In this release, Employer Access to the Talent Catalog is finally ready for beta testing with a real employer.

Here is a good definition of beta testing.

Background

It has been a long journey to get to this point, largely because employers will not have access to products that have traditionally been used alongside the Talent Catalog - in particular TBB’s Salesforce and Slack. Using those products - which TBB has used from the very beginning - allowed useful functionality to be quickly delivered without having to write everything from scratch. TBB will continue to use their Salesforce and Slack - but Employers (and other third parties) need to be able to use the TC without needing to share TBB’s Salesforce and Slack.

This has driven fundamental changes to the TC code including the creation of TC Chats (formerly known as Job Chats), and changing the user interface so that TBB’s Salesforce is hidden from the user, and all process updates - such as updating stages and next steps - happen on the TC.

For example, TBB users provide a Salesforce job link when creating a job in the TC:

However, employers like Iress do not need to provide a Salesforce job link when creating a job in the TC:

Employer access is also a very major step towards Recruiter access where third party recruitment agencies, such as Jumpstart and Talent Lift in Canada can also have direct access to the TC.

Beta Testing with Iress

Initially we will be testing with just one real employer: Iress. There is no employer that we have a closer or longer relationship with than Iress. That is important in beta testing. We expect that the process will highlight bugs and shortcomings that have not come up in our own testing. It is important to beta test with users who understand that and will not be disappointed when problems occur. The fact that Iress develop software themselves is a big advantage. They understand software and the whole concept of beta testing.

Once the initial testing with Iress is complete - we will engage with other employers that we have a close relationship with to complete the beta testing cycle. We can then open up access for other employers who are approved and interested, and provide a mechanism for them to express their interest in direct access to the TC.