Recruiting the Candidate:
Now Playing at a Theater Near You

Contents

Advertising and Company Branding Unique Hiring Ideas

Recently, I found myself in a movie theater in the Silicon Hills of Austin, Texas. Before the previews, along with the usual "movie trivia" frames and dancing popcorn, a full-screen advertisement for local high tech jobs appeared. This recruiting effort, however, paled in comparison to a recent article I read on "drive-by" recruiting whereby billboard trucks purportedly cruise through town and occasionally park in front of competitors’ offices.

The game industry is, indeed, a competitive one, and quality talent is vital to success. So, how do you appeal to the quality candidates? Rather than hustle HR to the local theater or send them rollerblading down the street with a bullhorn and a sandwich board, in this article we will address consistent means of attracting ideal candidates to your company via advertising, company branding, unique hiring ideas, and professional search firms.

Advertising

In Game Industry Media. Placing job want ads remains a popular recruiting method. With the advent of the Internet and the growth of the game industry media, game companies can get their ads in front of their target market quickly and effectively. Business-oriented game industry publications like Gamasutra and GIGnews.com cater to the business end of the game industry versus just the game enthusiast. Job ads in these sorts of online magazines, paired with their subscription email updates, can produce immediate results in terms of getting the word out about your job openings. Moreover, posting your job ads online makes it easy for friends to email job opening information to their other job seeking friends.

Another means of advertising in game industry media is via articles and tutorials. Contact game industry publications and volunteer yourself or someone from your company to write an article. Don’t bother about how much you’ll get paid for it; that’s not the point. Your payment will be the free exposure your company receives. Publications are always looking for content. Technical articles, in particular, are a sure-fire way of getting your company name and contact info in front of thousands of potential recruits.

On Your Website. To paraphrase an old Hormel chili ad "How long has it been since you’ve updated your website’s job page? Well, that’s too long." You should be using your company website to advertise job openings, as well. But don’t expect results by simply throwing a job description on your "job opportunities" page. Your jobs page should be designed with an eye toward bringing qualified people -- even those not actively seeking a job -- to visit your site on a regular basis. For example, your job page should provide information on your corporate culture with features such as current employee profiles, company news, tips, and resources. You can keep them coming back by offering a "subscription" email for notification of new job postings, tips and resource additions, code releases, company news, etc. Another device for getting potential recruits to your site is to do something on the your site that has "the dancing baby" effect. We all remember receiving "the dancing baby" email. And off we clicked to the Burning Pixel Productions site. Lure potential recruits to your site by creating the game industry’s "dancing baby." But be sure you don’t weigh down your entire site with slow loading graphics and script. Don’t make it a challenge to get to your jobs page. Save the real challenges for the code test.

Company Branding

Why do certain companies receive a constant influx of qualified candidates? In short, they give good PR. The best recruiting tool is to become a talked about place to work. If you’re looking for new hires, your company should be marketing its corporate culture as much as your latest game. Does your company offer unique employee benefits? I recall seeing a news story recently on a company in Silicon Valley that allows employees to sleep on the job – even providing designated sleeping areas (including tents!). The company reported markedly increased productivity by allowing these afternoon naps. Every employee interviewed for this news piece positively beamed about his job and employer. The media is always looking for interesting stories to break the monotony of stock prices and mergers. Does your company offer unique benefits? If so, let the media know. A consistent PR and marketing strategy to develop an employment "brand" is one of the most effective ways to recruit.

And, keep in mind, even if your story isn’t picked up by the media, just like a good movie or a restaurant, a company’s image can be built through word-of-mouth advertising. Things like allowing dogs at work, offering flextime hours, and charitable endeavors help generate good buzz about your company. Give your current employees something to brag about.

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Unique Hiring Ideas