We tend to think that creativity has to come from people applying for jobs, they are the ones using their imagination, cracking their brains until they get an amazing piece of work that stands out from the crowd; and that HR departments only have to point and pick a winner. Don’t underestimate Recruiters; they can get very Creative too.

This is the case at Bromford Group, I met them last week at #HREvent13 where they presented their famous case study. They were looking for 5 people to join their communications team and after some attempts on job sites and newspapers they didn’t find suitable candidates. At that point rather than looking outside, they started looking inside their company, what were their passions, what they actually like, what it was like working at Bromford and if someone was going to join – they had love their loves.

“The list was long including a love for space hoppers and fancy dress, as well as some more work-based ones like telling people’s stories and changing lives. But one thing was clear, when you work at Bromford there’s a lot of cake and we love our cake!” -says Alex Abbotts, Head of Communications.

That’s how the #gottalovecake campaign was born. Candidates were directed to a website with the job description and then had to submit a piece of work, whether WordPress, video, audio, infographic, or joining the Twitter activity.

What caught my attention, wasn’t that they found a good match, but the statistics.

•       Cost: £0 Vs £1,500
•       Hit 13,398 individual Twitter accounts
•       Seen over 58,600 times on Twitter
•       Trended (£2k for free)
•       1,959 visitors to #gottalovecake web page
•       2,536 separate visits
•       140 visits from Twitter per day
•       19% reduction in applications…but a far greater candidate match
•       87% vs 38% through to second stage
•       Gold at HR Distinction Awards – #HREvent13 at Birmingham
•       Blogpost on “6 hours ahead” and other famous blogs.

I know a lot of agencies use creative ways to find their talent, but this is one that I will definitely remember (not only because I’m a cake fan); but when you look inside and find your best, then you get something unique and memorable.

There is a lot of competition when you look for a job, not just from other candidates, but from those hiring too – HR Directors are setting the bar high.