As the pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic are slowly beginning to ease, dealerships have resumed communication with Drive My Career, NFDA’s employment initiative, to assist them with their recruitment strategies.
About us
Drive My Career was developed by the NFDA in 2018 with the vision to reimagine the current perceptions of the automotive industry and inspire the next generation of young people to consider a career within automotive retail. DMC’s key demographic is 16- to 24-year-olds who are either still in education, recently finished, or in need of some guidance to help decide on a career path.
The primary methods of communication to DMC’s target audience are both social media and monthly newsletters. Through the likes of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, DMC has the opportunity to:
- Share Feature Jobs with entry-level requirements, perfect for young people who are searching for a career.
- Share Success Stories displaying real life examples of how rewarding the automotive industry can be, inspiring the next generation to get involved.
- Share Career Guidance to assist young people in their development and journey to finding their next job.
Campaigns
Drive My Career runs targeted campaigns on social media to attract young people to job vacancies using variables such as age, location, online habits and more. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, these advertisements were directing young people towards the DMC website where they could simply type in their postcode and locate their nearest hiring dealership.
Whilst recruitment slowed down during the height of the pandemic, DMC instead sent young people to members’ specific careers pages that had open vacancies and where job seekers could instantly apply for the advertised entry level role.
With job vacancies beginning to open back up, DMC has been in contact with dealership members to understand which job opportunities the platform could assist with. As a result, campaigns could be refined and tailored to reach the desired audience within specific locations.
Drive My Career experienced a sharp rise in interactions during September. This could be attributed to factors such as summer holidays officially coming to an end and young people initiating their search for a job.
In September, DMC sent a total of 1,723 young people through to selected careers pages, reached 101,749 young people and had 174,247 impressions, the highest recorded in the 2021 year so far.
Insight Reports
In addition to targeted campaigns, Drive My Career also conducts surveys to identify certain attitudes and trends relating to young people and careers.
Currently, DMC has an active survey investigating several topics which have been highlighted by dealers. The results will then be analysed, reproduced into accessible data, and shared with members. The current survey addresses the following key themes:
- Potentially misleading job titles that may have ramifications such as discouraging a young person from applying.
- How important it is to young people that an organisation practices Mental Health Awareness.
- The importance of a ‘careers page’ being user friendly and whether this may have a negative impact on users’ job application process.
Previously, DMC has run surveys on several other engaging topics, as a result of feedback from recruitment specialists. Here are examples of previous insight reports:
- Job Application Process
- Mental health
- Effects of COVID-19 on employment
- DMC Meeting feedback
- Finding a job through COVID-19
Future plans
Going forward, Drive My Career will continue to support members with their recruitment needs and promote automotive retail as a diverse and rewarding industry to inspire the next generation. DMC would like to say thank you to our members for their ongoing support, co-operation to work with our team and deliver the most effective results. Finally, a huge thank you to our growing network of driven and talented young individuals, who continue to engage with our Drive My Career, asking questions and staying up-to-date with the current market within automotive.
