At Cisco, our purpose is to Power an Inclusive Future for All; one way we do this is through the Talent Bridge program. We want all people to have equitable access to resources, including employment options available through our program. Our focus is to reach candidates in all communities, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or preferences, thus bridging the talent gap between employers and qualified individuals. We work towards connecting our global ecosystem of diverse employers with these often-overlooked candidates. These candidates offer distinctive skills and valuable perspectives that can benefit our employers in remarkable ways.

We accomplish this predominantly through our Talent Bridge Matching Engine. This platform simplifies the job search by matching candidates to opportunities based on their qualifications and employers' defined skills. Our global opportunities comprise not only of Cisco jobs but also feature positions from Cisco partners, distributors, and customers.

The program started in 2017 and we continue to expand offerings and remain adaptive. Over the years we have made several technical improvements to our global, web-based platform, which is offered in 18 languages.

Improving How Candidates Simplify their Job Search

Our most recent technical enhancements to the platform improve the candidate user interface specifically around their engagement with matched opportunities. Not only did we enhance the experience, but we also made it more efficient. Reviewing matched opportunities can be a timely endeavor and now it is simpler to stop and come back to where one has left off. We have also provided additional filters for candidates to focus on the jobs that align with their career path.

Improved filtering of jobs makes it easier to sort jobs by:

• Top matches (also indicated by a fire symbol)
• Technical or Non-technical jobs
• Remote opportunities
• By date posted
• By location

There are new options to adjust how opportunities are viewed, giving candidates more control over how matches are displayed.

Optimizing Opportunity Sorting

Organizing opportunities is important for a job search and symbols are key to this task. One new feature is our fire symbol which indicates a "hot/top" match where extra skills were met on top of the base required ones indicated by the employer. We've also added the capability to heart or x positions, so it is more efficient to sort through positions and categorize them for additional follow-up or not interested buckets. These sorting symbols are interconnected with tabs, a newly released feature. These tabs provide easy access to Saved and Not Interested job lists.

Accessibility Improvements

A core focus this past year was to improve accessibility to the platform. Using a collaborative method with our own Cisco experts and development team for the platform, we were able to achieve our foundational goal in this capacity. For example, we have improved keyboard and color accessibility among other features. We are committed to continuing this effort and have incorporated accessibility compatibility as a checkpoint for future features.

Showcasing Credly Badges

Many of our candidates, especially our Cisco Networking Academy community, have Credly badges to share on their profile. One of our new features on the Matching Engine platform allows all candidates to add their Credly badges to their user profile. This allows recruiters to view these achievements beside certifications on candidate profiles.

Our goal through these updates is to make our platform more accessible as well as compatible for our candidate communities as they are searching for job opportunities.

We work closely with our employers, Cisco Partners, and Cisco Customers and they have conveyed they are eager to hire talented individuals from various walks of life. Learn more abouthow we work with employers to simplify their talent sourcing.

By providing a platform that bridges the gap between candidates and employers, we are supporting a more inclusive experience for those seeking employment.

Learn more about Cisco Talent Bridge.