Why Creativity is Now Essential in Recruitment Activities

The recruitment market is undergoing drastic changes, with year-round and early recruitment becoming increasingly common. The environment is changing rapidly, with online information sessions and interviews becoming the norm during the pandemic, forcing companies to rethink their recruitment approaches.

The recruitment creative team at Dentsu Inc. (Dentsu Youth Research Division) (*1), which is redesigning student job hunting and recruitment, collaborates with companies and organizations supporting job hunting, such as the career support NPO Encourage (*2). They develop and provide solutions for building new relationships between students and companies, including initiatives like the "Failure Talent Project" and "47INTERNSHIP".

This time, Mihoko Nishii from Dentsu Inc. and Kento Nanbara from Encourage held a dialogue. Based on the current state of job hunting and recruitment activities, they discussed the importance of creativity and solutions in recruitment efforts.

※1 Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Division (Dentsu Inc. Wakamon): A planning & creative unit whose mission is to design the relationship between youth and society. It produces new ways for youth and companies to connect through the redesign of job hunting activities.

※2 Encourage: A career support NPO operating in over 100 university branches across Japan's 47 prefectures. Student members form the core of its operations, with each university branch hosting one-on-one career counseling sessions.
 

Start dates have moved up and entry numbers have increased. What is the current state of job hunting and recruitment activities?

Nishii: Encourage and Dentsu Inc. have been collaborating on redesigning student job hunting and recruitment for about three years. The job hunting environment has changed significantly due to the pandemic, such as reduced opportunities for real-world interaction between students and companies. How do you interpret the movements of job-hunting students?

Nambara: Typically, many students start job hunting around June of their third year. Last year, however, we saw a trend of starting about one month earlier. Another characteristic is the increase in the number of applications per student.

Nishii: Until about seven years ago, it was common for students to apply to 80 to 90 companies. However, in recent years, with the job market favoring job seekers, the number of applications per student had been decreasing. This recent increase likely reflects students' anxiety due to the pandemic.

Minamihara: Some also suggest that the shift to online processes has reduced the gap between urban and rural areas in job hunting. However, the regional disparity in job hunting has not actually diminished much. We have branches in all 47 prefectures and support job hunting for students nationwide. For example, students in the Tokyo metropolitan area often participate in internships, attend job-hunting prep schools, and some even start businesses while still students. In contrast, few students in regional areas seem to think about employment until job hunting officially begins. However, this isn't solely the students' fault; a major cause is the lack of proper information dissemination.

Nishii: You might wonder, "In today's information society, is there really a regional gap in access to information?" But in job hunting, you have to actively research various companies, find ones that interest you, and proactively seek out recruitment information. Students in the Tokyo metropolitan area tend to be quite sensitive to such information. However, students at regional universities sometimes miss out on internships or find that companies have finished recruiting before they even get the information, simply because they weren't aware of it.

Nambara: Exactly. While the environment makes information more accessible, students remain fundamentally passive. Even in this age of abundant information, they often make decisions based solely on passive information from people close to them. The reality is, they don't even realize this is a problem.

Nishii: Dentsu Inc. Wakamon's survey also shows that the top three sources of information for job hunting are "classmates," "seniors from clubs or activities," and "relatives or family." While opinions from people close to them have a significant influence, in regional areas, the companies where seniors are employed are also limited, meaning the options available differ greatly from those in the metropolitan area. I believe this is also a factor contributing to regional disparities.

Nambara: How do you perceive changes on the corporate side?

Nishii: I sense three major changes. First, it's becoming harder for companies to build a pool of students they should hire. In recruitment, before promoting their company, there's a step where they meet various students to spark interest in the industry itself. This involves visiting universities or speaking at joint information sessions. These in-person activities have become particularly difficult during the pandemic.

Second, I often hear that candidate attrition has become a major challenge. Before the pandemic, companies would conduct "retention" activities after offers were made—such as having candidates meet employees or visit the office—to convey the company's atmosphere and foster attachment. However, conducting these activities in person has become difficult now, and this seems to be having a significant impact.

Finally, companies have long struggled to effectively utilize social media for recruitment. This challenge has become more pronounced during the pandemic. Despite social media occupying a large portion of students' free time, companies struggle to integrate recruitment activities effectively. This is largely because they lack experience in social media utilization, meaning they must start by simply trying. While large corporations with dedicated social media budgets can accumulate insights, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack such budgets and are lagging behind.

