Context and challenges In 2019, we decided that we needed to recruit a Backend Developer. Starting with traditional forms of HR recruitment methods on advertising, technology and developer focused websites, the search began. After a while, we realised that we weren’t receiving many potential candidates that met the criteria we were looking for. It was a challenging time as we knew that the position is a rare and highly sought-after profile on the market.
At Biborg, the role of a developer is quite versatile: creating and maintaining production tools, development online and offline experiences with a strong visual component. We’re also working on real-time 3D rendering technologies so R&D is very important. We’re constantly striving to offer the highest level of visual quality, the most original or innovative experience while adapting to the widest possible range of devices.
Generally speaking, the profiles that interest us the most are those that combine technical and artistic skills. Our productions must be visually qualitative, striking and original but they must be deployed in a relatively complex technical ecosystem.
Our Answer We finally opted to create a unique way to continue the search, we had the idea of carrying out an online operation to draw in just the kind of profiles we were looking for. An experience where the “interviews” began on Discord, a platform known to everyone in the target group.
The idea was to develop and launch the first HR interview with Backend Developers (and anyone else who is curious) on the platform. Somewhere between a social network, a chat room and a gaming platform, Discord has become a privileged conversational channel for gaming communities.
We used the platform’s key features, a conversational bot, to carry out a rare recruitment process that immersed candidates into a delightful narrative adventure where ‘you are the hero’. It gave us a chance to get to know candidates by asking them technical questions about their background, their areas of expertise and at the same time plunging them into the agency’s universe allowing us to present ourselves, the team, projects and daily environment in a fun way, all the while remaining in the spacial universe of the bot.
By launching this HR bot on Discord, a gaming platform that offers good prospects for innovation, we are looking to interact with Backend developers in an innovative way and in accordance with our very "playful" DNA.
Accessible in French and English, the bot offered candidates The Backend Developer's Quest, a space fantasy adventure with the mission of getting your CV into our hands. Each interested Backend developer was invited to complete the quest by answering the questions generated by the bot. Users could travel through the zany space adventure that took users through a journey in the four corners of the universe.
For the first set of HR interviews on Discord, we chose a universe that is near and dear to us: space fantasy. It reflects our state of mind and our daily life at the agency, immersed in the entertainment industry, for which we develop technology using expertise that only we can offer. It’s not a myth - developers are drawn to technological innovations, video games, scientific literature, which gives us the chance to integrate entertainment references. So many fun worlds that will speak to future candidates and make them want to join Biborg.
Results One day, our HR Manager received an interesting email that evoked the universe of the bot and continued the space adventure right into her inbox. It was an email from a backend developer that had travelled through space with the crew and was interested in applying for the position. After meeting with him and conducting face to face interviews, Alexandre Moghrabi was hired and is now well integrated in the team.
Focus HR (FR), Influencia (FR), La Reclame (FR), Ubergizmo (FR), ChooseYourBoss (FR), Strategies (FR), Alliancy (FR), Adobo Magazine (EN), Little Black Book (EN), The Stable (EN).