App provides fast-track to recruitment
Noodle, “guitarist” of virtual band Gorillaz, is fronting the JLR advertising campaign. The band is actually the work of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and his cartoonist mate Jamie Hewlett, with the musical side being provided by various folk from album to album.
The hook is that there is a code-breaking challenge in the official Gorillaz “mixed reality” app – in the band’s garage, we are told. Part one is a promo for Jag’s latest electric car, the I-PACE (pictured above if you’re reading this from a desktop machine), while part two is intended to fire up “budding electronic wizards and coders”.
“The challenge takes them on a series of code breaking puzzles that will test their curiosity, persistence, lateral thinking and problem solving skills – all real world attributes of a new generation of software and engineering talent,” says the Jag statement.
Clever folk who solve the puzzles are told they will be able to “fast track their way into employment” with the group, which is owned by India’s Tata conglomerate.
Alex Heslop, Jag’s head of electrical engineering, chipped in: “As the automotive industry transforms over the next decade, fuelled by software innovation, we have to attract the best talent and that requires a radical rethink of how we recruit.”
Interested jobseekers can download the Gorillaz App from the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
Connected cars are a growing market for tech companies and staffers alike as carmakers continue developing ever more in-depth infotainment packages, as well as semi-autonomous driving technology and vehicle control and monitoring systems. ®
