The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) wanted to change that.
But traditional recruitment methods weren’t cutting through. These roles were being presented in a way that felt disconnected from the way young people typically explore careers.
Our insight-led approach meant going back to the start, understanding the gap between how Gen Z thinks about work and how these careers were being communicated. This uncovered a key disconnect between ADEPT’s positioning and young people’s career expectations. We also identified that job titles didn’t resonate and there was a lack of engaging, accessible information on offer.
So we flipped the approach. Instead of telling young people what jobs were available, we let them discover careers based on their interests.
The result was ‘Find your path’ – a campaign built to align with Gen Z’s curiosity and online behaviour. This campaign secured pilot funding and included:
- A microsite that allowed users to explore roles based on what excites them, not just job titles.
- Simplified job descriptions that speak their language.
- Targeted social advertising on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram – meeting the audience where they naturally engage.
The campaign pilot involved working closely with five local authorities in England who were keen to use the campaign to bolster their Gen-Z recruitment. The councils involved were London Borough of Hounslow (as well as Lampton Group), Barnsley, Plymouth City, South Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.
However, before production, we advised stepping back in order to validate the approach with direct audience research. Through focus groups, we learned the original tagline “That’s a Job? Who knew?”, while engaging, risked trivialising the roles.
Refining the tagline to “Find your path” maintained approachability while reinforcing the credibility of these careers. Supporting messages like “The best jobs aren’t always obvious” ensured clarity and alignment with audience aspirations.
