Scoot twists HR drive into marketing stunt, gets candidates climbing mountains [VIDEO]

Scoot is taking the meaning of a job interview to a whole new level. In its latest HR move, it decided to take six candidates vying for a role to be part of its cabin crew on an "Epic Interview". The group was sent on an all expenses paid journey to either Athens or Berlin for the final round of interview.

Marketing accompanied a few of the prospective candidates to Greece, witnessing them participate in a series of challenges (Amazing Race style) around Athens and Meteora. The challenges were designed to test qualities that will help the candidates succeed as a Scoot cabin crew, also known as a Scootee, and they were assessed by Scoot's senior executives.

(Note: Scoot is looking to recruit 1,000 cabin crew over the next two and a half years, instead of five years as mentioned in the video.)

In an interview with Marketing, Scoot's chief commercial officer Vinod Kannan said the idea for the Epic Interview campaign came about as the airline is looking to recruit about 1,000 cabin crew over the next two and a half years. This comes as Scoot aims to double its network in the coming years.

Instead of conducting a standard interview for the final round, Scoot wanted to offer candidates a first hand experience of what it is like to work for the airline, as well as test their ability to master traits required of a Scootee. This includes working under pressure, handling tough questions or situations, as well as being aware of safety and security. Additionally, Scoot wanted to let prospective employees know that it is a fun brand, as well as add value to current employees by doing something different.

Kannan also said that the Epic Interview campaign is also part of Scoot's marketing initiative to combine the interview together with destinations within its network to attract more consumers. Athens and Berlin were chosen for the final round of the interview as they were Scoot's newest and long haul destinations, giving the airline an opportunity to portray what life is like for Scootees on long haul flights.

"I would like to specifically stress about Greece actually. When travellers talk about Greece, they only think of places such as Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. But some of the locations that we have chosen for this challenge are different. So it also shows that there are more opportunities to travel within Greece," Kannan said.

At the core of the airline's brand is "Scootitude", a culture that symbolises spontaneous discovery, fresh experiences and people who are young-at-heart and value-seeking. Kannan described the campaign to be "very much in line" with its "Scootitude" motto. He added that the value proposition that Scoot brings to the Singapore Airlines group is slightly different. "We are more quirky, younger, tongue in cheek, informal and casual," he said, adding that consumers will hopefully be able to gather that from its Epic Interview campaign.

In a statement to Marketing, Rowena Bhagchandani, CEO and co-founder of BLKJ said it received a brief to recruit Singaporean Millennials to join Scoot as cabin crew members. The team started the brainstorming process with what motivates Millennials the most and what Scoot has to offer.

"A lucrative salary, freedom of expression, an enjoyable working environment aside, millennial job-seekers are increasingly seeking careers that also fulfil their passions - and the biggest one of all? Travel. Scoot's network offers just that - over 60 destinations worth of travel opportunities," she said.

The campaign received over 300 submissions between 20 August to 9 September this year, with the call for applications being shared across various online platforms including Facebook. A total of 18 eligible applicants were invited to Scoot’s assessment centre for a test, group exercises and an interview, and thereafter the six candidates were shortlisted. Hailing from Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, the participants were chosen for demonstrating qualities such as teamwork, customer service, concern for safety, as well as their fit with Scoot’s young-at-heart culture.

Scoot paid for the journalist's trip to Greece.