Using Immersive Technology to Increase Candidate Engagement at Job Fairs

Global Talent Acquisition Team

Ripe for InnovationThe Job Fair Dilemma

The candidate experience at job fairs hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years. Booths have gotten bigger, with more creative use of space, but the concept is still the same:

Students line up…talk to a company rep for 2-3 minutes…and walk off with a paper brochure and maybe a give-away. If they’re lucky, they get an interview.

No excitement. Little engagement.

Looking Behind The BrandsHershey’s Employment Brand Challenge

Candidates are typically excited by Hershey’s brands and products, but there is often little knowledge of the company or the people behind the big iconic brands such as Hershey’s Kisses, Reese’s, Twizzlers and Jolly Ranchers.

Since top tier students are also talking to companies who have big, well-known brands, Hershey wanted to design a solution that would engage students in a way that would excite the age demographic AND inform them of the key pillars of Hershey’s employee value proposition in an innovative way. But…it had to be more than just “cool”.

A Creative SolutionLeveraging Immersive Technology

On January 3rd, 2014, with just 3 months until a major hiring event, Hershey’s Talent Acquisition Team decided to leverage an emerging technology to create the “wow factor” while creating an intimate one-to-one experience.

The Task: Use immersive technology to create an interactive experience that would engage college students and tell the amazing story of Hershey’s founder, culture, CSR activities and remarkable people.

To be effective, it had to be done in 4-5 minutes or less to keep attention levels high.

Above is the sketch that resulted from a 20 minute ideation session that conceived the process and design of an interactive, “augmented reality” style job fair booth experience.

From concept to completion in under 3 months, Hershey’s job fair booth featured an augmented reality wall, an area to meet with candidates, a twitter feed, plenty of free treats and some kiss-shaped street lights!

During the event, a flat screen with a Twitter integration streamed hashtags generated by activities within the booth and at the hiring conference. #BringingGoodness

In partnership with Blippar, the booth featured an “Augmented Reality Wall” with trigger images that bring Hershey’s employee value proposition to life.

To begin the interaction, candidates are handed an iPad and a set of noise-canceling headphones and are given instructions on how to enable the experience.

Next, users scan “trigger images” located on the booth using the Blippar App to activate the interactive media uniquely tied to each image.

Each trigger image activates an interactive experience related to one pillar of Hershey’s Employee Value Proposition. Growth – Brands – Goodness - People

Candidates move along the wall, scanning each image with the iPad -- learning and interacting with the Hershey brand along the way.

One pillar is Hershey’s “Bringing Goodness to the World” message. Candidates watch a video about Hershey’s CSR efforts and can trigger a donation to CMN.

A second EVP pillar is Hershey’s growth and market leadership. Candidates view an interactive map that tells an impressive story of company growth over time.

Another pillar is Hershey’s iconic brands. Candidates watch short commercial clips from Hershey’s top 5 global brands. They can even vote on their favorite product!

The final stop on the experience is a call-to-action where candidates enter their contact information and receive an invitation to interview with Hershey via InterviewStream’s recorded video interview platform.

Mission Accomplished

• The immersive experience captured the attention of candidates for over 5 minutes focusing them solely on Hershey’s EVP.

• Hershey recruiters were also able to engage students after the experience to answer questions and assess their skills.

• Also, the booth created a large amount of “buzz” at the event, positioning Hershey as an innovative employer amongst their peers.

The data captured by the Blippar App allowed Hershey to see that candidates were downloading the app after the event and interacting with the experience via a “take-away flyer” that was designed for this exact purpose.

BONUS INSIGHT: “Blips” Continued After The Event

Want To Try It?Download the App at www.Blippar.com

and scan the image below:

QUESTIONS?James Colino, Sr Mgr Talent Acquisition

The Hershey Company | Global Talent Acquisition Teamhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescolino

www.TheHersheyCompany.com/Careers