Novel ways to recruit

High unemployment in Brazil inspired Walmart to create a product line featuring situations vacant, so ads for cleaners were mocked up as bleach and placed in the appropriate aisle. An on-pack QR code unlocked more information and the 12% spike in interest indicates that audiences appreciated that this was more than gimmicky packaging. It’s a textbook example of how to appeal to potential applicants in an unorthodox way.

This Snapchat lens enabled young Australians to picture themselves working at the organisation, complete with uniform and badge. This creative and informal solution reframed McDonald’s as an innovative entry-level employee that spoke the language of its young target audience, showing how crucial a carefully considered channel can be in attracting talent.

Recruitment is as much about elimination as selection. This initiative to recruit spies in Germany pointed out that the job was nothing like a Bond or Bourne movie. Announcing the online interview on a morning TV show meant it benefitted from mass media exposure without having to purchase airtime. It shows how to extend reach organically and then reinforce that with print, online and influencer activity.

A motor show may seem like an odd place for a job interview, especially when it’s a car that’s conducting the interview. This in-car AI stole the headlines at the Brussels Motor Show when it recruited its engineers for Volvo’s factory in Ghent. Changing the conversation from cars to jobs shows how to cut through in terms of PR for the brand at the same time as reducing recruitment costs.

If you can scale a tall building to reach a brochure, you’re the right kind of candidate for the role. This shows outdoor’s strength in being an effective and powerful channel to appeal to the right candidate, while at the same time tacitly eliminating the faint-hearted.

This video shows every cop drama cliché imaginable juxtaposed with the community work that the police undertake, and even came with a blooper reel. The film starred real officers, helping to attract more women and ethnically diverse groups. Keeping it real and light-hearted made a police career in the force seem desirable and rewarding, freeing it from traditional depictions of life as a law-enforcer.