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Case study
Virgin Money – ‘The World’s Most Creative Job Interview’
Applications
204
Outstanding Candidates
10
Highlights
We delivered ‘The world’s most creative job interview.’
Challenge
The brief was clear: “I want you to find me a creative genius who can come along and change banking.” For their Head of Innovation role, Virgin Money wanted someone from outside banking, who could help them become an even more customer-focused organisation. It was the sort of out-of-the-ordinary brief we love, one that plays to our multi-disciplinary strengths to create talent solutions.
But it raised some big challenges:
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Solution
How we collaborated
What we delivered
From the start, applications set the convention-breaking tone. Candidates were invited to submit a three-minute video selfie explaining how they were going to change banking – as if pitching to Richard Branson himself.
We employed robust psychological principles to design immersive assessment exercises that would test core skills and reveal Virgin Money’s next creative genius.
Expecting a ‘normal’ interview, candidates arrived at a secret location, where they were told they had to pitch ideas – completely unrehearsed – to an inscrutable Dragon’s Den-like investor panel. They were then ushered into the dark depths of an industrial ‘cellar’ and tasked with proving the contents of a mysterious case. Next they had to persuade an intimidating bouncer to let them into a party, before exploring a jungle campsite, and giving a rousing motivational speech to a football team at 3-0 down. All of this before meeting any Virgin Money executives!
From the start, applications set the convention-breaking tone. Candidates were invited to submit a three-minute video selfie explaining how they were going to change banking – as if pitching to Richard Branson himself.
Expecting a ‘normal’ interview, candidates arrived at a secret location, where they were told they had to pitch ideas – completely unrehearsed – to an inscrutable Dragon’s Den-like investor panel. They were then ushered into the dark depths of an industrial ‘cellar’ and tasked with proving the contents of a mysterious case. Next they had to persuade an intimidating bouncer to let them into a party, before exploring a jungle campsite, and giving a rousing motivational speech to a football team at 3-0 down. All of this before meeting any Virgin Money executives!
We employed robust psychological principles to design immersive assessment exercises that would test core skills and reveal Virgin Money’s next creative genius.
RESULTS
Our client’s faith in our bold approach paid off, with expectation-exceeding results:
30 Million
Alongside coverage in the usual HR publications we earned high-profile media coverage in mainstream titles like The Evening Standard, City AM, Campaign, Marketing Magazine and Brand Republic, with a combined estimated circulation of 30 million.
204 People
204 people applied and 10 outstanding candidates were chosen for the ‘interview’. Which all led to the discovery of the successful applicant, Dhiraj Mukherjee, one of the founders of the music application Shazam, and a truly creative entrepreneur.
Immersive Assessment
The success of this disruptive approach to assessment led to Virgin Money giving us the green light to roll out immersive assessment nationally for their customer service volume roles, with our next creation, ‘Dr Virginia’s Institute of Wonderful Experiences’.
“The thing I loved about TMP is they have a really interesting blend of a robust approach to assessment, and the creative ability to think differently.”
Head of Resourcing, Virgin Money
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