Minamihara: Students also find it harder to grasp what recruiters are thinking and the company atmosphere since online interactions became the norm. They often tell me they don't know what the companies they're applying to are really like or if they're a good fit.

Many students apply to numerous companies and progress through the selection process, yet when it comes time to actually decide where to work, they realize they surprisingly know little about the company. Even if they start job hunting early, they continue agonizing over which company to choose, meaning the end of their job search isn't actually that much earlier.

Nishii: Previously, students made decisions by synthesizing self-analysis, company research, and understanding the atmosphere through actual meetings with employees. Now, the real-world component—one of the key decision-making factors—is completely missing, making it hard to commit. This might also be contributing to the drop in job offer acceptances.

Clearly defining "who," "what," and "why" you want to communicate bridges the gap between companies and students.

Nishii: While COVID-19 has created new challenges for corporate recruitment, I believe this is also a time to fundamentally rethink the nature of recruitment activities. That's why Dentsu Inc. Wakamon is now focusing on strengthening "Recruitment Creativity."

One key area for creativity, as you might imagine, is all the media students actually encounter to learn about companies: recruitment websites, brochures, and slides used in company presentations. It's not uncommon to see recruitment sites using generic messages filled with clichés like "future," "world," "challenge," "dream," and "ideal," paired with stock images. Many companies end up with similar messages, often failing to fully convey their unique appeal.

While this is fundamental in marketing, it holds equally true for recruitment: if a company isn't clear on "who" it wants to reach, "what" it wants to communicate, and "why," then nothing will resonate with students. Our approach is to drill down into these core questions, develop messages only that company can authentically convey, and then create tools to communicate them as a unified corporate voice. That is the "Recruitment Creative" we provide.

Minamihara: In supporting job hunting, we often feel that "companies don't really know students." For example, large corporations receive thousands of applications annually and meet many students, but students find it hard to speak honestly during selection processes. Companies surprisingly have few opportunities to hear students' genuine voices.

But if companies face challenges in recruitment, they need to proactively seek out how students truly perceive them. Simply holding the same information sessions and internships year after year won't lead to fundamental improvement.

Nishii: That's right. I feel the 3C analysis, which is standard practice in corporate marketing departments, isn't being applied to recruitment. It's essential to thoroughly understand what the company values (Company), how competitors (Competitor) are approaching students, and what kind of students (Customer) the company is targeting and what values they hold.

Once you've identified these 3Cs, developing the message the company should convey and continuously considering how to communicate it effectively is what's now required of companies.

In this era where the substance of recruitment activities is paramount, we need internships that genuinely inspire students to engage.

Minamihara: In terms of changing the nature of recruitment activities, I believe we need to demonstrate more creativity in our contact points with students.

Nishii: Exactly. Company information sessions and interviews don't have to be the only first encounter between students and companies. There should be diverse ways for companies, society, and students to connect. To achieve this, companies must create an overarching recruitment journey, carefully examining how they engage students at each touchpoint – whether through web/SNS communications or events. Even internships themselves need reevaluation.

Minamihara: Internships might have been a valuable opportunity for students about five years ago, but now there's a trend where attending has become almost expected. Students don't seem as enthusiastic anymore. It's more like, "Everyone else is applying, so I'll apply too." And then, "I got accepted, so I'll just go for it."

Nishii: Internships come in many forms—long-term, short-term, even one-day programs. Some serve as an introduction to a company, others offer hands-on job experience, and some function as selection tools. The challenges addressed in internships vary too, but it's not uncommon for them to end with just brainstorming ideas for hypothetical problems. That leaves students feeling like they didn't really get anything out of participating.

Nambara: But if a company fully leverages its assets and runs an internship genuinely focused on solving social issues, the information students gain is vastly different from just participating casually. They can deeply understand society and the company, and become motivated to seriously tackle social challenges. This also fosters a sense of unity and camaraderie with the company, making the idea of working there feel much more tangible.

Nishii: The era where students joined internships just because of the word "internship" is over. Now, the substance is becoming more important. So, what kind of creativity and solutions are needed for internships? As one example, next time we'll introduce "47 INTERNSHIP," jointly developed and implemented by Dentsu Inc. and Encourage.