Depending on the product or service that a company offers, they can get to interact with hidden skills in many ways that would previously never have been used before. In other words, use what your company does to get in touch with potential candidates. If you’re not sure what is meant by that, have a look at these examples from innovative firms.
Does your company sell a product or service? Probably yes. Why not send your latest model to those you think would be great employees. In fact, why not ask them how to improve it - or better still, include a “We’re hiring!” note inside. An online story speaks about a company looking for developers, who sold kitchenware on their website. They identified those clients who were programmers and when they bought something, sent the package including an invitation for an interview. This way they managed to hire two top developers who they usually would not have been able to attract with a typical job advert. Ikea, too, has been known to put job descriptions in many packs of furniture, resulting in almost 300 new hires.
Billboards have been used by both companies and job seekers alike to gain attention to vacancies. But offline media includes coffee cups, space inside buses or aircraft and even under the wrappers of chocolate bars. One clever car manufacturer even placed metal placards under cars of their make which needed repair, which were seen by mechanics at competing workshops.
While gaming is mostly online nowadays, paying top players to stick up posters (usually an offline means) inside gaming levels has worked to hire a front-end developer for a Danish firm. Back to billboards though, Google has famously used them to put forward some of the quirkiest adverts of all time, which leads us to the next type of creative recruitment: puzzles.
Google put a cryptic clue on a billboard, which received a great deal of media attention and online sharing. The clue led to a website where a further challenge had to be solved to reach the interview stage. Cracking codes and solving riddles has also been used by the NSA and other Silicon Valley giants, as well as one or two South African software houses.
Competitions are also used, where the winner (or other talented participants) are invited to interview or given a job offer on winning the event. Chefs, salespeople and interns have been recruited this way, often with the caveat that to win, the job seeker has to help drum up intense awareness of the competition itself. This can further improve brand awareness of the company, as well as offer new ideas for, or solve current challenges, the company is facing.
The moral of the story is that while an online job board will find you the skilled workers who are looking for a new job, some of the best talent is sitting in a chair at work already - it’s your job to find a unique means to approach them. Don’t necessarily use typical job descriptions and “send your CV” instructions. Do some research to find out what your target candidate does and where they spend their time. Thereafter, craft a special and memorable way to spark their interest.
