Deka Bank Leads the Way in Gen Z Hiring with First-Ever Metaverse Career Day

In a landscape where attracting Gen Z talent has become increasingly challenging, Deka Bank boldly launched a first-of-its-kind activation that distinguished them from competitors in the financial industry. By launching a virtual career day in the metaverse, Deka reached a notoriously elusive target audience—Gen Z—and positioned themselves as a forward-thinking, tech-savvy employer. Deka connected with young people on a platform of their choice, leveraging emerging technology and digital influencers to create a blueprint for future recruitment strategies and employer branding.

Tackling a Declining Talent Pool with Innovation

In recent years, Deka, a leading player in Germany’s financial sector, has faced a challenge endemic to the broader banking sector: attracting fresh talent. Between 2013 and 2022, the number of entry-level hires in banking dropped by 38% as financial institutions have largely fallen out of favor as a popular employer for Gen Z. These Gen Z job seekers are young people in the early stages of their career journey after finishing school, looking for internships, study programs, or apprenticeships to explore potential career opportunities.

However, as a generation raised with endless career options, Gen Z is difficult to win over with typical recruitment approaches. This generation is used to online interactions and values speed, convenience, and digital access to information. Traditional recruitment techniques like in-person career days can be seen as outdated or even boring. To remain competitive, Deka needed to rethink its strategy and embrace the platforms and digital spaces that resonate most with young people. Deka needed a solution that not only met Gen Z’s expectations for digital interaction but also delivered an immersive, interactive experience that went beyond traditional in-person events.

Reimagining Recruitment with a Virtual Career Day

Deka’s answer? To hold a career day, but in the metaverse. In 2022, the bank had already made a quiet yet significant move by opening its first virtual branch in Decentraland. One year later, Deka looked at the metaverse as a new opportunity to solve the challenge of reaching Gen Z individuals who are exploring job opportunities. Together with Arena Media, they decided to connect with this young audience in a way that felt meaningful and relevant to them, meeting them where they are: online, engaged with social media, and interested in immersive experiences. The virtual career day was designed to mimic a gaming experience, where participants could create avatars and explore a 3D space filled with interactive content. By making this experience fun, informative, and easily accessible from any device, Deka aligned itself with Gen Z’s digital habits, reinforcing their image as a modern and appealing employer.

The Pre-Event: Engaging Gen Z Job Seekers Online

The virtual stage for Deka’s innovative career day was set, but the financial company still needed to get a disengaged Gen Z interested and excited. To capture their attention, Deka executed a pre-event campaign across multiple digital platforms. The campaign was strategically crafted to generate buzz through a combination of influencer marketing, social media ads, and partnerships with major online news outlets, and an online recruitment company. This multi-pronged approach ensured that the message reached young job seekers where they spend most of their time.

With significant followings among Gen Z, Twitch stars were brought on board to promote the event. Live streams and social media posts on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch helped spark interest, while targeted ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram extended the campaign’s reach. Deka also partnered with popular outlets like BILD, Business Insider, and Stepstone to create sponsored content that further amplified their messaging.

All ads and posts funneled users to a dedicated landing page where they could register for the event and receive email reminders. By using influencers with a strong pull among younger audiences, Deka was able to deliver authentic and engaging content, enhancing brand credibility and driving registrations.

The Event: A Virtual Career Day Unlike Any Other

Deka’s career day took place in the metaverse on a Wednesday evening, ensuring maximum participation from students and professionals who might be busy during regular working hours. What set this event apart from traditional career fairs was the interactive, video-game-like environment that allowed attendees to engage with the bank in a playful yet informative way. This immersive experience addressed something Gen Z had been missing: a recruitment approach that went beyond static presentations and dry interactions, offering a more engaging, personalized, and dynamic way to explore career options. The gamified environment gave them a sense of control and involvement that traditional career fairs simply couldn’t provide.

Participants could customize avatars and navigate through different sections of the virtual world, where they were met with a variety of engaging activities. From live talks on the banking industry to cinema-like spaces showing videos on internships, the event offered a fully immersive experience. Attendees could also take part in quizzes, win prizes, and even test their skills in fun games designed to match them with potential job roles at Deka.

Unprecedented Engagement

17M

Impressions
65K

Clicks
40K

Engagements

With close to 1,000 active participants during the event, the bank successfully engaged a target group that is notoriously difficult to attract. Even more impressively, over 20% of attendees clicked through to view Deka’s job applications after the event, showing a direct connection between engagement and action. Around half of the participants were young professionals, marking a significant achievement in reaching the exact audience Deka was aiming for.

A New Era of Recruitment Marketing

Deka transformed a traditionally dry topic like career recruitment into something dynamic and exciting. Deka Bank’s metaverse career day showcases how brands can break away from traditional marketing methods to create something truly engaging for a younger, digital-native audience. By tapping into the power of the metaverse, influencer marketing, and immersive experiences, Deka has shown that the future of marketing and recruitment lies in meeting customers—and potential employees—on their own turf.