GAMIFICATION IN RECRUITMENT - GAME OR RATHER SERIOUS COMPETITION!?

One of the new trends in business is gamification.  You can already find an older post here about what gamification is and in which part of HR you can use it.

Basically, this technique helps the recruiter to find the best candidates for the vacancy on a lot more efficient way than the traditional assessment process.

Now let’s focus on how it works in recruitment. First, you find a good puzzle – an assignment or a problem – that fits the job and that the applicants try to figure out.  The end of the game comes when you recruit the one who wins the game and solves the problem. I think recruitment’s gamification is rather a competition in playful shape than a simple game.  It is a combination of game and contest. But it works because people like playing. They forget the competition during playing. 

Here are examples of gamification in recruitment which mix the experience of game with the competition.

Google Code Jam

This international programming competition, which is organized by Google consists of rounds wherein there are algorithmic problems. The participants have to solve these problems in a fixed amount of time. Good solutions are worth points. For the bests the reward is cash and an opportunity to work by Google.

Source: www.code.google.com/codejam

British Intelligence

This is an old example from the time of Second World War. British Intelligence agents published a crossword in the Daily Telegraph to find new code breakers. Everybody could try to work out the crossword. They did not say that it was for British Intelligence. The people who could figure the crossword’s solution out were contacted by the agents and were given an opportunity to work as code breakers.

If you would like to watch it, there is a great film based on this story and Alan Turing’s life.

Source: www.newstalk.com

Work4rich

The third example was created by Goodby Silvestein. He found a very creative way to search a new executive assistant for Rich Silverstein. He did a website with six challenges and before the candidates were allowed to send their CVs, they had to solve these tasks. If you would like to solve the tasks, just click here. 

Source: www.adweek.com

Technikqueens by OMV

It is an example from Austria, where OMV wanted to boost the presence of young women in the company. The participants had to solve online tasks on the subject of oil production and renewable energy. The winner could join in their internship program.

Source: www.technikqueen.at