Marriott International is hoping to entice and engage job seekers with its #PictureYourselfHere social campaign, designed to offer insights into current associates' experiences working at Marriott locations around the world.

The new campaign functions with a streamlined job search process for potential employees, including enhanced job search capability and behind-the-scenes photos uploaded by Marriott associates. The hotel conglomerate seeks to provide job seekers with a more creative and impactful searching experience, as well as provide an authentic sneak peek at the daily life of an employee at Marriott International.

?Marriott's global HR team sat down to discuss how we could engage job seekers throughout the job search process and help them better picture themselves in the dynamic work environment of Marriott's hotels,? said Kristy Godbold, global HR officer, talent acquisition & solutions and corporate human resources, Marriott International, Washington, D.C. 

?It revitalizes the job seeking experience on our site, and makes job seekers have a more dynamic experience that is authentic, and helps them to envision themselves as a member of our team.?

Personalized approach
Marriott seeks to reach the best talent available in the travel and hospitality industry, and believes that the campaign will help it reach all target audiences. The campaign was developed after the brand examined research from 15 countries on user behavior in job searching and navigating career Web and mobile sites.

Marriott discovered that job descriptions were a paramount factor for potential applicants deciding whether to apply. The brand saw 79 percent of visitors accessing its careers desktop site click into the application process and immediately view available job descriptions.

In order to design the more dynamic job search experience, Marriott developed an internal drive and asked for employees? help in providing personal tidbits and points of view. This resulted in over 17,000 photos being submitted in an initiative called ?Share Your Space.?

Photos included images of associates? workplaces, fellow colleagues, offices, hotels and beautiful views. The campaign aims to reach job seekers on a personal level, rather than treat them as just a number in a consistently growing pool of applicants.

?The response from our associates has been overwhelmingly positive,? Ms. Godbold said. ?We asked employees to submit images of them at work: their work spaces, the buildings and views, and co-workers in the midst of doing their work - to ?share their space,? in an effort to not only capture the Marriott spirit, but also to allow our associates to help us in doing so.?

Employees giving back
Marriott associates and hotels participating in the campaign are also being rewarded. The hospitality brand hopes that current employees can serve as inspiration to individuals considering jobs in the Marriott International workplace.

Select hotels that delineate the aspects of working at Marriott may be rewarded with a common space upgrade.

The images sent in by various hotels and associates are also now used on the updated mobile and desktop pages for The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott careers sites. 

?Mobile has become increasingly important in recruiting, and Marriott recognizes that it is key to be able to reach job seekers via mobile devices across the world,? Ms. Godbold said. ?In light of this, we launched our 'apply on the go' mobile platform in January, and were the first hospitality company in the industry to provide a fully mobile-enabled application.

?The new #PictureYourselfHere enhancement is also mobile friendly, and enhances the job seeker experience on a mobile device or tablet.?

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York