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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

September 1, 2017 | 2 min read

Jaguar Land Rover has hired the first recruit from its code-breaking app run collaboratively with the band Gorillaz, a scheme looking to enable further hires that culminates in a pop-up garage at the company’s Tech Fest event.

23-year-old Daniel Dunkley from Gloucester has been brought aboard as a software engineer after he solved the complexities of the app and survived the resulting interview process. His interest in computer games reportedly sparked his passion for coding, which has resulted in him getting the job. He starts his role in Gaydon, Warwickshire, on 2 October.

Gorillaz and Jaguar Land Rover will continue the search for world-class talent at Jaguar Land Rover’s inaugural Tech Fest event in September at London’s Central Saint Martins art, design and technology college. Alternatively, potential entrants can try out the app, available on Android and iOS, for the chance of a job opportunity.

Alex Heslop, head of electrical engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Daniel is exactly the kind of person we need. Technology companies like Jaguar Land Rover provide an exciting opportunity for the brightest and best.

"We want to attract top-notch talent in software, cyber systems, app development and graphics. We don’t do ordinary and that means hiring extraordinary people. Jaguar Land Rover makes some of the world’s most exciting cars and it needs brilliant people to create them.”

New hire Dunkley said of the recruitment process: “I read about the coding challenge set by Jaguar Land Rover and Gorillaz on BBC News and decided to have a go. We did the interview by Google Chat then I was invited to Gaydon to talk about my new job.

"It completely blew me away that I didn’t have to fill out any application forms. I was thrilled when they offered me a job.”

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