Top 7 Most Successful Original Recruitment Campaigns

An original recruitment campaign makes it possible to stand out from the competition and attract the best candidates. But what is the right formula to apply? Should we organize meetings in unusual places? Making a hilarious video, posting a shocking ad?

In truth, there are no standard rules for successful staggered recruitment. Instead, seek to offer a candidate experience that interests the targets of the position to be filled, while emphasizing the company’s values.

The 7 original recruitment campaigns presented below meet these different requirements and have offered excellent results to the companies that initiated them.

Post an unusual and original ad

This involves publishing a job offer written with humor or insolence, in order to capture the attention of candidates and create buzz. The benefits are twofold: you enhance the value of the employer brand and you benefit from the positive spin-offs of sharing and communication.

Burger King’s cover letter

In 2021, the French subsidiary of the American restaurant chain Burger King plans to recruit 3,000 new talents. Instead of a traditional announcement, Burger King reversed the roles and published a cover letter titled “Another cover letter we won’t read.”

Through this approach, Burger King France puts itself in the shoes of candidates and offers to be recruited by them, with a speech evoking its strengths and weaknesses. The company also highlights 2 values that are dear to it: humor and transparency.

This recruitment campaign quickly went viral, and Burger King received many applications. Ultimately, the company offers promising career opportunities, especially that of occupying the position of restaurant chef.

The shocking announcement of McDonald’s

A great competitor of Burger King, McDonald’s is also a master in the art of conducting staggered recruitments. Its original recruitment campaign launched in 2008 in Sweden started with a message that cited nationalities the company did not want.

Literally translated from English, the message began with ” We do not hire Turks, Greeks, Poles, Indians, Ethiopians, Vietnamese, Chinese, or Peruvians .”

But further down and just below that first post, McDonald’s added that in reality, he was looking for ambitious and determined candidates. He also recalled that nationality did not matter and that the company already had 91 different nationalities.

This original recruitment campaign allowed McDonald’s to reach a large number of candidates. It also provided an opportunity to remind its audience that it shares their values of tolerance and universality, because in reality, only talent counts.

Script the job offer in a short video

A video can be used to script a job offer that can be used for an original recruitment campaign.

Ubisoft’s company visit

In 2016, Ubisoft France which specializes in video game production, offered candidates who wish to join its team to visit its premises via a short video. Small scenes included in the script are only accessible to people with virtual reality headsets.

The original recruitment campaign was a great success, as the video totaled more than 80 thousand views on YouTube. It has also enabled the company to:

• Make themselves better known to the public;
• Address a specific target of candidates, since you must love video games and have a virtual reality headset;
• Position itself as the ideal employer brand to work in a fun and friendly environment.

Jobs at the auction with Michel and Augustin

In 2015, the French company Michel et Augustin launched an original recruitment campaign thanks to an unusual video. We can see the head of human resources, Anne-Claire, asking metro passengers if they know people with the profiles she is looking for.

She then distributes flyers, and as the videotape ends, Anne-Claire can be heard in the background asking that the recruitment announcement be shared on social networks. In one week, Michel et Augustin received 1,000 CVs, while the video had 335,000 views on YouTube.

It is a real success for Michel and Augustin. The innovative concept of Jobs at the auction presented in the video can be reused for other campaigns, especially for a work-study recruitment campaign.

Recruiting without making an official announcement

To apply this original recruitment method, no need for an advertisement or video. Rather, you need to:

• Hide the recruitment test behind a coded message that only targeted profiles can understand;
• Send the job offer to a category of people who have ordered products;
• Print the job offer on the label of the products for sale.

Google’s hidden ad

In 2004, Google wanted to recruit new developers, but in a discreet way. The company hides the announcement of its original recruitment campaign behind a query related to solving a specific programming problem.

Max Rosett, who is a developer, enters the key query “python lambda function list comprehension”, in order to solve a problem he encounters in his work. A small message appears, inviting him to take up a challenge.

The developer agrees, and within 48 hours, manages to complete the test. 5 other problems are then submitted to him, and he manages each time to find a solution within the allotted time. Google sees him as the ideal candidate and contacts him to send his resume and go through interviews.

A few weeks later, Max Rosett joined Google’s family of developer engineers.

Ikea’s recruitment manual

Ikea decided in 2011 to carry out a variant of internal recruitment for its original recruitment campaign in Australia. Instead of recruiting among its co-workers, as is common for an internal offer, Ikea chose to look for new agents among its customers.

It’s a wise choice since customers also know the company and its products, and above all, they share its values. No public announcement has been made. Instead, Ikea added a “hiring manual” to the furniture assembly instructions.

The feedback from this offbeat recruitment experience is phenomenal: nearly 4,300 applications were sent to Ikea, which selected 280.

Bonduelle’s solidarity job offer

While Canada is facing a jobs crisis and an unprecedented food crisis, Quebec-based Bonduelle wants to prove to its customers that it is socially engaged.

For the original 2021 recruitment campaign, the company prints a special label on its food cans. The poster, which says “Bonduelle offers you food and a job” is attached to the boxes that are sent to food banks.

The initiative was appreciated throughout the American continent and was relayed in many media. It also served the marketing side of the company which reached a new audience and succeeded in its campaign without incurring large costs.

Some tips for a successful original recruitment campaign

In addition to the inspiring insights provided by the experiences relayed above, here are some tips for a successful external recruitment campaign.

• Target candidates correctly;
• Speak the language of their target audience;
• Propose a catchy message;
• Set clear objectives in terms of communication and marketing around the employer brand;
• Involve its HR teams in the development of the original recruitment campaign;
• Recruit other than on the sole basis of skills;
• Take the opinion of employees to identify the values to be advocated during the campaign.

Employee reviews can indeed contribute to the success of recruitment. They allow candidates to learn more about the recruiting company and make an informed commitment.

It is therefore important to collect reviews and make them accessible, via a dedicated and certified platform. Custplace is a dedicated platform that offers your company the opportunity to have a dedicated page where your employees can leave reviews. You will also be able to respond to these reviews. You can click here to take advantage of this offer today.