Unilever has announced the launch of a new digital recruitment process that will use online gaming to select the best candidates.
The company, which receives more than 250,000 graduate applications every year, is launching a new digital process which will mix gaming with video interviews to find the best and brightest graduates.
The programme, the first time a business has established a fully digital recruitment process, is being launched in the UK and Ireland today, this follows a successful launch in parts of Asia and North America and will be rolled out across the rest of the world during the remainder of the year.
Designed with millennials in mind the new programme uses digital analysis removing the potential for unconscious bias in the recruitment process. This is well aligned to the company’s drive to increase the social diversity of its graduate talent, enabling candidates to perform to their full potential irrespective of their beginnings.
In the UK and Ireland, Unilever has taken further steps to promote social diversity and inclusion by removing its minimum requirement for 300 UCAS points (equivalent to 3 B’s at A Level) from this year’s graduate recruitment criteria. For the last two years, the company has also partnered with upReach, a charity which offers students from less privileged backgrounds the opportunity to apply for a range of graduate and work experience programmes.
Placid Jover, VP Human Resources at Unilever UK and Ireland said: “At Unilever, we believe that a diverse range of talent is essential for the success and creativity of our business. Our new digital recruitment process for our popular graduate programme takes us to a new level of encouraging social inclusion and diversity amongst our applicants. We hope the interactive experience will enable candidates to have the confidence to demonstrate their true leadership potential.”
The new interactive process, which is faster and more flexible, has four main stages in which candidates receive feedback throughout. Firstly candidates will fill out an online application form that they can sync with their LinkedIn account for ease.
Successful candidates are then invited to play a series of games, taking no more than 20 minutes. The way in which candidates play these games will allow Unilever to get an insight into the candidate’s potential and how well they connect with the company’s goals and purpose.
The very best candidates will then take part in a video interview for which they record their answers at a time and place which is convenient for them. For the final stage of the process candidates are invited to a Discovery Centre, where they get to know each other and collaborate virtually, then they attend a day long face-to-face event, giving them an immersive experience of a ‘day in the life’ at Unilever.
At every stage there is two-way feedback facility allowing candidates to share insight on their experience of the process as well as receiving feedback on their performance and areas of strength and development areas. The aim is to help them in their career regardless of whether they are successful or not.