The Youngest Headhunters In The World

Background

The K.I.D.S. foundation wanted to modernise children’s hospitals in Poland.

But how can you recruit the people you need to update the technology and systems when you have no budget?

Idea

K.I.D.S. Poland set about identifying and targeting the top people they needed on Linkedin and then got children who had been in hospital themselves to talk to them.

These young headhunters made 14 personalised videos which were sent to the innovation and tech wizards that were required. These people responded by volunteering and by sharing the videos with their Linkedin connections so the story spread far and wide and other professionals and professional institutions such as Reckitts, BNP Paribas and Nationale-Nederlanden offered their skills.

Not for free. For jellybeans, croissants and cup-cakes.

The kids made one video specifically for Bill Gates. While he hasn’t responded himself, Microsoft has been in touch and has offered support.

Results

The young headhunters recruited 103 experts in fields such as UX and robotics, including a former government Minister, the futurist Aleksandra Przegalinksa and the President of InPost, one of Poland’s most innovative companies. They have pledged to donate nearly 5,000 hours of their time worth three million Polish zloty.

Our Thoughts

I recently read a blogpost on how to use LinkedIn properly as a recruiter.

Understand who you’re targeting; post on groups; go premium; engage with passive candidates. This idea clearly understands how it’s done. But it’s only when you feel a sense of shock at seeing children appear in your LinkedIn feed that you realise how many pontificating old bores there are on the platform. (I include myself among them.) That’s why it’s been so successful, of course.