The new look Times Ascent has more content

Times Ascent has also launched an HR automation tool for its clients

The career supplement of the Times of India, Times Ascent, has undergone a complete revamp. The supplement has embraced a new logo sporting a changed layout, offering more content to the readers. Times Ascent caters to people at all levels, starting from junior to mid and even senior level personnel, across sectors, industries and geographies. Readers and clients will be introduced to the new look of the supplement on Wednesday, February 18.

The Ascent rebranding has been done in consultation with JWT Mindset. Times Ascent has also come out with an automated response tracking software called ‘Ascent Matcher’ for its clients.

In an email interview with afaqs!, Sujoy Ghosh, director and business development head, response, West India, BCCL, defined the readers of Times Ascent. He says, “Our readers include people who are actively looking for a new job or those on the lookout for better opportunities than their existing job. Interestingly the supplement also caters to individuals who are not looking at switching jobs.”

The new look Times Ascent has more content

“But everyone wants to make the fullest use of today’s opportunities to move up to better things in life.”

Ghosh believes that a sky blue colour in the masthead and as a background shade in articles will capture the essence of the opportunities.

Listing out the challenges in designing the new look, Ghosh says, “The toughest task in making it a relevant read for a larger audience is related to the limited editorial space available to us. So we decided to run more than one story in a half-page, to get wider interest.

“The move resulted in limiting the story lengths substantially; to counter this, we have synergistically used the online portal, timesascent.in, for carrying detailed versions of the stories.”

The job supplement has also been made more relevant for the HR teams, who are the advertisers. A special column, HR Download, on page two, will be devoted to them to distinguish the content.

Taking the change beyond the editorial content, Times Ascent has attempted to add more effectiveness to the work of HR professionals and other corporate players by introducing a new tool – Ascent Matcher. The tool is an attempt to automate the entire hiring process of organisations. It cuts response times, helping HR professionals to deliver better results.

The automated response tracking software will be made available to every organisation using Times Ascent for the duration of its advertisement in the job supplement. The tool is also up for sale and will cost Rs 10 lakh per year, subsequently renewable year on year.

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