As part of a series of Lightning Talks from SPDS Portfolio Groups, Youth Employment and Talent Management Portfolio Lead, Sharon Faulkner, Director of HR, Digital Enablement IT and Business Support at Angus Council, invited colleagues from COSLA/myjobscotland to share the latest developments to the myjobscotland website and the TalentLink e-recruitment system.

Sharon Faulkner

myjobscotland Chief Digital Officer, Dougie Shirlaw, Programme Officer, Louise Fraser, and Programme Manager, Robyn Adamson, highlighted 10 recent and upcoming developments and opportunities.

Dougie Shirlaw, Robyn Adamson and Louise Fraser

1. AI

Within TalentLink, AI can generate and optimise job descriptions for adverts. That includes incorporating industry standards in terms of skills and experience, and prompting hiring managers to make adverts more inclusive.

As an example, Fraser shared how a generic refuse job could be made more inclusive, changing the job title from ‘refuse collector’ to ‘waste management operative’ and changing the tone to be more positive and engaging.

You will also soon be able to generate suggested interview questions based on job descriptions.

2. Branding

Recruiters should make the most of the potential to sell their jobs more effectively using multimedia, for example embedding videos into job adverts to bring roles to life for jobseekers. From next year, users will be able to brand application forms within TalentLink, improving the candidate experience.

3. Single Sign-On

Single Sign-On (SSO) helps improve efficiency for hiring managers, enabling seamless access to the ATS via existing organisational credentials rather than requiring managers to create new logins (which they then inevitably lose). This allows managers to focus on the value-add: candidate engagement and decision-making.

SSO also improves data protection and compliance around GDPR and other requirements. The cost of SSO has recently reduced from £1000 a year to £500 a year, thanks to contract negotiations.

4. Skills-based recruitment

TalentLink will be incorporating tools to enable more skills-based recruitment, with the ability to rate skills as part of the shortlisting process, choosing from an extensive skills library. The platform will also be able to tell hiring managers and HR teams what skills are mentioned in applications, and which skills candidates should be assessed against.

5. My World of Work profile

Linked to skills, My World of Work have developed a profile to help young people maintain a record of achievement. This is being implemented from primary school age and could be used as a CV building tool. It may eventually become linked with application tools, helping young people apply seamlessly for suitable roles.

6. Careers events

myjobscotland is sponsoring the Scottish School and College Leaver Festival – and are looking for volunteers to support their stand. The event is taking place in Glasgow on 3-4 March 2026. Fraser urged all education departments to get their schools signed up to attend, given it is the only national event in Scotland. Travel is subsidised.

7. Social Media

Engaging with roles posted by MyJobScotland on social media is key to encouraging the algorithm to show the post to more people. So, get liking, sharing and commenting – and ask your colleagues, particularly within marketing and comms, to do the same.

8. Website Redesign

myjobscotland will be launching its revamped website in 2026. The new design is “cleaner with more functionality,” said Shirlaw. It will include several new features to enhance the candidate experience such as a ‘closing soon’ tag.

9. Career Hub

The newly updated Career Hub now includes 40 blogs updated by a career coach, with a bank of generic blogs that can be tailored by employers. Information has been updated on hard-to-recruit sectors including social care, planning and building standards.

10. Right to Work checks

An online service is now available to assist in completing Right to Work checks, helping to make recruitment teams more efficient and compliant.

Find out more about all these developments by emailing myjobsupport@cosla.gov.uk

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Blog by Katie Jacobs, an award-winning freelance journalist, writer and editor, who specialises in writing about the world of work. She was previously Editor of HR Magazine and Senior Stakeholder Lead at the CIPD.