Nigeria’s Access Bank which, as Recruiter reported last week, is recruiting via a disappearing portal, is hoping to attract 500 new entry-level employees with its innovative approach.

The portal, which opens for only 10 minutes at 10am each day until 10 June, makes prospective applicants complete a logic puzzle within 10 minutes, before they can progress to another portal where they can upload their CVs.

The bank’s social media team lead Segun Adekoye told Recruiter they were on the look out for “smart, sassy, hard-working, talented and devoted young people from reputable universities within and outside Nigeria”.

The 10-minute timeframe and logic puzzle idea was developed because “we were looking for a mechanism to receive applications from only smart people who have good grades and know a little about a lot. It was also important that we conveyed that we value time to applicants, through the 10-minute daily timing system”.

The response, he said, has been “overwhelming”. Initially, they thought the 10-minute window would deter applicants but the portal was receiving “alarming views and visits on a daily basis.

“The pressure on our servers forced us to move to other servers that would not hinder online banking operations. Some people take the test, fail it and come back the next day more determined to succeed. We also notice the traffic surge once it’s almost 10am, meaning lots of applicants work with their alarm clocks to get into the site.”

While the bank’s recruitment methods are varied – headhunting, using agencies, referrals, social media and university partnerships – and the number of applications is usually “phenomenal”, finding the right people was “not an easy task”, especially when recruiting graduates, Adekoye said.

“While some of the applicants have the needed academic qualifications, most lack the qualities required to sustain a reputable bank such as ours. Hence, we invest heavily in training our employees through our four-month Banking School of Excellence programme. We also partnered with Wharton Business School to equip our mid-level executives with the requisite skills.”

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