NONTRADITIONAL - Army/Military Recruitment

Here are some more nontraditional tactics the US Army and military divisions have used to approach candidates. It is important to note that they do make a point to say it is about opening the door to discussion when it comes to these items. It is a softer approach to reach out to candidates but does tend to yield results with those who best fit the military model. Most people are highly concerned with research and education towards their future careers.

Although this campaign may be old, from 2005, the tactic offers potential candidate exposure depending on the industry.

via archive: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=16738

Nascar pictures from: http://www.army.mil/leaders/leaders/sma/photos/2005February/2005February.html

PRINT - McDonalds "Make Up Your Own Mind" UK Campaign

Has your company found yourself in the middle of a debate and had a hard time hiring? While most would shy away from speaking about it, McDonalds makes a nice opportunity from the already open discussion. By creating a site to inform and educate they promote their brand to both consumers and potential employees while addressing their side of the discourse. Check their site out and tell us what you think.
www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk

PRINT - IMAGI Recruitment

Involving your mascots, depending in the company, can be an effective way to reach out to your candidates. Featuring non-traditional figures in your ads may hold a different perspective than your potential employees are used to seeing and could offer a breath of fresh air among the clutter of traditional recruitment ads. What are the results of your products your employees produce? Who is influenced by your employee's actions? What about reaching out with the faces of the consumers that interact directly with your teams?

QUOTE - Advertising and Relationships

"Advertising becomes a dialogue that becomes an invitation to a relationship."
--Lester Wunderman, member, Advertising Hall of Fame
I received this is one of my daily e-mails from AAF SmartBrief and I can't help but completely agree. It doesn't matter what industry you are in for advertising, whether it be product sales or human resources, but advertising really is what assists in opening the door between the relationship between suppliers and consumers or companies and candidates.

Advertising's job is to create and open the connection between two people and lead them to a discussion. Ads persuade people to guide their interest to an item or service. This is why it is so hard to gauge definitive responses and results from advertising. The product or service must be able to be sold effectively by the supplier otherwise advertising only leads to a one sided discussion resulting in clutter for your target.

Effective advertising not only falls on creating good-looking and memorable ads but also sales teams and representatives. Building brand names and marketable identities is only half of the power behind effective relationships between an audience and a company.

Creating effective ads comes down to figuring out what separates your company from the rest (defining the unique selling point) and what means the most to your candidates at this time. There are a variety of ways to connect with your targets including humor, emotion, direct competitor comparison, and education; but, they are not limited to those categories. Finding the unique approach that captures the majority of potential candidates' attention is the goal to opening this large discussion.

What factors would you say fall into the equation of this discussion between consumer and company?

GOVERNMENT - Swedish Armed Forces

This is an awesome recruitment site for the Swedish Armed Forces. Those that go to the site are met with a series of tests and explanations about factors that play out in training and service.

It does a great job grabbing interaction from their target and whether they actually apply or not, it probably gets spread between friends quickly and definitely boosts word of mouth and top of mind awareness. Check it out; you won't be disappointed!

http://forsvar.fileflat.com/english/

Something like this doesn't just work for military and can easily be applied to health care, oil and gas and energy companies. What skills play the major role in your industry and what kinds of simple tests could be applied to accurately display some kind of measurable feedback? Part of what makes something like this fun and interactive is the fact it can be passed among friends to compare scores and such. It is the one friend that actually pauses in the middle of it all and questions, "What if?..." that opens the door for your conversation.

NONTRADITIONAL - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT BEING A NAVAL DIVER

“FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT BEING A NAVAL DIVER”
Ambient Concept for Diver Recruitment
These large boards detail the duties, qualifications, prospects and benefits of being a naval diver with the Republic of Singapore Navy. They were placed at the bottom of swimming pools so swimmers had to hold their breath to read the text.

This is a great way to catch candidates off guard and also generate a buzz in the community. Make something like this prominent enough and you also stand a chance at some possible good PR with a news story. What are your thoughts?

PRINT - Creative Recruitment

Although this is for a school, the same idea can be applied to candidate recruitment campaigns.

Figuring out how the thought process differs between your ideal candidates and the average joe can help make that small connection, whether through humor or insight, that opens the conversation between your company and your candidates.

GENERATION - Gen Y Job Satisfaction Low, Low, Low

This is a short little article talking about the findings of a 2007 study held by the Conference Board that showed Gen Y's job satisfaction level being very low. Take a look at the comments and evidently another study held by www.experience.com also had research findings pointing in this direction. About 60% of those interviewed were always on the look for a new job. Check it out; what are your thoughts?

via:

http://www.ere.net/blogs/improving_the_recruiting_experience/3FF6336754F8469CA4F5DC078494EAC2.asp

PRINT - Pixel Art

Here are some ads for anpe.fr, an employment website in France. Click for an enlarged view.
via: adsoftheworld.com

VIDEO - Wanted: Real People

Liz Claiborne Inc. Presents Runway of Opportunity @ Yahoo! Video

Liz Claiborne Inc. has created a new recruitment video in hope of capturing the general tone of the company in a vibrant display. The title is "Runway to Opportunity" and Liz Claiborne Inc. teamed up with Yahoo! HotJobs for the video's creation. It was stated that a video like this would normally run $20,000-$25,000 but they received a discount for participating in the pilot program. With the steady growth they often see openings for IT professionals, accounting and marketing positions.

via: http://www.ere.net/2008/09/16/wanted-real-people/#more-3966

SOCIAL NETWORKING - LinkedIn To Launch Its Own Ad Network

LinkedIn is now offering a new way to reach out to their potential target markets available to marketers and recruiters.

