A study in jealousy
As one of the world's biggest brewers (with brands including Stella Artois, Heineken, Murphy's, Boddingtons, Hoegaarden, Leffe and Rolling Rock) Interbrew rarely had much trouble attracting applications to the sales force. To quote one recent recruit, "It's miles better than selling soap powder - and there's free beer!"
Unfortunately, although a single advertisement might generate up to 600 replies, the quality was mixed, with a conversion rate from assessment centres of just 11%. This was wasting everyone's time.
It would have been wrong to hide the fact that these were great jobs with a great company. We produced a high-impact advertisement that highlighted the 'envy factor' of a career with Interbrew compared with 'ordinary jobs'.
But behind the ad we placed a microsite designed to give would-be applicants enough information to make an informed choice. Alongside orthodox job descriptions and company information, we included two candid profiles of existing Sales Development Executives. They described both the highs and lows of the role, including the patience required to build long-term relationships with customers and the length of time spent in the car.
As part of the online application process, there was a basic sifting questionnaire. Questions covered basic information ('Do you have a driving licence?' 'Are you prepared to work away from home?') but we were also able to probe aptitudes and skills, such as time management and relationship building. With careful weighting of questions and scores, we could politely screen out grossly inappropriate candidates before they entered the main selection process.
The results were decisive. The volume of applications dropped to 422, of whom 300 were screened out by the website. A further telephone screen took the numbers attending the assessment centre down to 34. 15 of those candidates (or 44.1%) passed the assessment centre. The eight available vacancies were filled immediately, with seven more people put on hold for future vacancies. Another 23 people who got through the initial screen were put on the waiting list for the next assessment centre. Not only did we fill all the jobs, we created a pipeline of appropriate candidates for future vacancies.
It's this kind of thinking that solves recruitment problems, drives down cost/hire and ultimately reduces attrition. Everything we did, from the creation of the advertising to the design and programming of the online sift, was about getting the results that matter.
