Startup Recruitment: Unusual Candidate Marketing Tactics

When perusing hiring tips on the internet, I never came across anything that states, “Look for someone who is wearing a t-shirt that says, ‘Hire Me, I’m a Programmer'”, or anything of the sort. In Alyson Shontell’s recent article on BusinessInsider.com, she explores an apparel company called Hire Me Tee which will design as many “Hire Me” slogans a job seeker could desire. They can wear the shirts to promote themselves. While this will certainly garner attention for the job seeker, do you think this type of personal advertising will really work?

It seems as though over the past several years, job seekers devised more unique ways to stand out from the crowd, and this type of t-shirt advertising is certainly an example of this new trend. Perhaps a recruiter who is hiring for a Customer Service position will see someone wearing the shirt, but would the hiring manager start a conversation with the job seeker based on the message on their t-shirt?

Many other somewhat aggressive job seeker tactics have gained popularity over the past two years. Recently, a candidate came by our office immediately after applying for a position on our website to hand us a hard copy of his resume and to speak with us more about the role. Since I provide recruiting support to OpenView and our portfolio companies, I appreciate any extra effort from a candidate who displays their interest in a role, but this type of aggressive behavior asks whoever the job seeker meets to stop what they are doing in order to attend to them. Without a scheduled meeting in advance, this kind of “drop by” interview attempt can come across as rude, even though the job seeker’s motives were not. Have you ever witnessed a candidate trying unusual tactics to attract attention? How were they received by you and your company’s management teams?