Post on 13-May-2018
Can Smart Recruitment Creatives Save the World?
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In the Oscar nominated film “The Imitation Game,” Keira Knightley’s Joan Clarke was hired by Alan Turing, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, to join the MI6’s top secret code-breaking operation during World War II after she solved a crossword puzzle Turing placed in The Daily Telegraph in record time. While the movie’s plot took much dramatic license —in real life, Clarke never took the test, her Oxford professor helped push her into the program—the British government did recruit codebreakers at the time using crossword puzzles. Ultimately, the codebreakers cracked Germany’s Enigma code, shortening the war by at least two years, saving 14 million lives—making this crossword puzzle one of the most fascinating recruitment ads in world history.
Today, the fun challenges continue in inventive recruitment ads targeted at creative problem solvers who excel in their industry, be it technology, finance, marketing, or others. So sit back and enjoy our compilation of some of the most creative recruitment ads we’ve seen across mediums of print, online, out of home, and beyond. We hope these ads will inspire you to think out of the box and help make your recruitment efforts more impactful and effective.
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
A crossword puzzle published in 1942 in The Daily Telegraph to attract talented code breakers (source and answers)
Industry: Nonprofit website
3 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Mensa Singapore Are you Mensa enough to be a member? These mysterious print ads were specially created for the members-only society for the mentally elite. Spoiler alert! The encrypted headline in the first ad reads: “Are you the prodigy we’re looking for?”
INSTANTLY ATTENTION-GETTING
EASY TO READ LAYOUT, GENEROUS NEGATIVE SPACE
SIMPLE CALL TO ACTION
4 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
ImagineLearning Software developers can use code for good. They can use their skills to level up their career paths and change the world. The billboard was part of a targeted campaign from ImagineLearning, the maker of language and literacy software. The campaign also included a dedicated website and recruitment videos.
POWERFUL HEADLINE
EASY TO READ LAYOUT
CLEAR FOCUS ON ACTION
BOLD USE OF COLOR
Industry: E-Learning LinkedIn Company Page | website
Out of Home
5 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
EverythingMe EverythingMe makes personalization software for Android devices. These ads are aimed at just the type of puzzle solving, comic book hero fan-ing, cartoon humor loving, board game wizards the company’s looking for.
SUPER CREATIVE CONCEPT
EMPOWERING MESSAGING
SPEAKS TO THE TARGET IN A DIRECT, PERSONAL WAY
COMPANY CULTURE SHINES THROUGH
Industry: Internet LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
6 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
HomeAway What’s the best part about working at the online vacation rental booking company? You get to live in Austin. You get to see unique properties from cabins, condos, and villas to farm houses and castles. But hardly anything beats a dressed-down, easy going team culture every single day of the week.
DYNAMIC, ENGAGING PHOTOGRAPHY
EXUDES CONFIDENCE
SHOWCASES COMPANY CULTURE
Industry: Media, Financial Services LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
7 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Deloitte By the looks of these ads, one wouldn’t be able to tell that the company was founded more than one and a half centuries ago, in 1845. Its fresh and relevant recruitment strategy is part of how Deloitte keeps its status as one of the "Big Four" professional services firms in the world.
EXCITING, EMPOWERING MESSAGING
BOLD DESIGN + COLOR THAT COMMANDS ATTENTION
EXUDES CONFIDENCE AND BELIEF IN THE COMPANY
Industry: Media, Financial Services LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
8 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Bloomberg How do you attract young, hungry talent to join a 30 year old company with 10,000+ employees? By telling them they’ll be empowered to take risks and make a difference.
EXCITING, EMPOWERING MESSAGING
BOLD DESIGN + COLOR THAT COMMANDS ATTENTION
EXUDES CONFIDENCE AND BELIEF IN THE COMPANY
Industry: Media, Financial Services LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
9 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Red Hat The world’s leading software provider of open source solutions would like to show you how fun it is to don a Red Hat.
DYNAMIC, ENGAGING PHOTOGRAPHY
CREATIVE WAY OF EXTENDING BRAND; I.E., RED HAT
SHOWCASES COMPANY CULTURE IN AN AUTHENTIC WAY
Industry: Software LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
10 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
BPS Networking Resourcing The U.K. based company likes to think of itself as a resourcing specialist with a difference: “We push the boundaries through our innovative solutions. Our capability is far broader than the traditional recruitment remit.” To communicate this to clients and candidates, the company created a highly differentiated look and feel to make its brand stand apart from the rest.
