I came across an interesting article on the Pacific Epoch site today. Kingsoft, a software and online game developer that is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, is using an innovative way to attract new staff. In order to apply for jobs for their game Hero108, you not only need a high school diploma, but you also need a certain rank and scores in the game itself. If you don’t achieve those scores, you won’t be able to apply for the job. I am sure this will attract lots of attention for the game, although I wonder if you will really find the best candidates in this way.

At the same time the company also made a deal with Yahoo China. Applicants for positions in Kingsoft are only considered if they send out their resumes using a Chinese Yahoo email address. A creative way to get more people to use Yahoo mail, but probably not one that will have a long-lasting effect. Yahoo actually made deals with several other online gaming companies as well, such as The9 (World of Warcraft), Perfect World, NineYou and Ourgame. The article did not state if those deals were for job applications through Yahoo or for other purposes. A very strange marketing strategy in my opinion.