We are looking into new recruiting methods.    

I. Gamification

More and more companies are using video games to recruit employees. Gamification allows you to identify potential candidates by posing real problems that require specific skills.

This strategy will also increase brand awareness: a fun game can connect a brand with positive values ​​and corporate culture, and this will allow you to present your company to applicants who have not previously considered a job in it. If you are interested in prospect crm review, follow the link to learn more.

1. Game "Honorable work"

When engineering company Miter Corp. noticed that her workforce was aging, she decided to attract young talent. Having determined that 90% of its target audience uses video games, the company developed the game to appeal to young people.

In Honorable Jobs, players take a virtual tour of Miter Corp.'s workplaces and spend the day as a project manager, performing tasks that are usually written in a specialist's job description.

Thanks to this move, the company not only replenished the staff with talents, but also increased its reputation among young professionals. Within the first three months of the game's release, the Miter website had over 5,200 visits, with over 600 players signed up from 48 states and 25 countries. To learn more about reverse address history, follow the link.

2.Virtual tour of the office

The Chinese division of global consulting agency Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu created a " virtual office tour " to attract talent and build a brand. The tour is an airplane flight. Players first choose a destination (Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong) and a time as they are given tickets to board. 

Once a gamer reaches the office, they can visit work areas, conference rooms, and learning centers. The game helps the participant to learn the daily routine of specialists in Deloitte. Players can even chat with current Deloitte employees to get accurate job information and better understand the company and corporate culture.

Since the launch of the campaign in 2010, 48,500 people who toured the Chinese offices have followed the company's career page.

Conclusion:

Before you start designing your own recruiting game, consider the pros and cons. Gamification is an effective method by which you can test the skills of a candidate, give an idea of ​​the corporate culture. At the same time, game development requires certain skills. Be realistic: if you don't have IT staff and capabilities, this method is not for you.

If the pros outweigh the cons, identify the skills needed to develop the game. Also decide which platform you will be using. Assess the corporate culture and consider additional elements that will indicate that a person is suitable for working in your company. Ideally, you should create a game that everyone will enjoy, but at that time, not every player will be a suitable candidate. Gamification is a good way to increase brand awareness.

II. Act in secret

Any applicant for a job claims that he is a hardworking and qualified specialist. But you won't get to the truth until you see him in action. How can you know in advance how a future employee will behave? Become a "secret" agent and catch him in action.

3.Mystery shoppers

Companies often send recruiters to job fairs, schools and networking events, but First Merit Bank finds talent in more unexpected places. Recruiters often patrol retail stores looking for staff with the best customer service skills. They buy goods by observing the behavior of store employees - how they serve customers. But the assessment doesn't end there. Talent agents return items and see how the salesperson handles such embarrassing situations.

It is not uncommon for retail stores to pay employees low wages and offer hard work, and First Merit Bank hires a lot of staff from retail. And while newbies often don't have banking experience, they're growing in interest from recruiters because of their customer service skills, which can be applied to a variety of industries.

4. Hidden advertising about work

When the Volkswagen car company needed talented mechanics, it sent "secret" employees to deliver damaged cars to repair shops across Germany. A job advertisement was attached to the running gear of each car.

The unusual job posting made Volkswagen an innovative company and attracted many talented mechanics.

Conclusion:

This tactic is directly related to the places the company needs to explore. Where do your ideal candidates spend their free time? If they currently work, where do they dream of working? If you find talent in his comfort zone, he obviously won't put on a show to try and impress you - just watch how the potential employee behaves.

III. Holding a competition

Small companies and startups often lose talented candidates because larger and more established competitors are able to offer applicants more interesting conditions. How can lesser-known companies stand out? Below are some examples.

5. iPod Initiative

Video game developer Red5 had to compete for talent with many big companies. By posting job ads and participating in fairs, Red5 found herself right next to serious competitors, against which she got lost.

