Storytelling for marketing and recruitment
Media coverage of social care often focuses on when things have gone wrong. This paints an unbalanced picture that hides the many stories of good care and support.
Storytelling can play a powerful role in challenging negative stereotypes and encouraging people to work in the sector. Stories can also be used to support values-based recruitment, providing meaningful scenarios for people to engage with and reveal their values.
Storytelling is a powerful tool for recruitment and retention: it can help us find and keep the right people
Curious about Care: using stories in recruitment
Written by Mark Wilberforce
Curious about Care is a free, recruitment tool developed by the University of York that uses real-life stories from the care sector. There are 11 scenarios involving fictional ‘care dilemmas’. These realistic scenarios paint a picture of what care work involves and engage people in discussions about how to meet people's needs. They can also highlight whether people have the right values for the job or if they have specific induction or training needs.
Although the tool is designed to be used as part of a quick quiz for candidates to complete on their phones, tablets or computers, it can be adapted in various ways. For example, some recruiters have used the animated stories in interviews to start a conversation. The animations are less than a minute long, and can be sent in advance, so that applicants can plan their response rather than be 'put on the spot'.
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