The “Inside Jobs” campaign is a surgical campaign. We sent messages directly to the staff of competing garages on the cars they repair every day to recruit them. An ultra-targeted way to capture their attention.

Volkswagen Group France is looking for 1,000 mechanics and technicians all over the country. In order to meet the ever-increasing demand of a qualified workforce, 80% of recruitments are made by approaching mechanics in their current workplace, this explains the high turnover in the sector. To poach these talents from competing garages, classic recruitment tools are always used (online ads, canvassing, specialized websites, recruitment agencies).

“Inside jobs” is a recruiting campaign with the priority to recruit quickly. So like the Greek warriors and their Trojan horse, Volkswagen Group France has sent vehicles to its competitors with job offers hidden inside, engraved on parts regularly subject to maintenance. To find these offers, mechanics had to be experienced, the hidden job offers required the right diagnosis.

We didn’t send LinkedIn offers and wait for an answer like our competitors, we needed to find a media that mechanics use everyday. The cars and more precisely the parts that need to be overhauled. So that’s why an exhausted pipe, a clutch, a battery and even an air filter became our medium for those offers. We engraved directly on those pieces a short message with a QR code directing them to apply for roles on the Volkswagen website.

In this particular campaign the consumers were directly in contact with the work, like literally. As offers were engraved on car parts the people, we were targeting had the message in their hands. For the rest who didn’t get the chance to have one of those cars in their garage, they were exposed to the message through social media and influencers who encountered our campaign and spread the message that Volkswagen was looking for the best mechanics.

Not only were mechanics flattered at this direct approach but finding this offer was like a little treasure hunt.

Beyond the applications we got through the hidden offers, the campaign created an exceptional amount of interest. The campaign generated more than 6 million impressions and nearly 2.5 million views on the different platforms on which the operation was broadcasted (Youtube, Meta, LinkedIn). Thanks to this campaign, more than 110,000 people connected to Volkswagengroup.fr/carriers (+153%) and the agency dedicated to the sorting of résumé could no longer count the number of them (more than 53,705 resumes were received).

Reactions from mechanics :“I’m a mechanic at Feu Vert and the offers on your link are incredible! Thank you” or “I saw a teaser on VW’s TikTok for that. They have dispatched it everywhere.”

In France, since Covid, a lot of manual jobs like being a mechanic or working hospitality has been deserted. People leaving those roles in search for a better lifestyle. As a result, there’s more job offers than applicants, so Car Companies need to be very seductive in order to get the attention of their potential employees.