A staff of 20 at Red5 compiled a list of the top 250 game developers and spent four months learning everything they were capable of professionally. They played their games, subscribed to their blogs and social networks. As a result, the talent pool was reduced to those candidates working with animation and techniques that the company wanted to use in their games. Each "dream candidate" received an iPod with personal engraving and original packaging. The founder of Red5 recorded a personal message on each player, which talked about the past work of the candidate and announced that he was invited to Red5.

More than 90 people out of 100 responded to the offer. The creative approach made a strong impression on the media, and they began to write a lot about the unknown company Red5.

6. Lunch break

Gyro International, a London-based advertising agency, set out to increase its creative department staff by 50% in 2010. First, Gyro identified the strongest competitors in their field and conducted research to determine the most frequently visited dining establishments by the competitor's employees.

What did the company do? She contacted the restaurant owners and arranged for them to replace the usual sandwich packaging with one from Gyro International, which contained the following information: “Should I stay? Or should I quit?" and “Which direction is your career heading in?”.

Strong candidates hired by competitors couldn't help but notice these messages. 100,000 sandwich packaging items were used in a month, and within a few weeks Gyro saw a 20% increase in traffic to its site, closing three high-level positions, including Head of Creative.

Conclusion:

Ask yourself what makes your company unique and why talented employees from a competitor should come to you. Once you find the answer, identify a creative environment in which to spread the message. This message is sure to reach the "dream candidates".

IV. Organize competitions

When certain skills are required from a candidate for an open position, you can quickly get tired of sifting through numerous resumes from unprepared applicants.

The following three companies proposed problems or challenges that required the candidates to have the skills needed for the company. The results obtained showed how qualified the applicant is and whether his candidacy deserves further consideration.

7. Problems to solve  

Silicon Valley startup Quixey needed to find talented developers. A small company could not compete with such giants as Google and Facebook. Quixey's leaders knew they needed to be innovative and creatively showcase the company's brand.

On one day each month, talented engineers could win $100 by solving a programming problem correctly in 60 seconds. On a certain day, the winners walked away with cash, and Quixey got exclusive access to talented candidates.

CTO and co-founder Liron Shapira says some of the best people they hired came to the company because of the Challenge. “We have one employee who lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He's one of our top developers, but he doesn't have a college degree and he hasn't been to Silicon Valley,” says Shapira. “It’s only by using unusual methods that you can find and hire someone like him who is creative in solving problems.”

8. Mysterious billboard

The smart guy who found the solution to this mathematical puzzle ended up on the site 7427466391 . And when he visited him, he was offered to deal with another problem. Only those who found the correct answer were redirected to a page with the message: “Good job. Oh well done! You've made it to Google Labs and we're glad you're here. One thing we've learned from Google is that it's easier to find what you're looking for if it's looking for you. We are looking for the best developers in the world. Welcome!"

This unorthodox recruiting strategy proved to be effective for several reasons. First of all, the billboard has become a buzzword in math and tech forums and blogs. The hype arose before it became known that the billboard was the work of employees of the Google search engine. In addition to attracting the right audience, the task acted as an effective filter in creating a pool of valuable candidates. Only those who could solve the problem and then showed curiosity to visit the website to solve another problem correctly were invited to leave their application.  

9. Hacking the site  

In 2010, SeatGeek, the world's largest event search service, was looking for curious and talented candidates to join the team. To kick off the search, SeatGeek made a challenge to talented developers: hack the SeatGeek website to send us your resume.

This task worked so well that SeatGeek now requires all applicants for developer positions to hack the site before being able to submit their resume.

SeatGeek used this technique in recruiting sales staff and hiring office managers by asking candidates to analyze some company data, publish a blog post, and promote the post through social media. By creating these events, SeatGeek has become a competitive recruiting company with over 100 qualified candidates applying for a single position. 

Conclusion

Thanks to the tasks, each of the three companies received a whole pool of competent applicants for vacancies. Each challenge required candidates to match their skill set.

To use this tactic, think about the top skills you're looking for. Create a challenge or problem that effectively tests that skill set. Show this problem where ideal candidates will surely notice it, whether it be a billboard, website, or hyperlink in your job posting.