A Recruiting and Hiring Role-Play: An Experiential Simulation

Abstract

Creating experiential learning opportunities that engage students, meet marketing curricula objectives, and fit the application in a traditional semester course is extremely challenging. This paper describes a role-playing simulation offered concurrently to the professional selling and sales management classes in which the selling students act as prospective employees engaged in a job search for entry-level sales positions, and the sales management students act as the hiring authorities. The simulation requires the students to apply communication and team-building skills in a way that is relevant to their immediate career future, and thus a large majority become fully engaged in the application.