To play with game changers, you’ll need tactics that inspire with intrigue and interest. Leave ordinary recruitment to your competitors and, instead, find gonzo recruitment inspiration in the examples below.
Tinder your way to a great candidate
Most people go on Tinder to find a special someone, but some companies like Amazon and Fetch use it to attract professional prospects. The dating app boasts 10 million active daily users. In 2015, the story of how Amazon used Tinder made the rounds on sites like Vice’s Motherboard and Reddit.
Recruiter how-to
- Open a Tinder account for an outstanding job opportunity
- Create images for it through an image editing app like Font Candy
- Include your job info and all your contact info in your ad
Lunch and lure them
Gyro International, a London-based ad agency, researched the habits of their competitors’ employees. They then hit them when they were vulnerable — hungry during their lunch hour. While they were eating sandwiches and away from the office, employees faced a confrontation: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Recruiter how-to
- Identify your clients’ biggest competitors
- Find out where their staff goes to lunch — you can use Yelp to find popular spots nearby
- Create a memorable impression to stimulate candidates’ thinking about their careers
Game with them
If your target market includes big gamers, play with potential candidates the way Danish agency Uncle Grey did. They reached out to top players of the role-playing game (RPG) Fortress 2 and made them ambassadors of their company. During gameplay, the ambassadors talked to other players about Uncle Grey and let them know the company was looking for new talent.
Recruiter how-to
- Research popular multiplayer RPG games and select a game to join
- Create a character that you can use to recruit directly or to make friends with popular players who can serve as your ambassadors
- Tell other players about how you can help them find new opportunities
- Have fun with it!
Make friends with your client’s employees’ friends
Your client may already know their next star employee — they’re one or two degrees away from someone who works for them now. Tapping into this proximity, InMobi elevated their referral reward system by offering rewarding experiences. Employees who referred potential hires could win a Vespa, an Apple Watch, a trip to Ibiza, and more.
Recruiter how-to
- Talk to your client about their employee referral program
- Brainstorm an opportunity or event where you can connect with your client’s current employees
- Offer some kind of reward or opportunity — perhaps a raffle for a free lunch or must-have tickets
Host a hackathon and meet new talent
Hackathons gather a community of tech talent for a creative marathon of innovative problem-solving. Hackathons are a place to find solutions and grow community knowledge. They’re also places of concentrated talent — a gold mine for recruiters.
Rain, a full-service digital agency, hosts an annual event called Hack Upstate. It’s also an event where impressive people can stand out and get hired on the spot.
Recruiter how-to
- Brainstorm with your client and its technology department about topics that support their business interests
- Set goals for the hackathon
- Publicize through Eventbrite, tech message boards, and social media
- Create social opportunities at the event — many attendees want to meet like-minded folks
- Connect with everyone — even if their talent isn’t right for the opportunity that’s open
So there you have it – how to land top candidates by letting your outrageousness fly.
Looking for more on wowing the best of the best? Check out our article on wooing Millennial talent.
