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 ASIS. In total, over 420,000 Australians have taken the online interview, with the average user spending over 5 and a half 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 applicants, 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 candidates a brand experience that was truly unique – the chance to meet face to face with a secret intelligence organisation, and undertake a job interview that could see them land a job as an intelligence officer.

ASIS needed to simultaneously recruit and communicate that what they wanted WASN’T the next James Bond, rather someone with refined interpersonal skills. Our target audience was psychographic, not demographic. Most desirable, high profile jobs at places like Google or Facebook all have crazy stories about how hard or quirky the job interview process is. We took our cue from this cultural insight decided to make our candidates come to us. To recruit diverse and emotionally intelligent Australians we decided to create The Most Interesting Job Interview – an interactive digital experience. This experience would attract the curious browser, and spark their interest in ASIS, but since the experience was a digital interview it would also educate and help filter candidates for us. Perfectly combining advertising with recruitment. Our digital strategy focused on popular news environments that globally minded and intelligent people read i.e. The Guardian and major Australian Mastheads.

For most brands, being invisible would present a 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, it’s 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 the world about ASIS without exposing any classified information ?

- To encourage as many people as possible to apply ?

- To actively filter out inappropriate candidates