{"id":26776,"date":"2014-04-23T14:16:31","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T21:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/?p=26776"},"modified":"2017-10-17T10:12:43","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T17:12:43","slug":"4-unorthodox-but-successful-recruitment-campaigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/4-unorthodox-but-successful-recruitment-campaigns\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Unorthodox (but Successful) Recruitment Campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recruiting can be a tricky game. You never ‘know’ what will work until you try it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are some major corporations integrating new concepts into their recruiting process in order the find talent<\/a>. There are some smaller companies and independent recruiters who use creative methods to satisfy the needs of their clients and organizations.
\n<\/p>\n

You’ve probably heard of gamification<\/a> by now.\u00a0It\u2019s the process of adding gaming principles and metrics to procedures and a way to test candidates, increase engagement, collaboration and communication.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The three concepts that every business software should steal from the gaming playbook,” wrote Danny Lee in the PandoDaily<\/a>, are “contextual & timely information, performance summaries, and the power of dangling a carrot.”<\/p>\n

It also allows a company to make its recruiting processes more interactive while helping to identify those qualities that best match the job qualifications.<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>Let\u2019s start with a couple of major organizations, and their unorthodox recruitment campaigns that paid off big time.<\/p>\n

Unorthodox Recruiting<\/h2>\n

4. My Marriot Hotel Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marriott International created a hotel themed game, like Farmville<\/a>, to help identify talent for various positions in their hotels. The game, according to Marriott<\/a>, allowed perspective talent to “create their own restaurant, where they\u2019ll buy equipment and ingredients on a budget, hire and train employees, and serve guests.\u00a0 They\u2019ll earn points for happy customers\u2026and lose points for poor service.\u00a0 Ultimately, they\u2019ll be rewarded when their operation turns a profit.”<\/p>\n

3. Department of Defense’s Robotics Race<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Department of Defense understood that it was just too expensive and dangerous to provide realistic job previews so they developed several gaming programs which are cheaper and easier to execute in order to fill positions and evaluate potential candidates. One of their early events (2003), the\u00a0\u201cGrand Challenge\u201d<\/a>, a contest of building autonomous robots then racing them on a 250 mile course, allowed the Department of Defense to recruit from a talent of pool not only of contestants but also of attendees.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But wait, if you think I was only going to write about gamification, you are wrong. I\u2019ve saved the best for last. Here are a couple of my favorite real life unorthodox \u2013 odd, weird, outside the box, whatever you want to call them – \u00a0recruiting strategies<\/a> that were actually successful:<\/p>\n


\n2. Probation Hiring Pool<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teri Levy, a talent manager in the Nashville area worked at an industrial staffing business and they needed candidates that could perform general labor and pass a drug test, so they decided to partner with the local probation officers! That\u2019s right; they reached out to the probation officers because they knew that parolees needed jobs and had to pass drugs tests regularly. The result was a mostly clean applicant pool that was ready to work. It was a very low cost\u2013 low risk situation, and it worked!<\/p>\n


\n1. Job Ad in a Bar\\<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robin Schooling, an\u00a0HR<\/a> professional with 25+ years experience, had an idea while at her favorite \u201cwatering hole\u201d having an afterhours cocktail. Her company needed workers for their packaging operation. She looked around and saw plenty of potential applicants, so she created fliers advertising the shift hours making a note \u201cthis allows for plenty of quality time at your favorite neighborhood social venue.\u201d<\/em> And it worked!<\/p>\n

There you have it. Gamification, probation officers, and the local pub can all be used to recruit, depending on your company\u2019s needs. That\u2019s what recruiting<\/a> is all about; discovering what you need then finding the ways\u00a0 – be it traditional or unorthodox – to get those jobs filled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"GladiatorChris Fields<\/a>\u00a0is an HR professional and leadership guy who also helps job seekers write great resumes and blogs. His work can be found at ResumeCrusade.com, & CostofWork.com.\u00a0<\/em>Photo Credits<\/em>\u00a0GoodWill Hunting Trailer<\/a>, Wikia Moe’s Tavern<\/a>, & modified\u00a0<\/em>flickr Peter<\/a>.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

SmartRecruiters<\/a>\u00a0is the only platform that managers and candidates love.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recruiting can be a tricky game. You never ‘know’ what will work until you try it.\u00a0 There are some major corporations integrating new concepts into their recruiting process in order the find talent. There are some smaller companies and independent recruiters who use creative methods to satisfy the needs of their clients and organizations.","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":""},"categories":[840,630,838,841],"tags":[],"series":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Podcast-icon.jpg","download_link":false,"player_link":false,"audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/hiring-success-podcast\/id1472174987","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXJpbmdzdWNjZXNzcG9kY2FzdC5jYXN0b3MuY29tL2hpcmluZy1zdWNjZXNzLXBvZGNhc3Q","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"soundcloud":{"key":"soundcloud","url":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/smartrecruiters\/sets\/hiring-success-podcast-1","label":"SoundCloud","class":"soundcloud","icon":"soundcloud.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3bM8YzLjM2G9qJXLBBySaB","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast","embedCode":"

4 Unorthodox (but Successful) Recruitment Campaigns<\/a><\/blockquote>