Connecting South African talent with career opportunities onboard world-class cruise ships
TeamTony and Out Of Office Online developed and continually optimise Shosholoza Ocean Academy’s high-volume recruitment platform, helping candidates discover, understand and navigate international cruise career opportunities.
Shosholoza Ocean Academy website · Wix · Recruitment platform · Analytics
Shosholoza Ocean Academy
TL;DR
Making international cruise careers easier to discover and navigate
INDUSTRY
Maritime recruitment and cruise careers
REQUIREMENT
Shosholoza Ocean Academy needed a recruitment platform capable of serving a large South African candidate audience while making international cruise career opportunities easier to discover and understand. Candidates needed clear information about available roles and eligibility before entering the formal recruitment process, while the digital experience also needed to connect effectively with the organisation’s existing recruitment systems.
SOLUTION
Through Web Design & Development, TeamTony developed a responsive recruitment platform that brings career opportunities, eligibility information and application guidance into one clear digital experience. Candidates can explore relevant opportunities, understand what is required and then move into SOA’s external applicant-tracking system to complete the formal application process.
AGENCY ROLE
TeamTony, in collaboration with Out Of Office Online, planned the candidate journey and information architecture, structured the career and vacancy content, and designed and developed the responsive Wix platform. We created a clear route from initial career discovery through to the formal ATS application handoff, while continuing to support the website through analytics, content updates and Website Optimisation.
MAIN IMPACT
From July 2025 to July 2026, the platform generated more than 1.3 million page views, 372,000 sessions and 303,000 engaged sessions. Compared with the preceding annual period, users increased by 60%, sessions by 59%, engaged sessions by 86% and page views by 134%, demonstrating substantial growth in recruitment visibility and candidate engagement before candidates progress into the formal application system.
SERVICES
MEASURED IMPACT
Recruitment visibility and candidate engagement at significant scale
From July 2025 to July 2026, Shosholoza Ocean Academy’s recruitment platform generated more than 1.3 million page views, 372,000 sessions and 303,000 engaged sessions. The growth shows that more South African candidates were discovering and actively exploring international cruise career opportunities before progressing into SOA’s external applicant-tracking system to complete the formal application process.
+60%
Increase in users
+59%
Increase in sessions
+86%
Increase in engaged sessions
+134%
Increase in page views
Analytics source: Google Analytics 4 and tracked vacancy and recruitment-intent events. Reporting period: July 2025 to July 2026 compared with July 2024 to July 2025.
FURTHER EVIDENCE
Organic traffic increased by 74% and average engagement time per session increased by 129% compared with the preceding annual period. The platform also recorded more than 307,000 tracked recruitment-intent actions, showing substantial interaction with vacancies and application pathways before candidates were routed into SOA’s external ATS for formal application.
OUR APPROACH
Designing the journey from career discovery to formal application
We began by structuring the candidate journey around how South African applicants discover, understand and assess international cruise career opportunities.
Career areas, vacancies, eligibility information and application guidance were organised into clear pathways so candidates could find relevant opportunities and understand what was required before entering the formal recruitment process.
TeamTony then designed and developed the responsive recruitment website in Wix, with particular attention to mobile usability for a large and frequently changing candidate audience.
The platform connects the public recruitment journey with SOA’s existing external applicant-tracking system, allowing candidates to move from vacancy discovery and qualification into the formal application environment.
Search foundations and SEO, GEO and AI Visibility support discovery of relevant career information, while analytics provide insight into how candidates engage with vacancies and application pathways.
TeamTony continues to provide Website Optimisation, helping the platform remain current, usable and aligned with changing recruitment priorities.
Developed by TeamTony in collaboration with Out Of Office Online.
GALLERY
Inside a high-volume cruise recruitment journey
KEY FINDINGS
What helped the recruitment journey scale
The platform’s performance shows that high-volume recruitment works best when candidates can quickly understand where they fit, what is required and how to progress into the formal application process.
01
Clear eligibility improves candidate quality
Clear role requirements and eligibility information help candidates assess whether an opportunity is relevant before progressing further, reducing confusion and supporting a more informed recruitment journey.
02
Career structure makes large opportunity sets manageable
Grouping vacancies and guidance into clear career areas makes a frequently changing recruitment environment easier to navigate, particularly for candidates accessing the platform on mobile.
03
The website should support the ATS, not compete with it
The recruitment website prepares candidates for the formal application process by helping them discover relevant opportunities and understand the requirements before routing them into SOA’s existing applicant-tracking system.
04
Ongoing optimisation keeps recruitment information useful
Vacancies, requirements and candidate behaviour change over time. Continuous content updates, analytics and optimisation help the platform remain accurate, discoverable and easy to use as recruitment priorities evolve.
CLIENT FEEDBACK
A recruitment platform delivered with patience and precision.
Out Of Office and TeamTony played a very important role in developing our advanced recruitment website and incorporating intricate features seamlessly. Their patience, support, professionalism and dedication set a high standard in the digital marketing industry.
Ju-Mari
Marketing Manager
Shosholoza Ocean Academy
FAQ
Questions about building high-volume recruitment websites
The Shosholoza Ocean Academy project combines a high-traffic Wix website, frequently changing recruitment content, search visibility, analytics and an external applicant-tracking system. These are some of the practical questions businesses face when building a recruitment platform at this scale.
01
What should a high-volume recruitment website include?
Yes. Wix can support substantial recruitment traffic when the website is structured and optimised appropriately. Shosholoza Ocean Academy’s Wix platform generated more than 1.3 million page views and 372,000 sessions between July 2025 and July 2026 while supporting a large and continually changing body of career and vacancy content.
02
Can a recruitment website connect candidates to an external ATS?
Yes. The public website can handle career discovery, vacancy information and candidate guidance before directing applicants into an organisation’s existing applicant-tracking system for the formal application process. This allows businesses to improve the candidate experience without replacing established recruitment infrastructure.
03
How can SEO and AI search support recruitment?
Recruitment websites improve visibility when career information, vacancies, requirements and common candidate questions are structured clearly around what people are actually searching for. Strong technical SEO and well-organised content help search engines and AI-driven discovery platforms understand, index and surface relevant opportunities to the right candidates.
04
How do you accurately measure recruitment website analytics when the actual applications happen in an ATS?
Website analytics can measure the candidate journey up to the point where applicants move into the external ATS, while GA4 cross-domain tracking can help provide a more complete view of the journey. This can include traffic, engagement, vacancy interaction, organic discovery and recruitment-intent actions, giving recruitment teams useful insight into how effectively the website is generating and preparing candidate demand.
