented a custom layout framework that would later serve as the basis for further msg websites. Individual page content was implemented with a page builder, and we created several custom dynamic layouts, e.g. to display job listings alongside context-aware info tiles that pulled content from other areas of the site.
To store and manage job information, our lead developer built a bespoke solution on top of an existing Joomla extension. It works with a separate external database and an automated import workflow to combine local and external job data.
After the portal launch we defined a one-month review phase with regular updates to the HR team, during which we made several adjustments to the upload and editing process to improve usability and reduce friction for HR staff in day-to-day use of the portal.
Lessons learned
This project was one of our first opportunities to work for a multinational company with several thousand employees.
The design process was a challenging mix of adhering to standards and developing innovations. All code we delivered was also thoroughly reviewed by the client’s IT security team (which ultimately led to adjustments in Joomla’s core code).
At times this collaboration pushed us to the limits of our capabilities back then, but we emerged from the project more capable and with a better understanding of what it means to work for a client at this level.
Highlights
Filtered, context-aware job search
The main job search allows site visitors to search and filter job listings by multiple overlapping criteria, learn more about relevant vacancies and ultimately submit an application online. The page provides several context-dependent job feeds in the right sidebar, filtered to show relevant openings related to the currently viewed subpage.
Data import & export
Job data is imported from an external source (SAP E-Recruiting) and entered directly by the client. This combined data set forms the basis for the job search and feeds. We also created several feeds for exporting this data, for example for job listings published on LinkedIn.
Multiple login types
The portal features three separate login areas:
- The standard Joomla backend for site administrators
- A login for msg subsidiaries and HR staff to add and edit job data
- A login for applicants to download application documents
Impact for the client
The client received overwhelmingly positive feedback for the careers portal and shortly after launch placed 3rd out of 100 companies in a national German study evaluating the online career platforms of major German IT companies (conducted by Index Research).
