Havas to Chicago: Take our interns, please

“We are looking for those kinds of people who will take those extra leaps and bounds in showing their dedication and passion,” said Heather Hayden, senior talent acquisition manager at Havas Chicago. “This is not only a way to get them immersed in the cultural conversations happening around the city but also broaden their experience while they’re with us and spread the word about how non-traditional Havas Chicago is.”

From the mighty to the mundane, no intern request is too bizarre to be considered by the “Board of Approvers,” consisting of Havas’ chief creative officer Jason Peterson, a couple of intern mentors and Hayden herself. But not all will be approved. The board will weigh the requests against a number of factors, including the requester’s social clout, how unique or interesting the task is, whether it has a charitable aspect and ultimately whether it will be a good learning experience for the interns.

“Our interns are so awesome that we want to show everyone our secret formula,” said Peterson. “And it definitely helps in promoting ourselves.”

If a task is selected, the interns matched with the task will be required to not only go on the mission but also use Periscope to live stream their experiences via the Havas account. They will also document their tasks through their personal and the agency’s social accounts under the #GimmeAnIntern hashtag.

Havas is promoting the program on a Chicago-based startup called Popular Pays, which connects popular social media users with companies, offering hourlong intern assistance to Chicago Instagrammers with 50,000 followers or more. In exchange for the help, they will post #GimmeAnIntern content to their Instagram accounts.

Havas Chicago has been using new and different social platforms to challenge internship candidates since 2013. In March, it used dating app Tinder to seek the perfect match for its summer internship. It also used Instagram to put out eight social media challenges for potential interns via the hashtag #InternFightClub.

Similarly, last winter, it used Instagram and Snapchat to recruit seven new interns for its “Winternship” program. This process is its way to attract quality talent through its doors and combat the talent crisis that has been plaguing agencies for years: Over 50 percent of Havas interns are hired full-time every term, the agency claims.

“My job is to keep our agency on top of how consumers are consuming media,” said Peterson. “And we want them to know that they have as much to teach us as we have to teach them.”

Homepage Image courtesy: Havas Chicago