Recruitment Management Platform – CSS

We receive thousands of applications every year. To manage them, we previously used off-the-shelf software that didn’t fully meet our needs. Over six years ago, we decided to develop our own ATS (Applicant Tracking System), called Candi Search Saga (CSS).

CSS has become much more than just a tool; over the years, it has evolved into a strategic, scalable, and indispensable solution for our recruitment processes… and beyond!

One unique feature of this project is that we turned it into a training academy for interns, apprentices, and individuals undergoing career changes. They gain skills in various technologies and tools we use at AViSTO.

Dozens of people have contributed to this project over several years, working from our technical centers in Cachan, Grenoble, Lyon, and Sophia Antipolis. They have helped it evolve from a prototype to what is now the third version of the application, a strategic and scalable tool for our recruitment processes. In this article, Thibault Mehrenberger, project director at AViSTO, introduces us to CSS.

About the CSS Project (Candi Search Saga)

CSS is a software platform that manages the entire recruitment process for AViSTO. For example, when an internship or full-time position is available, we enter it into CSS, and it is published on our website emploi.avisto.com. As a candidate, you can apply, and the hiring manager receives your application, contacts you, and manages the recruitment process up to the contract proposal (internship, apprenticeship, or full-time position).

CSS is used daily by dozens of people at AViSTO, as well as by ELSYS Design and MECAGINE, our sister companies within the ADVANS Group. It now connects three national sites and international locations, handling all of our job offers for full-time positions, internships, and apprenticeships.

CSS, from a Technical Perspective

CSS plays a crucial role for us. Since we place great importance on upskilling our teams, we’ve also made CSS a training platform for interns, apprentices, and engineers looking to learn a specific language or technology. We regularly enhance CSS, both technically and functionally, to provide top-notch training while delivering high-quality service to its users.

Here’s a breakdown of the project’s technology stacks, which also represent the broader activities we have at AViSTO:

• The first part is a PostgreSQL database, used by a Java backend with the Spring Boot framework, which exposes a Rest API consumed by an Angular frontend.
• The second part of the application, which includes our career sites (e.g., emploi.avisto.com), also uses a PostgreSQL database, accessed by a Java backend with Spring Boot, which again exposes a Rest API, but this time consumed by a React frontend.

These developments are carried out with standardized and well-suited tools, including Git for version control within our GitLab, and continuous integration and deployment pipelines that perform various analyses, such as code quality checks with SonarQube, or cybersecurity vulnerability scans with DefectDojo, in compliance with ANSSI rules and OWASP alerts. Deployments are automated using Docker across different infrastructures.

We are also working on innovations like a data anonymization library (already available on AViSTO’s GitHub) and the upcoming integration of generative AI technologies.

CSS as a Training Platform

For us, CSS is a true training academy. Its role is to teach individuals how to grow technically, to explore new technologies and methodologies. But beyond that, we encourage them to think critically and ask themselves: Is what I’m doing well done? Is there a potentially better alternative? What’s the best choice in the end?

Throughout this training, we follow a pre-prepared scenario in which past mistakes are reproduced, but always with safety nets and necessary explanations. Indeed, we learn best from mistakes when someone more experienced explains why we went wrong and how to avoid it next time.

CSS is now one of the flagship projects of our “training academy,” but it is not the only one. All of AViSTO’s departments contribute to its evolution: project management, functional analysis, development (backend, frontend, fullstack), DevOps, UX/UI, QA, and much more.

Team Members Share Their Experience on the CSS Project

Gabriel, now the development and web systems lead at AViSTO, completed his apprenticeship on the CSS project:

“During my apprenticeship, I worked on an internal project, a recruitment platform for the group. I touched on a bit of everything—backend, frontend, DevOps. During this time, I discovered backend development. I initially had a UI/UX profile, so it allowed me to explore software architecture. Looking back, what didn’t appeal to me during training became something I enjoyed at AViSTO. Now, I’m more focused on backend development.”

During his final-year internship, Hadrien had the opportunity to lead the CSS team, consisting of about ten people, including other interns and apprentices, while also managing the project:

“AViSTO is a place where you can learn, especially as a recent graduate or as an intern or apprentice. We’re given significant tasks to do, but always with support and the opportunity to ask questions. We’re also encouraged to think critically, which helps us learn more, with assistance available at all times. I mentioned earlier the proximity: I can turn around in the open space, and I have a senior developer to my right or left who can help me.”

Today, CSS continues to evolve with the support of two key figures: Thibault Mehrenberger and Jérémy Fontaine, the AViSTO Sophia Antipolis Manager. Together, they guide the team in advancing this strategic tool for AViSTO and the ADVANS Group.