The following testimonial is part of a series of interviews conducted by the ESCO Secretariat with ESCO implementers. Their purpose is to shed a light on ESCO strengths and challenges as perceived by implementers, so that current and potential future stakeholders can gain a better knowledge on the use of ESCO. In this testimonial, we discuss how Ankaadia has been leveraging ESCO in their services. 

Tell us a bit more about your organisation.

Ankaadia is a company founded in Hessen, Germany in 2021. We have developed a software (SaaS-Solution) with which we digitise the recruitment, recognition and integration of international professionals for healthcare and other industries. Ankaadia has been developed specifically for the needs of recruitment agencies, employers and international professionals to ensure maximum transparency and efficiency in the recruitment, recognition and integration process for all parties involved. We currently offer the software for migration to Germany and Austria and plan to expand our offering to other countries.

How do you leverage ESCO in your services and since when are you using it?

Our software initially focused on healthcare professions. As we expanded into various industries, we needed a standardised framework to integrate job-specific skills, competencies, and qualifications. This allows our clients to document essential details for candidates. Given the many international stakeholders involved in global recruitment, ESCO serves as the ideal common language for accurately describing profession skills, facilitating better communication among all parties in the recruitment process. As shown in the screenshot, the candidate profile displays knowledge, skills, and competencies from ESCO in the "Competencies" tab, depending on the selected profession.

What were some of the challenges you encountered in implementing ESCO?

One of the main challenges we faced was mapping existing professions in our software to ESCO profession (ESCO occupation). Our job classifications originated from the German Federal Employment Agency, and while ESCO provides a helpful mapping table, we encountered issues because the original source did not use IDs (ESCO URIs). As a result, we had to manually search for IDs (ESCO URIs) across multiple pages, which was time-consuming. Additionally, we aimed to offer our clients the flexibility to expand standardised ESCO skills to include specific competencies not covered by ESCO, requiring careful consideration to ensure our system remained user-friendly while accommodating these customisations.

What is the key ingredient in ESCO that made you take the decision to use it in your system? 

The key advantage of ESCO for us is that skills can be integrated in a job-specific and standardised manner. This allows us to offer filtering functions based on specific skills— something that would not be feasible if each client could input skills independently. Additionally, ESCO provides the significant benefit of having skills available in many languages, which greatly facilitates international communication and the use of our software across different regions.

What was the level of acceptance by your partners/other national stakeholders?

We are currently in the testing phase. The official release took place recently. The initial feedback was positive.

What are some of your recommendations for other stakeholders looking to implement ESCO in their system? 

We recommend conducting a thorough analysis of existing job categories and skills before implementing ESCO to ensure compatibility. Focus on ESCO’s flexibility to meet your users’ specific needs. Close collaboration with stakeholders and regular testing during the implementation phase is crucial for making efficient adjustments.

How has ESCO helped your business/organisation? What are its advantages and disadvantages from your standpoint?  

ESCO has provided a standardised, multilingual foundation for capturing and filtering job-specific skills, enhancing international communication and enabling our software's use across various industries. A key advantage is ESCO’s availability in many languages. However, the optional skills are not suitable for all professions, so we may need to develop and offer additional skills for certain professions to meet our clients' needs.