Gamification in IT Staffing Recruitment

Back in 2004, Google placed a mystery billboard in the heart of Silicon Valley. Curious minds started to decode the billboard – and that’s exactly what Google wanted! Google used the art of gamification in their IT staffing recruitment process.

Today, many companies use gamification in their IT staffing recruitment to attract top talent. Why? Because according to a survey by TalentLMS, 78% of the respondents reported that gamification in the recruiting process would make a company more desirable.

Today, this piece will cover it all about gamification in IT staffing recruitment. From the basic definition of gamification to famous examples, we’ll describe it all. Let’s go!

What’s Gamification?

Gamification is a concept that refers to using game-like mechanics, theories, and designs to engage and drive people to do things.

Companies make use of gamification to improve the motivation and productivity level of their employees. Regardless of the industry type, there are hundreds of pros of gamification.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the CAGR of the gamification market can rise up to 30.1% between 2020 and 2025. Companies think that gamification can be a critical breakthrough to yield productivity and motivation in today’s highly competitive market.

Gamification in IT Recruitment

As the hype of gamification is increasing over time, IT recruiters are using it in their recruitment process.

Gamification in IT recruitment is using these strategies to hire IT staff. The Silicon Valley example from the beginning of the piece is the perfect example of gamification in IT recruitment.

But why is the IT recruitment industry suddenly finding gamification so charming? Here’s why.

Why Gamification IT Recruitment?

Recruitment is all about evaluating the candidate. But with the typical IT recruitment process, candidates already know roughly what they are going to be asked.

Gamification eliminates this phenomenon and brings a whole new standard of recruiting people in the IT department.

From behavioral tests to IT industry-related challenges, gamification can help the IT recruiters to hire the right person.

Here are some more reasons why gamification in IT recruitment is a must these days.

Helps Attract Motivated People

Using gamification in IT recruitment helps attract motivated people. For instance, let’s say your company set up a game that entails building a front-end website in just one hour. Only a handful of motivated people will actually take part in the contest. People who aren’t motivated will not even dare to participate, and you’ll end up attracting only the candidates with this trait.

Reduces the Time to Hire

Integrating gamification in the IT recruitment process reduces the time to hire people. A game or a task only takes a few minutes or an hour or two. This makes your company break out of the typical email loop of a typical hiring process.

Easy Evaluation

Last and certainly not least, by using game-like elements in hiring your IT staff, you get to evaluate the candidates easily and in without bias. Games or challenges give the candidates a perfect chance to prove themselves. People with little experience get a fair chance, and at the end of the day, you get to pick the right candidate based on their skills.

According to TalentLMS, 78% of candidates believe that some sort of gamification in a recruitment process makes a company more desirable.

Now it’s time to take a look at some of the popular examples of gamification in IT staffing recruitment.

Examples of Gamification in IT Staff Recruitment

Google Invites Coders to Compete

Every year, IT giant Google organizes a software-writing competition known as Google Code Jam.

People who take part in the Google Code Jam can win up to $15,000. This technique by Google helps them to identify the best developers from all around the world.

Google Code Jam was first introduced back in 2003, and since then it has proven to be one of the best gamification examples in IT staff recruitment.

GCHQ Called Hackers to Crack a Code

GCHQ works to protect the national security interests of the United Kingdom. Back in 2011, they created an encrypted message on a website (canyoucrackit.co.uk) to tease hackers to crack it.

GCHQ asked the candidates to crack the code and decipher the hidden message to get career opportunities in cyberspace. This neat use of gamification by GCHQ helped them to choose their next roster of masterminds.

Final Words

The future of gamification in IT staffing recruitment looks bright. Sharp-minded companies like Google are using it to make the most of their IT recruitment process.

If you want to read more pieces like this and stay up-to-date about gamification, make sure to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. We at Spinify are the manufacturers of the leading gamification software in the world.

Regardless of your industry, at Spinify, we help your company to integrate gamification in a fast, efficient, and straightforward manner.