Holding hands with your interviewer, reviving him as he proceeds to have what looks like a genuine heart attack and helping to rescue a stranded employee from the roof after a fire drill are not tasks usually undertaken at interview. For the 1,734 American applicants hoping to secure an intern position in the Event & Sponsorship Marketing team at Heineken, however, this is exactly what was on the cards.
Realising that job interviews are essentially the same—same standard questions, same prepared answers—the Dutch brewing company decided to do things somewhat differently and take a step outside the conventional recruitment box, hoping to find a candidate truly able to display creativity, passion and wit under pressure. So just how did they manage this?
The company invited the unknowing shortlist of young hopefuls to Amsterdam to find out what they were really made of. Heineken secretly filmed the candidates as they were put though a three-stage interview process, forcing them to respond to extraordinary, punk-like scenarios. The three stages—Kick Off, Medical Assistance and Fire Drill—were designed to test the resourcefulness of the young job-seekers and see who was best suited for a job at Heineken’s HQ in Amsterdam based on their ability to respond spontaneously to each situation and show common sense, rationality and the capacity to remain calm and in control in difficult or uncomfortable situations.
In ‘Kick Off’ interviewers held potential candidates by the hand when leading them into the interview room. While some candidates felt odd, others gave some smart answers, "It made me feel... comfortable," one hopeful intern said when asked about the hand-holding experience. In ‘Medical Assistance’ the interviewer pretended to be ill and fainted to test the candidate’s ability to use their initiative when faced with a mock-up medical emergency. “Stay with us,” one candidate reassured the interviewer as he lay on the floor, while another attempted to revive him by holding his legs up in the air. In the final stage of the interview, candidates were called upon by firemen to help out during the ‘Fire Drill’, in which many were seen to walk away and only a few to help.
A behind-the-scenes video of the most eligible interviewees, entitled The Candidate, was later shown on an internal portal so that the Heineken marketing community could vote. The winner was later announced in front of a crowd of thousands on the big screen at a football match. The young man in question, by the name of Guy Luchting, beat his competition for the role by remaining cool and calm throughout the bizarre interview process and demonstrated compassion, quick-thinking and openness. As a result, he secured himself the placement based at Heineken’s Amsterdam HQ. His new job includes accompanying the UEFA Champion’s League Trophy as it makes it way around the world, prior to arriving at Wembley for the Final on 25th May.
Commenting on his victory Guy said, “I didn’t know what was happening at the job interview. First they take my hand and I think ‘Hey, that’s friendly’, and then suddenly, the interviewer falls on the floor, and the next thing I am outside the building hearing the fire alarm! It was all quite crazy and unexpected. Having been selected, I am extremely excited to start this job and experience the UEFA Champions League.”
Cyril Charzat, Global Brand Director at Heineken, commented, “Congratulations to Guy, he really demonstrated the qualities we value at Heineken—creativity, spontaneity and passion. With The Candidate, we want to encourage young adults to get out of their comfort zone and through innovation of thought and skill they can experience success—as did Guy.”
The Candidate comes at a time when pranking or ‘punking’ the target consumer has become a fascination of big brands across the globe, which adopt it as a powerful marketing tactic. One such brand, Nivea, recently launched a campaign in Germany that subjected consumers to a ‘stress test’ by convincing them that they were wanted by the police in the hope that they would become so stressed that they would need the branded deodorant. When it comes to revolutionising the recruitment process, Heineken certainly appear to be leading the way.
To watch The Candidate interview process click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Ftu3NbivE
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
