Recruiting the best people for Google
What happened?
Google wanted to take an innovative approach, including positioning their brand in a "Googley" way even to people who saw the ads but didn't apply.
This included avoiding producing the long 'typical' application forms that big companies use as well as finding the right kind of people-smart, creative and innovative.
The "Google Big Idea Challenge" was created as an alternative way of recruitment for the marketing team.
Students were challenged in a competition to answer the question "What is Google's next revolutionary product and why?"
The competition was advertised in a number of places including posters on university campuses and on Facebook, which was an unusual approach. Facebook is a social networking website and very popular with university students.
The best 20 applicants were invited to present their ideas to the Google team, who chose the best candidates and offered them jobs.