The difference in what is becoming available is the ability to specially target your message based on information that is not readily available through open profiles. Information include industry, gender, job function, company size, and geography lend themselves to the ability to produce highly targeted messages to audiences.

This is a great chance for recruiters to specifically target candidates in their geographic area and within specific industries while closely watching their ad dollars.

LinkedIn is on the rise within the social networking circles and continues to carve out its niche as the place for business networking, leaving Facebook, MySpace, and Classmates to high school friends. Plans are for multi-language versions of LinkedIn to begin rolling out in additional international markets within the year. Plans for mobile applications are in the works as well.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=90566

Out of Office Due to Hurricane Ike

GOVERNMENT - Now You Will Be Able to Buy Official U.S. Army Clothing at Sears

Sears, Roebuck & Co. teamed up with the US Army and will begin distributing All American Army Brand's First Infantry Division line of clothing. Licensing fees will go to support military troops and families.

This is a great move for recruiting because this widens the appeal of the military and begins to assist with top of mind awareness. It also widens the spread of interaction with the logos, looks, and overall branding capacity provided from the actions of the US Army. They are able to receive recognition with the act of releasing the clothing line as well as the residual impact of people wearing their line.

This is not the only action that has been taken to display the Army around the malls. As reported earlier, the Army Experience Center has been rolled out as well. Finding alternative ways to get your brand out there and in the hands of potential candidates, whether direct recruitment or not, is half the battle.

via: http://adage.com/article?article_id=130696

COLLEGE - what's hot on campus: popups.

Finding innovative ways to catch your targets off guard can help bolster top of mind awareness and differentiate yourself from competitors.

Right now it seems the hot new thing on campuses are pop-up stores. Though right now they are just retail locations making money off the student body roaming the quads and student centers it is not too far off an idea to try doing this with a recruitment booth.

Setting up a simple booth in the engineering or science area and passing out information, promotional items, or even food (everyone loves free doughnuts!) is a great way to generate buzz about your company and what positions you are hiring. Pass out hot cocoa on the cold fall days approaching and slip a business card to the cold students as well. Let them know you are going to be at the upcoming job fair and give them warning about exactly what you want them to bring to your booth and your company. This added exposure really helps when building that initial connection between your candidates and your company.

info via: http://www.brandflakesforbreakfast.com/2008/08/whats-hot-on-campus-popups.html
http://www.adpulp.com/archives/2008/08/daddys_credit_c.php

COLLEGE - mobile computing and university

http://www.internationalcounselor.org/?p=279

This is geared more towards getting students to go to certain colleges but the same could be applied to students entering the work force. When trying to hire your recruit, why not offer an iPhone or Blackberry to help increase their productivity while breaking away from your competition? Commute time spent in traffic or on the bus could at least give your candidates the added connection they seek from mentors and their companies.

What are your thoughts on this? This may be a little expensive but when compared to your current cost per hire, how much does it affect that number?

COLLEGE - Allan Gray Graduate Recruitment : Tie

Here is an interesting little twist on the traditional brochure/flyer handouts that get passed around before a job fair or presentation. Thoughts on this?

Headline: "Get Ready. We’re Recruiting."
Bodycopy: "At Allen Gray, we're looking to make a long-term investment in excellent graduates. If you are in your final year of studies and have a passion for investing, come to our presentation at the University of Cape Town on the 15th of May from 13:00-14:00 to get a better understanding of what we can offer you. To find out more, visit www.allangray.co.za/careers"

"Every year Allan Gray hosts a graduate recruitment campaign on campuses around South Africa. We handed out flyers which doubled as ties that students could wear. All the relevant information regarding the recruitment drive was printed on the reverse of the tie."

via: Adsoftheworld.com

COLLEGE - Bus Wraps

Challenge: You are too tight on staff and time to go to the job fair being held on campus coming up but you really want to get your name out on campus in a noticeable manner. You want people to see you and not just in the university paper.

Solution: Bus wraps. They are a great solution for getting your name out on campus in a very "moving" manner. These portable billboards offer you the chance to reach out to a wide variety of students across all fields. Some of these buses even run a limited amount off campus depending on university parking lots. Compared to the stationary location of bus stop posters or billboards found along main routes to schools for those living off campus, the value found in bus wraps is huge.

They do not just get exposure to those riding the bus but also those just walking to and from class. Depending on your design you might be able to generate quite a buzz among the students. Buses offer a variety of options when it comes to displaying your message.

Questions? Contact us today and we will be more than happy to explain in more detail about options available in the area of mobile billboards and bus wraps. The affordability might just surprise you.

GOVERNMENT - Army Deploys 'Experience Center'

The US Army has rolled out with their 'Experience Center' in a Philadelphia mall on Aug. 29th. Attendees to the site have the chance to visit with staff who provide personal stories of their time served, Humvee and helicopter simulations, gaming areas and a cafe. Rather than branding this as a recruitment site, it is more of an information site. This allows for the potential to hit those in the early stages of information gathering and delivering strong detailed messages to those interested and potential candidates.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/client/e3i4091ce08679099b9660c156258d54d1f

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-08-30-army-experience-center_N.htm

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/us-army-opens-army-experience-center-in-philadelphia,521581.shtml

Related links:

http://patriotadvertising.blogspot.com/2008/06/government-army-imitates-apple-to-draw.html