Opportunities Fife
Project background
The Opportunities Fife Partnership (OFP) serves as the strategic employability partnership for the region, dedicated to driving and influencing innovative approaches to skills and employability services helping individuals and employers. It unites representatives from key organisations including the Department for Work & Pensions, Developing Young Workforce, Fife Chamber of Commerce, Fife College, Fife Council, Fife Health & Social Care Partnership, Fife Voluntary Action, and NHS Fife and Skills Development Scotland.
Opportunities Fife is OFP’s online platform used to promote local employment, training and skills information for people and employers. The solution facilitates various interactions, including job and apprenticeship applications. Over several years, the platform has managed over 5,000 applications for jobs and attracted 16,000 members.
The solution
User-centred approach
By engaging with the users to ask them about their experiences with the platform, we were able to identify several key requirements:
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The solution must integrate local initiatives by serving as a central hub for employment, training, and skills information, with social media regularly promoting opportunities, events, and initiatives stored on the site.
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It must enable Council staff to promote local jobs and manage applicant data, with a function for council staff to add job listings directing users to employer websites for applications.
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It must support the council's goal of enrolling approximately 175 school children in Foundation Apprenticeships by providing engaging information for schools, pupils, parents, and carers, with promotional campaigns directing them to the site;
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It should act as a directory of local training providers, linking users to their websites, thus avoiding the time-consuming task of updating information; and
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It must ensure compliance by making policy documents easily accessible and identifiable for users.
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It must make it as easy as possible for users to apply for opportunities on any device.
The results
Based on all of our findings, we proposed and delivered a web based solution that takes advantage of the open source and configurable Umbraco Content Management System (CMS). The council has the flexibility to create as many website editors as required, each with their own level of permissions to edit and add content as and when appropriate. It also provides:
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User-friendly and accessible designs compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA, which is the legally required standard for all public sector websites and applications from October 2024;
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Improved functionality to promote jobs within the website – council staff can add jobs with ease via the CMS, and users be directed to employer webpages to apply or complete a standard application form on the website which will be managed by council staff via the CMS;
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A Foundation Apprenticeship hub based within the website designed to promote the Council’s FA offering, and a Training Provider hub, which is an area within the website that signposts users to local training providers;
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Finally, the ability to store important documentation in a user-friendly way.
The future
As part of our comprehensive service offering we are providing ongoing analysis and implementation of enhancements to the website, training additional staff, and SEO consultancy.
Additionally, we host and monitor the Opportunities Fife website through our highly resilient and secure private cloud network.
Client testimonial
"We have worked with PDMS for many years and throughout this time, they have consistently shown a deep understanding of our objectives and the needs of our community. Their team is proactive, regularly offering valuable ideas and suggestions that help enhance our services. Their responsiveness is unparalleled, whether it's addressing concerns or answering questions, they are always quick to provide the support we need. The recent redevelopment of our platform was an excellent example of their commitment to delivering quality; it was completed on time and on budget, The new website not only meets accessibility standards, which is crucial for our users, but also significantly improves the user experience. PDMS has truly helped us make a positive impact with a solution that aligns with our goals."
Vicky Brown Tackling Poverty Coordinator (Employability), Opportunities Fife
