The ideal ASIS intelligence officer should have a remarkable ability to navigate complex social situations, often under pressure.

So to find the right candidates, we decided to test them in the most stressful social situation we could think of: A job interview.

But this was no ordinary interview. It was The Most Interesting Job Interview.

Utilising a mix of video, audio and 3D elements, The Most Interesting Job Interview took candidates through a series of interactive challenges that were based on the psychological profile required for espionage: including empathy, facial recognition, perceptiveness and lateral thinking.

It might have only been a simulation, but the interview's outcome had real world implications. After completion, high performing candidates were given a unique code that they could use to inform ASIS recruiters of their results.

The Most Interesting Interview was built as a standalone microsite, using the latest in Web GL technology and on-demand video streaming to deliver a seamless, highly interactive user experience. The interview itself might have only been a simulation, but its outcome had real world implications. At the completion of the experience, high performing candidates were given a unique code that they could use to inform ASIS recruiters of their interview results.

Due to the classified nature of ASIS's work, security was also paramount, with the experience having to pass the highest level of penetration testing.

The Most Interesting Job Interview was launched in December 2017, backed by a targeted digital campaign that was indented to generate most of the site traffic. However, once local and international news media became aware of the interview, the story spread quickly, driving 1000s more visitors to the experience.

Australians might not have heard of ASIS before, but it didn’t take long for the entire country to suit up for The Most Interesting Job Interview.

On the day it was launched, the interview generated over $2 million dollars of earned media, appearing on Australia's two largest morning shows, and making it as far as news broadcasts in France, Germany and CBS New York. The Australian Minister For Foreign Affairs and Trade, Julie Bishop, also joined our PR push, appearing on live television to talk about the ASIS organisation.

In total, over 400,000 Australians took the online interview, with the average user spending over 6 minutes on the site. Google Analytics estimates that average website session lasts just under 55 seconds, meaning our website eclipsed the industry benchmark.

The total numbers of applicatnts, as well as conversion data, is classified.

The Australian Secret Intelligence Service requires intelligent, charismatic and diverse Australians to assist with the gathering of foreign intelligence. The problem was, not enough of these people knew ASIS existed.

By creating The Most Interesting Job Interview, we gave Australias best and brightest the chance to meet ASIS face-to-face, then test their skills in a series of interactive challenges designed to see if they had what it takes to work in secret intelligence.

For the majority of people, their understanding of what it takes to work in espionage comes from an unreliable source. Hollywood.

But in reality, the people ASIS actually want to employ don’t drive Aston Martins, have chiseled physiques or action movie reflexes. Sure, they have to be smart and charming, but they also need to be young, intelligent and culturally diverse.

Knowing the majority of this audience would be tech savvy and university educated, digital became an ideal channel to introduce ASIS in a way that positioned the organisation as a modern, exciting career option.

Because ASIS only accepts a small majority of candidates, we knew we needed to cast the net wide, while also developing a way to filter inappropriate candidates. The Most Interesting Interview was therefore developed as both an exciting introduction to ASIS, as well as a functioning recruitment tool.

For most brands, being invisible would be present significant business problem. But for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, being invisible IS their business.

While secrecy is important from an operational standpoint, there is one aspect of the ASIS organisation that has been impacted by a lack of public awareness: recruitment.

Our brief from ASIS was to help them recruit young, diverse and intelligent Australians to work as Intelligence Officers – a demanding role that requires extraordinary levels of emotional intelligence, charisma and courage. But of course, its hard enough to recruit people to any role. Let alone to a role they don't know exists.

We therefore had three objectives.

-To educate Australia about ASIS without exposing any classified information.

-To encourage as many people as possible to apply

-To actively filter out inappropriate candidates