Edelman UK’s launched #betahunt – a digital graduate hunt with a difference

Edelman (number 1 in PR Week’s Top 150 agencies) has gone all Ready Player One with its newest graduate hunt, and not only is it more akin to what you’d expect from MI5 than anything I’ve seen in the industry on the recruitment front before, it really is great fun.

The scheme is described in the FAQ as Edelman UK’s ‘refreshed graduate scheme’. The agency’s done away with the need for candidates to have degrees, and it’s open to anyone eligible to work in the UK aged 16+.

www.areyouthefuture.com is a Robert Langdon-esque digital treasure hunt, sending applicants from virtual pillar to post in a bid to find 3 codes. It’s not giving too much away to say that hunters will be sent to all many of the better-known platforms – and a few left-field ones, too. The effort made and humour with which it’s done impressed me.

Each code results in the opportunity to answer questions designed to test the applicant’s way of thinking.

 

To find each code, applicants are encouraged to think laterally – with vague but somewhat-helpful responses from @EdelmanUK on the hashtag #betahunt providing aspiring grads with hints and tips along the way.

Successful applicants will be offered a 12 month placement and, as mentioned in the FAQ, everyone on the scheme gets offered a permanent position.

In terms of metrics that might give applicants an idea as to how many people they’re up against, I spotted at an early stage that just more than 300 people had followed one particular early clue, and a good deal less had made it to the final stage.

I was dipping in and out (trying to run my own admittedly smaller agency!), and it took me a just more than 3 hours. I’ve seen a few people finish it in under 2 hours.

If any students want help with clues… I’m open to bribery. (JK EDELMAN LAWYERS).

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