We are introducing a new recruitment process to help us attract, assess and appoint the best people across the Council which is aligned to our updated Recruitment Policy.
This approach has been shaped by your feedback from the engagement survey and focus groups carried out in July 2025. In brief, managers told us that:
- You like the use of a person specification and shortlisting criteria
- The job description can be over-complicated, out-of-date or too specific which can limit applicants
- The Talentlink recruitment system can be difficult to navigate
- Unsuitable applications being submitted are time-consuming
We’ve used this feedback along with benchmarking and research on good practice to design a process and a fully supported digital recruitment system via Manager Self Service in HROnline-iTrent to meet your needs.
Phase 1 - 17th August 2026
We are introducing the new approach in phases. From 17th August, the new process and system will be available for all managers for jobs which do not require PVG checks and whose job does not need PVG checks. This will not include the following teams:
- Education
- HSCP
- Catering and Cleaning
- Roads, Amenities, Fleet and Waste frontline posts
The new approach will be rolled out for all jobs from mid-November.
What you need to do
If you have an upcoming recruitment follow these steps below:
- Let us know the roles you will be recruiting to – via the HROD service centre, let us know about the roles you have coming up for recruitment.
- Manager Toolkit – Make some time to familiarise yourself with the Manager Toolkit on MyCouncilWorks.
- Update Job Description – Take some time to review and finalise your job description. Once you have notified the Service Centre, HROD will move this into the new template so it’s ready for your recruitment campaign. This isn’t about changing someone’s role, rather moving the content into the new improved template. You can send your JDPS into organisationaldevelopment@argyll-bute.gov.uk
- Training sessions – Make time to join one of each of the 3 sessions covering the stages of the new process. Guidance documents to support can be found on on MyCouncilWorks. We strongly recommend that you also sign up for the behavioural interview training sessions which will help build confidence around applying the new approach based around our Connect for Success competencies used within the new approach – You can book a place on the course via LEON: Successful interview skills
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6th August 2026 – 10:00-11.30 Session 1: Requisition, Authorisation, Advertise. |
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7th August 2026 – 10:00-11.30 Session 2: Shortlisting, interview set up, Interview, preferred candidate |
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10th August 2026 – 10:00-11:30 Session 3: Onboarding |
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11th August 2026 – 10:00-11:30 Session 1: Requisition, Authorisation, Advertise.
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12th August 2026 – 10:00-11.30 Session 1: Requisition, Authorisation, Advertise. |
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13th August 2026 – 10:00-11:30 Session 2: Shortlisting, interview set up, Interview, preferred candidate
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14th August 2026 – 10:00-11:30 Session 3: Onboarding
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18th August 2026 – 10:00-11:30 Session 3: Onboarding
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19th August 2026 – 10:00-11:30 Session 2: Shortlisting, interview set up, Interview, preferred candidate
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- Complete the online LEONcourse: Course: Inclusive Recruitment at Argyll and Bute Council: A Practical Guide for Recruiting Managers
- Competency Framework – This will be launching over the summer ahead of phase 1 in August to allow you to familiarise yourself with this and support you to design your interview questions
- Share your feedback to help us improve the process ahead of full rollout
What's changing
The new approach includes:
- Using HROnline rather than Talentlink to run recruitment campaigns – all jobs will still be advertised on the MyJobScotland website as usual.
- Improved job description and person specification templates. Please note, jobs themselves do not change, just the templates. You can see the new template and guidance here.
- A clearer and more consistent shortlisting approach
- Weighted scoring to reflect the importance of key role requirements
- Structured interview and assessment methods
- Clear, step-by-step guidance throughout the process
- A stronger focus on behaviours linked to our Connect for Success principles
- A digital recruitment platform with back-up support for additional reliability
- Reduced time spent on recruitment and ensure our recruitment process is fully transparent for reporting purposes
What benefits will the new approach bring?
The system is designed to make recruitment more efficient and easier to manage. It will allow you to:
- Review and manage applications online and in one place
- Shortlist and record decisions digitally
- Complete interview scoring within the system
- Track candidate progress in real time
- Manage pre-employment checks
- Oversee the full recruitment journey from advert to appointment
What do managers need to do if you are recruiting for a job?
If you are a manager included in this first roll-out phase from 17th August, we will be asking you to use the new system rather than Talentlink. You will be assigned a ‘Recruiting Manager’ role which you can use to log in to the Recruitment and Onboarding module in HROnline. You will not have access to Talentlink from 17th August.
We are asking those taking part in the first phase to send the current JDPS for the posts you are recruiting to, into organisationaldevelopment@argyll-bute.gov.uk and we will update it for you. We will aim to do this within 2 days and then send it back to you to confirm your agreement for its use.
The new template now contains an occupation code for the job. Argyll and Bute Council holds a sponsorship licence which means we can sponsor nationals from overseas who qualify under the Skilled Worker Visa route. It is a standard classification code used to define eligibility for visa sponsorship. The Organisational Development Team will add the occupation code which you must check yourself to ensure the code reflects the role correctly. Including occupation codes as part of the JDPS helps ensure roles are correctly classified and compliant with sponsorship rules and that both you and applicants know if a job is suitable for sponsorship. You can see the new JDPS template here.
If you fall into the category to be included in this first phase but have already started a recruitment process in Talentlink that closes after the 17th August, you will conclude your recruitment campaign in Talentlink and can use HROnline thereafter. You will still have access to Talentlink to complete your recruitment process.
If you are not included in this first phase, please recruit using Talentlink as usual. We will provide further updates nearer the time about all other managers joining the new approach, expected to be from mid-November.
The following resources and support will be available:
Overview of the process and recruitment and onboarding module – see dates above
- Practical guidance on shortlisting, interviewing and decision-making based around behaviours and our Connect for Success Principles
- Opportunities to work through examples and ask questions
- Dates availabe to be booked via LEON
- Step-by-step guides and quick reference materials
- Short videos demonstrating how to use the system
- LEON eLearning course – available from August
A new toolkit will support you at every stage, including:
- Links to step-by-step guidance
- Guidance on interview questions and scoring criteria
- Advice on inclusive recruitment and reasonable adjustments
If you have any questions, please contact organisationaldevelopment@argyll-bute.gov.uk.
Your feedback during this phase will help refine the approach before full roll-out.