For the trainee year 2019/2020, Evonik has strengthened its focus on digital recruitment by launching the influencer campaign #EndlichMalEinRichtigerJob (A real job at last). In this video campaign, YouTubers, who reputedly never have “real jobs,” have a go at doing the daily work of Evonik trainees. The lifestyle blogger Jodie Calussi and the five gamers in the influencer group PietSmiet tackle the challenges posed by six different training occupations ranging from chemical laboratory assistant to factory firefighter. Successfully. By now the videos have been viewed about 600,000 times and have received very positive comments.

YouTube and Instagram

The Group’s global Instagram channel, which offers insights into daily work at Evonik, has been at least equally successful. “The young people who are our target group use social media, especially YouTube and Instagram, as a major source of information,” says Thomas Wessel, Chief Human Resources Officer and Industrial Relations Director. “In our campaign we address them via these channels and combine our message with our traditional offers of information to potential trainees on our careers website.” Another way to attract the best minds is to encourage them.

Carbon Footprint Challenge

For example, Evonik supported the global Carbon Footprint Challenge 2019 as a joint project with three other companies and nine European universities. In this competition, which was organized by the student network Unitech, students and entry-level employees were invited to develop ideas in the fight against climate change. The participants’ goal was to present methods for reducing the CO2 footprint of industrial products and processes. The winning team, which is based in Indonesia, plans to use its award money to realize an edible non-toxic coating for fruit and fish.