Maybe before this week no one had heard of Hipster, a San Francisco company that lets people post queries and answers to others in their geographic area using the Web and a mobile phone, but with their new-hire incentives, everyone is talking about them.
If you are hired by–or if someone you recommend is hired by–the start-up, Hipster will give you $10,000, a year’s supply of PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon for the blissfully unaware), skinny jeans, a bow tie, a bicycle, oversized eyeglasses, a pair of boots and, last but not least, mustache-grooming services. Sorry, lady tech geeks. Maybe you can exchange for eyebrow waxing or something.
“As you know, recruiting is insanely competitive right now, so we wanted to do something that would break through the noise, and get the attention of the people we’re trying to reach,” said Doug Ludlow, one of the founders of the company.
I’d say the tactic worked, at least as far as getting people to talk about Hipster. No word yet on whether or not the campaign has attracted new applicants, or whether or not those applying now knew about Hipster before it was cool.