Chasing Maverics: When hiring and marketing go together

Maveric Systems is evaluating candidates through a radio show on Chennai Live. The company hopes to find the best fit for the role and also create some buzz around the brand.

IT services company, Maveric Systems, has found a novel way of hiring and marketing the brand together. It has launched a talent hunt on a local radio station in Chennai – Chennai Live – to hire a new member for its quality assurance team. Based on the qualification of the employee, he/she will be designated as ‘Test Associate’ or ‘Test Engineer’.

The company claims that it prefers to approach the unconventional way to hire and nurture talent.

The radio show will see a total of 20 candidates – shortlisted by the company – competing against each other over a period of three weeks. Twelve candidates have already been shortlisted for the first round and eight more are to be selected. Four candidates have already participated in the first two episodes, out of which two have been selected.

The show is aired at 10 am on Wednesdays to reach out to the commuting population in the city. Maveric Systems believes that this show will help reach out to a wider set of audience as compared to an advertisement in a local daily. Besides, it is expected to create some excitement around the brand.

These shortlisted candidates will face questions from call-in listeners and also participate in rapid-fire and activity-based rounds. Ten candidates will make it to the semis and three for the final round.

In the final round, a panel of judges from Maveric Systems and Chennai Live will assess the participants though a series of questions and activity based rounds. The winner will win an employment contract with Maveric Systems and also an iPhone 6. The runner-up will win an iPad Mini.

The contest is open to postgraduates, graduates as well as undergraduates. To ensure that only serious candidates make it to the show, the participants are made to undergo a series of tests, activities and interviews offline and also sign a contract. The candidates are made aware of the role that the job entails and other vital aspects. Evaluating the creative quotient is one of the parameters in selecting the candidates.

The objective is not to assess the candidate on their professionalism or past experience, but on their intent and ingenuity. This is why radio as a medium works better. It will only have participants, who have the strength and courage to actually do something like this. The company believes that an undergraduate might score higher on these counts than someone who already comes with experience.

The company claims that even with the normal process of recruitment, it gives more preference to other laterals rather than just the academic scores.