Graduate Recruiter – Under pressure
Overview
Graduate Recruiter – Under pressure
Posted: 01 June 2010
When Bloomberg, global provider of financial data, news and analytics, experienced rapid growth, its recruitment team saw an increase in the number of graduate and intern vacancies, and faced a challenge to raise the company's profile as a potential employer. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, the team wanted a fun, interactive experience for students that would build an understanding of the unique culture at Bloomberg. David Stocks, Client Partner at SAS, explains how Bloomberg's latest graduate challenge on campus has pushed students to their limit.
Invading six selected campuses, the Bloomberg graduate team brought a sense of excitement, buzz and technical leadership by giving the students a different type of challenge that required both brains and composure.
With an ingenious heart rate monitor rigged to an interactive, high-speed quiz designed by the SAS development team, students were really put through their paces. To get the highest scores, the players had to not only answer the questions right, but also keep their heart rate steady.
The questions varied in difficulty and at times appeared backwards or upside down to throw even the most collected of students. Winners were based on a combination of a consistently low heart rate and high score. Throughout the day, players were competing against each other for the top prize of a Nintendo Wii and Rubik's Cubes. There was even a further competitive element involved as the top score from each campus stood as a permanent reminder on the 'Top Gear-esque' scoreboard.
The challenge was designed to reflect what it is like to work at Bloomberg and some of the attributes necessary to be successful in the organisation - including the ability to remain calm under pressure. Bloomberg is looking for candidates who can think on their feet and are the type of individuals that can really get things done.
It was also conceived with the changing nature of student needs and behaviour in mind. Over the last two years we have seen an explosion in student audience demand for audio-visual insights into potential employers; interactive self-selection tools that help them to work out if and where they might fit into an organisation; and subscription email services that keep them updated with job opportunities and related news. Furthermore, students are not just concerned with corporate reputation but also with knowing what will actually be demanded of them in a graduate role. This on campus challenge clearly plays to this, delivering an interactive insight into just what it's like to work at Bloomberg and the qualities needed in a Bloomberg graduate - all through a short, accessible experience.
Supported by posters, leaflets and student marketers, the game certainly caught and held the attention of the students on-campus, and in the weeks after. Emily Milne Home, EMEA Graduate Recruitment Manager at Bloomberg, was delighted with the buzz created by the quiz on the day; particularly noticing the healthy competition between universities and even groups of friends. Students returned throughout the day to beat their own scores, their friends' scores and even the scores of students at other universities.
Total logs for the game totalled 1365 with just under 1000 unique users. All the students' details were captured by the game, and the graduate recruitment team was able to follow up afterwards to keep the campaign fresh in students' minds. The games appeared to particularly attract economics, computer science, maths and physics students - all target degrees for Bloomberg.
The Bloomberg Challenge and surrounding activity contributed to Bloomberg's rise by 12 places in this year's Times Top 100 rankings. Positive word of mouth for the game since the campus tour has been huge with students wanting to know where the Bloomberg team will be visiting next. They may have to travel far as the campaign will soon be rolled out in the United States.