So, how does a company that gets 2,000 plus internship applications go about selecting the best, most qualified candidates out of the pack?
Historically Ketchum has relied heavily on past internship experience as the primary selection criteria for our Summer Fellow Program. And while this strategy has proven very successful, we couldn’t help but wonder, were we using the best method to identify top talent? Was our selection process enabling us to see beyond a resume? Was our selection method limiting us from broadening and diversifying our talent pool?
From a candidate’s perspective, trying to find a way to stand out of the crowd, especially if you have not already had the opportunity to do previous internships, can be daunting. While I am not suggesting that past internships aren’t beneficial or important, I believe raw talent and creative problem solving skills are equally critical. Our goal was to come up with a way to even the playing field and evaluate talent based on their potential vs. only what they have already done.
We are continuously pushing ourselves to challenge the status quo to ensure we are doing the best we can and we did just that with our Fellow selection process. The Ketchum Fellows selection process is getting an upgrade this year!
The new process will shift our focus to how candidates think vs. just what they have done. How will it work? Potential Fellows will be invited to play a fun and interactive application “game” that we hope will help us attract a much more diverse applicant pool. Applicants will be asked to answer a series of qualifying questions that will unlock their invitation to our gameified application process (click to tweet)! Next, applicants will complete a variety of challenges that will measure their creative, digital, writing and general communications skills. Gamers will be able to earn points by voting and commenting on other participant’s responses. The top performing gamers will be chosen to proceed to the interview stage based on total earned points.
Someone at the agency recently asked me, “Why are we fixing the Fellows program when it’s not broken?” It was a great question. The answer: because it’s the right thing to do. Ketchum is a company that isn’t satisfied with just being good—we strive to be great.
We hope you will consider applying to our Ketchum Summer Fellow Program. We think you’re gonna love our new process. Game on!
The application process is now open through February 14th! Apply in your region below.
Click HERE to apply for our Atlanta Fellowship.
Click HERE to apply for our Chicago Fellowship.
Click HERE to apply for our Dallas Fellowship.
Click HERE to apply for our Los Angeles Fellowship.
Click HERE to apply for our New York Fellowship.
Click HERE to apply for our San Francisco Fellowship.
Click HERE to apply for our Washington DC Fellowship.