FRESH, OPTIMISTIC DESIGN
COHESIVE LOOK & FEEL ACROSS WEBSITE, ADS, SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES
Industry: Staffing and Recruiting LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
11 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Lugera & Makler Would you trust the infamous criminals Bonnie and Clyde to manage security for your company? This ad points out how important it is to partner with the right headhunting agency.
SUPER CREATIVE CONCEPT
CLEAN LAYOUT, CLEAR FOCUS ON MESSAGING
Industry: Human Resources LinkedIn Company Page | website
12 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
TBWA\NEBOKO “Where” matters. The advertising agency’s “Quit and Join Us” campaign was printed on shirts of window cleaners before they washed the windows of competitor agencies, audaciously tempting potential hires.
BOLDLY GOES WHERE THE TARGET IS
THINKS BEYOND TYPICAL CHANNELS
Industry: Marketing and Advertising LinkedIn Company Page | website
13 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Flickr Who’s looking at your code? Well, coders of course. Flickr cleverly hid a “We’re hiring” announcement, delightfully adorned with ASCII art, in the HTML source code of its homepage.
BOLDLY GOES WHERE THE TARGET IS
SPEAKS TO THE TARGET IN A DIRECT, PERSONAL WAY
THINKS BEYOND TYPICAL CHANNELS
Industry: Internet LinkedIn Company Page | website
14 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Uncle Grey How did this advertising agency recruit a front-end developer by playing a video game? Watch the video and learn.
BOLDLY GOES WHERE THE TARGET IS
SPEAKS TO THE TARGET IN A DIRECT, PERSONAL WAY
THINKS BEYOND TYPICAL CHANNELS
Industry: Advertising LinkedIn Company Page | website
15 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Work Club The London based digital marketing agency is recruiting for a creative director, one Pinterest pin at a time.
BOLDLY GOES WHERE THE TARGET IS
SPEAKS TO THE TARGET IN A DIRECT, PERSONAL WAY
THINKS BEYOND TYPICAL CHANNELS, CREATIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Industry: Advertising LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
17 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
BP: Interview Tips The animated video helps candidates prepare for their interviews by coaching them on each step of the application process. Watch the video
REMOVES THE FEAR OF INTERVIEWING
HELPFUL, USEFUL CONTENT
USES ANIMATION AND MOTION GRAPHICS TO MAKE CONTENT DELIGHTFUL TO CONSUME
Industry: Energy LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
18 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Herman Miller: This is You Watch the video
USES DESIGN TO MAKE THE TALENT BRAND AS ARTFUL AS THE COMPANY’S PRODUCTS
SINCERE, SPEAKS FROM THE HEART
ECHOES COMPANY’S VALUES
Industry: Furniture LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
19 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
Facebook Facebook created a series of video ads to showcase their company culture, targeting specific types of candidates from engineers to marketers, from interns to international positions.
FEATURES EMPLOYEES OF ALL TYPES FOR AUTHENTICITY
SHOWS INTERESTING PEEK INTO OFFICES
SINCERE, SPEAKS FROM THE HEART
ECHOES COMPANY’S VALUES
Industry: Internet LinkedIn Company Page | website
Engineering at Facebook Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook
Intern & New Grad Opportunities
Facebook Careers in Asia-Pacific
Online
Connecting the world takes every one of us
20 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
HubSpot: Inside Hubspot "It's a start-up. We have a lot of fun. We work really hard.“ Watch the video
FEATURES EMPLOYEES FOR AUTHENTICITY
SHOWS INTERESTING PEEK INTO OFFICES
NOT AFRAID TO TALK NERDY
ECHOES COMPANY’S VALUES
Industry: Internet LinkedIn Company Page | website
Online
Ready to Kick Your Recruitment Ads Up a Notch?
21 LinkedIn › Inspiring Recruitment Ads
LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions Specialists can help
you get your next recruitment campaign off the
ground. Contact Us.
Before launching your next recruitment ad, it may be useful to remember what you liked about your favorite recruitment ad campaigns, and see if you can apply the learnings and design best practices to your own campaigns. By nature, a good ad creative can’t be all things to all people. But you could use these questions as thought starters to guide and help spark creativity and ideas. Is the call to action clear? Is my company’s talent brand accurately reflected? Does the design command attention and make people stop and want to read it? Is the copy as succinct as can be? Did we mention the best part of working with us? Will the target candidate get a good sense of our team culture? Will the target candidate know what makes our company the best in class? Did we demonstrate to our targets that we know them and understand their needs? Did we speak from the heart?
CREDITS Design commentary provided by Shiny Day, a California creative agency.
© 2015 LinkedIn Corp. This book is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Please note that the ads illustrated in this book are included by permission of their respective copyright owners and may not be used or distributed separately from the book.