Visit the siteMyJobScotland

The Challenge

Scotland’s local authorities used to spend c. £20M+ per annum on recruitment advertising. COSLA, the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities, commissioned the work that led to the establishment of myjobscotland (myjob) the national portal for all Councils’ recruitment advertising. It has developed to become a staggering success but it was recognised that after its initial phase there was a need for a refresh and some substantive improvements in the architecture and usability of the site.

Spider Online had been involved with the site previously, delivering a successful SEO campaign (this work is continuing). We were subsequently commissioned by COSLA to review myjob with a view to improving the user experience. There was a desire to make the site design more contemporary and in tune with the range of potential candidates, who are from both public and private sectors.

The Solution

Spider Online’s task was to improve the design, architecture and usability of the site, working closely with StepStone (Lumesse), who built the application tracking system (ATS) behind myjob. Our solution was to improve the navigation, user perception and also the journey of those prospective candidates using the site.


Spider’s extensive experience of creating and developing large and complex public-facing websites was extremely beneficial, especially our experience on the PINs portal www.tellmescotland.co.uk and large complex public and private sector sites such as Argyll and Bute Council, FirstGroup and Aberdeen University, all of which heavily influenced COSLA’s decision to award Spider Online the business.


Our first move, naturally, was to research and analyse best practice for developing similar recruitment websites in the digital channel. From the results, we were able to identify features and functionality that would improve the site for the large number of candidates and job seekers who use it to find jobs in the public sector in Scotland.

The Results

The new design of myjobscotland brings the recruitment portal into the 21st century in terms of design and usability. Improving the user experience helps Scotland’s local authorities promote and attain new staff in a fiercely competitive market place for the best candidates.