Forums
The Eve Online forum is, in my opinion, the best tool for cold recruitment. Part 2 of this guide will cover how to do this effectively.
In addition to Eve-O there are also plenty of external forums that cover more specialised parts of the community and are potentially good areas to recruit, so do your research. The Battleclinic forum, for example, is popular for pvp recruitment.
Internal Recruitment Channel
This is an un-moderated public channel in-game and as such is full of much trolling, spamming and asshattery. I would recommend staying away from it however it can be worth keeping half an eye on the channel just to keep watch for any potential recruits that wander in.
Chat Channel Adverts
Advertising in channels can successful to some extent however you need to be careful in how you go about doing it. Too many ads and you risk being blocked or smacked to death and having your name tarnished before you've even started.
Trade and mission hubs can be a good place to pick up carebear interest but steer clear of Jita. Think about who you are trying to recruit - If you are looking for newer players for pve then consider where they are likely to be running low-level missions or travel to the starter zones to do some advertising.
Ensure your ad is short and too the point - to much "we're the best corp. ever" will inevitably lead to other "opinions" in local. Don't rattle the trolls if you can help it and check your spelling.
A very simple method you could try is to write your advert into your corp. description. Then simply link your corp. name into channels with a short message such as “Rock Shooters Inc. are recruiting miners and industry specialists”.
Advert cans
This involves dropping or anchoring a can which has been renamed with your corps advert. An inexpensive way to get your corp. noticed? Perhaps, however I sincerely doubt that can-ads are the best way to bring in quality pilots or even put your advert in front of a decent amount of people. Most of the time your cans will go unnoticed. It is a little-effort method and with recruitment you get out what you are prepared to put in - so unless you fancy going to the effort of creating some interesting can art I wouldn’t bother.
Internal Advert Tool
Within the game there is a recruitment tool that allows players to search for a potential corp. using filters for what they are looking for. In turn Corporations can create adverts to be displayed for a small fee.
To access the tool go to the Corporations Tab -> Recruitment and from there it's pretty self explanatory. It looks something like this...
I have tried this in the past but without any success. I find that a lot of people are completely unaware of its existence which doesn’t help, however plenty of corporations do use this tool and it is mentioned in-game under the help files for recruitment, so perhaps my own advert was simply not grabbing anyone’s interest.
If you have personal feedback on using this method feel free to get in touch or post a comment at the end of this blog.
External Advertising
This involves advertising on Eve affiliated websites or for events such as the Alliance Tournament. This is probably a less suitable method for smaller corporations and you should always consider any isk involved verses potential rewards. For the purposes of this guide I spoke to a few corps who have advertised on Eve-Files. The feedback was fairly negative in terms of results, but if you want to share your own experiences with this feel free to get in touch or add your own feedback at the bottom of this guide.
The Direct Approach
Someone on the forums who really impresses you? Someone you fly with who seems to have the same mindset as you? Why not send them a mail or drop them a convo inviting them to join your corp? Don’t be afraid to try a bit of headhunting now and then, people are unlikely to be offended by your approach, in fact probably quite the opposite. And you never know, they might just be in the market for a new home…
Publicity & Reputation
To be well known for being good at what you do is the most perfect recruitment method available because it leads to new members seeking you out or being recommended to you by others. However, a good reputation takes time to establish. It is a long term goal and not something that will usually happen overnight.
As well as by your deeds within the game there are plenty of things you can do to assist with reputation building outside of direct game play. For example;
- Forum posting (not just Eve-O forums)
- Personal or Corporation blogs
- Writing player guides
- Helping other players and generally being active within the community.
These kinds of things can all help to get you noticed but should be done with care, attention and a bit of common sense. If, for example, you are writing all over the internet about how your corp. runs missions in high-sec whilst flying a fleet of officer fit faction ships then don’t be surprised to find yourself war-decced rather quickly! But done sensibly and with dedication a touch of community participation can quickly help to establish you in the minds of others.
It is also important to ensure that your current members are all singing from the same hymn sheet. As the saying goes A good name… is got by many actions, and lost by one. Don’t let the careless actions of one corp. member throw your hard work down the pooper. Even the most laid back corp. can benefit from establishing a few rules of engagement and ensuring all pilots know what is expected of them.
Reputation can be difficult to establish but quite easy to loose.
>> Introduction <<
>> Part 2 : How to successfully use the Eve-O forum for recruitment<<
>> Part 3 : Useful links<<
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