You've scoured LinkedIn, Github, Behance, and Twitter. You've crafted a meaningful, personalized, specific 
email or InMail to your dream candidate, and you've explained in glorious and seductive detail what makes your company and it's specific projects a unique and huge opportunity.
Boring.
When it comes to being recruited, candidates are hearing the same thing over and over. "Huge opportunity at a hot new start-up!" "Unlimited growth potential!" "Your background and skills are a great fit!". If your open req is going to stand out, you need to differ not only in messaging but also in medium. Here's a handful of ways you can stand out from the noise and get on top talent's radar in an interesting, unique way.
1. Ruby on the Rails?
This one is especially sneaky. Recently, a co-worker noticed an open WiFi network on the commuter train out of San Francisco. Upon further inspection, it appeared to have been left there, (presumably taped under a seat), and aptly named for the hiring company. Extra credit points if upon connecting to the free network, you initially direct people to your company's career page.
2. Gamify Your Process
Gamification seems to be all the rage lately, and if you can involve it in your hiring process, all the more power to you. Some companies have tried actually making their application process some sort of flash game challenge. For your own purposes, you might want to go a more elementary route. Offering up challenges to communities of positions you're looking to fill, a la Hack-a-Thons or Kaggle, are a great way to demonstrate the types of projects your company is working on while also assessing top talent. And don't forget, you may wind up crowdsourcing a solution to a tough problem!
3. Courtship Rituals
While this one necessarily will take place later in the hiring cycle, involving the significant other of your purple squirrel could make all the difference. Try sending a gift basket, massage gift certificate, or something else thoughtful to the partner of your candidate. A significant other can play a huge part in someone's decision making process, and when your next rockstar engineer goes home to discuss job opportunities, make sure their partner is on your side.
4. Party Down
Let's not get too wild with this one. But hosting live events can be a great way to assess large pools of talent at one time. Hosting a poker night, game watch, or happy hour where prospective candidates are invited is a great way to see how people interact with others and whether they get along with your team. Also, the goodwill you'll instill for having shown them a good time can go a long way.
5. This Time, it's Personal
Once you're ready to make an offer to a candidate, think about having a Hiring Manager, team member, or, if you're part of a younger company, the CEO, reach out with a personal note and express their desire to have the candidate join the team. Demonstrating that someone besides you, the recruiter, is excited at the thought of them becoming a co-worker will demonstrate your seriousness and team-oriented nature.
What other unique, guerilla methods have you tried to land top talent? Leave a comment or tweet @EnteloRob!
