They have distinguished themselves by their originality, their efficiency and, often, their nerve. Here are the most successful recruitment campaigns of recent years according to Intuition Software.
Le “Whoop !! Music and jobs festival” de Burger King France
Why meet candidates in a cold, austere meeting room when you can do it in a fun, friendly way? In June 2018, Burger King, a user of our recruitment software Jobaffinityorganised an event in Nantes half-day recruitment event… in a concert hall ! The event was all about fun and festivities, giving “festival-goers” the chance to chat with recruiters, get to know each other in the midst of blind tests, photo booths, concerts and donut stands… And, above all, to immerse themselves in the spirit of the brand.
Behind this apparent lightness, a strong challenge for Burger King: that of recruit more than 300 talented people. And it paid off: at the end of the event, nearly a hundred people were selected to begin a recruitment process. After Nantes, the Whoop !! Music and jobs festival continued in Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Paris.
Campaign Michel et Augustin, 2015
“Does anyone know anyone looking for a job? Here’s a question that’s hard to miss.
If you’re a Parisian and you were taking the metro regularly in spring 2015, you may already have bumped into Anne-Claire, Michel et Augustin’s Director of Human Resources. In any case, you’re sure to have heard about his intervention in the Paris metro.
To recruit the talent her company is lacking, the HR director decided to call on the people of the Paris region to promote her job vacancies. Of course, everything is staged: Anne-Claire wears the iconic orange apron so characteristic of Michel et Augustin, the operation is perfectly filmed… In short, it’s a publicity stunt, but it works. It’s original, it’s quirky, it’s funny, so it creates a buzz.
In total, this campaign enabled Anne-Claire to receive 1,000 CVs in one week. On the brand’s YouTube channel, the video now has over 335,000 views.
More importantly, this recruitment campaign perfectly embodies Michel et Augustin’s identity and its corporate culture, which aims to be friendly and quirky, resolutely close to its consumers.
Google’s hidden test
Why spend thousands on a recruitment campaign when you can leverage the strengths of your product? To find its rare gem, Google decided in 2015 to use its search engine to offer a challenge to targeted internet users. Google’s target for this recruitment: experienced engineers who have typed in a specific request, related to a programming problem.
So when Max Rosett types the query “python lambda function list comprehension” into Google, he sees a message among the standard results. “You speak our language. Ready for a challenge?
After clicking on “Yes”, Max Rosett is redirected to the Foo.bar website – accessible by invitation only. As he explains in this article, he is then invited to complete a series of programming challenges. After passing six consecutive tests, Max Rosett ended up meeting Google teams during job interviews and face-to-face tests. A few weeks later, he joined Google as a Software Engineer.
The strength of this campaign? Its very targeted, aimed exclusively at seasoned developers capable of meeting the various challenges. This one also has the merit of highlight skills, disregarding candidates’ qualifications.
Décathlon’s open days
“Come in shorts for a job“: a slightly unusual phrase? This is the name of the recruitment campaign launched by Décathlon at the end of 2018. Keen to break the mould of recruitment to highlight its values, the brand wanted to offer an experience centred on the personality of the candidates and the team.
The objective, for Décathlon: removing the barriers to recruitment that can be found in traditional interviews, to focus on the human element. How do we do it? Thanks to informal exchanges, sports exercises and games. The aim here was not, of course, to assess the candidates’ sporting performance. Instead, we focus on their interpersonal skills, group behaviour and sportsmanship.
As Kamel Medjabra, responsible for employer branding at Décathlon, these events aim to allow candidates to reveal themselves:
« By taking the mystery out of recruitment, candidates can express their potential and reveal their personalities. And perhaps get a job more easily than they imagined. »
When Ikea recruits its customers
A company’s customers are its best ambassadors. They know their product/service and believe in it, have been able to assess its strengths and weaknesses, and may have already thought of ways to improve it… In short : these are ideal candidates.
At least, that’s Ikea’s premise. To ensure the opening of its shop in Australia in 2011, the brand decided to slip a “hire notice” among its essential “assembly instructions”. A simple, pragmatic way of attracting applications from committed target groups.
Results The multinational received almost 4,285 applications, resulting in 280 new hires. A winning bet that cost next to nothing!
An original recruitment campaign
Whether the aim is to break the mould of recruitment through unusual events, or to find the rare gem among our customers or a very specific target group, these recruitment campaigns have a lot in common:
- The focus is on people, interpersonal skills and competencies, rather than on the “typical profile”, which can be discriminatory.
- We don’t hesitate to target a certain type of candidate. Google is targeting expert engineers. Décathlon is looking for team players Ikea focuses on its loyal customers…
- These recruitment campaigns all stand out for their humour or originality.
- They are all in line with each company’s values and employer brand.
- They are not necessarily more expensive, but more targeted and ingenious, you can for example use QRcodes for sourcing.
But be careful not to confuse a recruitment campaign with a publicity stunt. To be effective and perceived in the right light, a recruitment campaign must meet a genuine recruitment need. It’s not a question of using a talent search as a means of publicising yourself or boosting your brand image.
Only a sincere campaign can touch the public – and the candidates – to the core. Is it worth repeating? In 2021, candidates – like consumers – are looking for authenticity.
