Merck/MSD Jobs with Phenom
Have you ever applied for a job online? Promoting open positions, accepting applications, and tracking applicants requires functionality that can go above and beyond a basic website, and more and more often these days, employers are turning to CMS-based, widget-driven solutions like Smashfly and Phenom to build and maintain distinct but complementary sites specifically for job hunters.
In 2019, Merck/MSD had revised the look and feel of their main website, and invested in Phenom as the solution for their jobs website. The creative and technical challenge put to my team at AMS was to produce dozens of pages that followed the new brand guidelines.
A large amount of research into what was possible with Phenom's widgets was needed. I worked to identify and implement options for replicating Merck/MSD's brand using Phenom's rudimentary and bug-filled interface; unfortunately no access to back-end code was available for direct customization, and their product was filled with competing CSS rules that interfered with meeting design targets. After meticulously detailing the options and reviewing with the client and pushing Phenom's team for crucial fixes to styling, the widgets were put "into production" and the sites were built out. The project was a success, with the dual job sites convincingly carrying the brand to job-seekers.
A portion of the home page of the Merck jobs site. The site is entirely comprised of customized widgets, about 8 of which are seen in this screenshot.
The project called for roughly 30 component designs from the greater website redesign be approximated using Phenom's widgets. In this shot is my workpage. Every available stock widget was evaluated for form and function. Notes in yellow help guide the conversation during reviews with both the client and Phenom's technical team.
It was helpful to have another page with all stock widget options placed, so the functionality and style of the widgets could be evaluated as they are, off the shelf. Working with Phenom's web-building software was a challenge, with many surprising inconsistencies due to the code base, but we persevered and delivered on-time and with satisfying results.