Tech Employers Use In-Your-Face Videos to Recruit

By David Schepp

Competition for tech talent in Silicon Valley is particularly keen among companies that produce electronic games. The need for workers with software programming skills is so acute that gaming companies have taken to the Web, producing recruiting videos that showcase corporate culture and the products they make -- and sometimes also take aim at the competition.

One example is Kixeye, a fast-growing maker of "hard-core" social games. The San Francisco-based company, which has about 250 employees and is reportedly adding about 20 more each month, has unleashed a recruiting video that appears to target rivals Zynga and Electronic Arts, though not by name.

The video, which has been viewed about 250,000 times, pans Kixeye's rivals for producing lame products in its efforts to recruit developers who want to make "kick ass" games. (The video, which contains graphic language, can be watched on YouTube.)

As VentureBeat reports, Kixeye, which has a fairly small fan base of 4.8 million users monthly, is one of the most profitable game companies on Facebook. Its free-to-play hard-core games make a lot money, and it's using that money to recruit the best talent available.

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Another high-tech company, Paris-based Aldebaran Robotics, takes a different approach in attracting engineers, using an intriguing video (see below) to demonstrate a future world in which robots possess human-like athleticism and agility. On its careers website, Aldebaran says that it's looking for engineers who can "be creative, be different, be humble and ambitious ... [and] if on top of that you are a funny geek, come join us!"

Of course, companies' online recruiting efforts aren't limited to video. Many have set up Facebook and Twitter accounts in the hope of engaging job seekers with in-demand skills through social networks.

Starbucks Corp. began its social-media recruitment program nearly three years ago by establishing a Starbucks' Jobs account on Twitter. Within five months, the page had 34,000 "engaged" followers, according to Jeremy Laghans, who began and managed the initiative, prior to his departure last March.

Langhans told The Network that prospective employees were thrilled to be able to talk with a Starbucks representative one-on-one, rather than submitting employment inquiries to a black hole.

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