200 SHARES Facebook Twitter Flipboard Stumbleupon Reddit

Recruiting for Graduate Scheme via best friend testimonials.

Irreverent Scottish craft brewery, BrewDog, today launches a nationwide search for the next intake of craft beer-loving university leavers by interviewing candidates’ best friends.

Throwing the usual recruitment rules out the window, the number one craft beer company in the UK will be sourcing its next intake of protégées via 30 second pitch videos submitted by their mates. The successful grads will then go on to complete a two year long Graduate Scheme in either Business or Production, rotating through different departments of the Ellon HQ in Aberdeenshire to give them all the skills needed to join the ranks of beer punks in a job title of their choosing.

Co-Founders James Watt and Martin Dickie kick-started the craft beer revolution back in 2007 as two 24 year olds with a craving for incredible beer. Friends from school, they became business partners in the knowledge that each had the inside scoop on the other’s skills, values, weaknesses and opinions. The duo have gone on to build a craft beer empire and were recently handed MBEs by the Queen in recognition of their contribution to business.

“We made a pledge when we started BrewDog, to invest in beer and people in equal measure,” said co-founder, James Watt. “We’re looking for beer-obsessed punks who want to help us on our mission to make other people as passionate about great beer as we are. We blow shit up, we stick it to the man, and we’re committed to investing in the next generation of incredible, driven talent. If that sounds like you, we want to hear it from the person who knows you best – your best mate. Those looking forward to cracking out a shiny new suit need not apply.”

With the graduate job market now exceeding its pre-recession 2007 peak to its highest ever level of graduate vacancies, James and Martin are looking to sweep aside the bland hopefuls and hone in on the people who would further bolster the brewery’s pioneering, disruptive, unapologetic ethos. The ideal candidate will join the BrewDog mission to make other people as passionate about craft beer as the brewery.

“It’s easy to pitch yourself in job interviews, but it’s a lot more convincing if it comes from someone who knows you inside out,” continued Watt. “Call this an extreme reference, we want to know that the people we’re hiring are the real deal. We want uncompromising, beyond ambitious people – we don’t care about your age, background, creed, gender, nationality – we just want the next generation of beer lovers to take up the craft beer baton.” “Together, the country’s top employers have received 13% more graduate applications so far than this time last year,” says BrewDog’s People Director, Allison Green. “It can get tedious applying for jobs, the spiel becomes quite flat and rehearsed, and that’s why we thought we’d shake things up and recruit people via their best friends’ pitch. Hopefully when they secure the position, they’ll repay their mate with plenty of amazing craft beer!”

With the craft beer scene booming, and 300 new craft breweries popping up across Britain in 2015 alone, BrewDog is leading the charge to overthrow the bland industrially produced beer churned out by big faceless companies, with the help of a 46,000 strong army of Equity Punks, and 370 Cicerone-trained staff.

The brewery currently has 43 bars and bottle shops, exports to 55 countries, creates an average of 65 different beers a year, and was recently named as tenth in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. Its innovative business model Equity For Punks has also taken more money through crowdfunding than any other business on record.

The 30 second videos can be submitted between 23rd June and 8th July, alongside a CV and cover letter here.

What is BrewDog?

Since 2007 BrewDog has been on a mission to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. From the Headliner series, which includes bold, uncompromising pack leaders like the flagship Punk IPA, to the Amplified range (beer, but turned up to 11), BrewDog creates beer that blows people’s minds and has kick-started a revolution.

Cofounders James Watt and Martin Dickie shook up the business world in 2010 with the launch of pioneering crowdfunding scheme Equity for Punks, an initiative that has seen the company raise £26m over four rounds, taking more money through crowdfunding than any other on record. The funds, and the army of punk shareholders (46,000) enabled the Scottish craft brewery to scale up without selling out.

With over 43 global bar launches, export into 55 countries, and a brand new brewery in Ohio opening in August 2016, BrewDog continues to take the craft beer revolution stratospheric, whilst continuing to push the boundaries, invest in people, put the beer first, and champion other small breweries in its venues.