5 Tips for Recruiting Millennials By Catherine Miklaus, GreenJobInterview
I’ve got a confession to make: I’m not a Millennial. I’m a Generation Xer who grew up in the 90’s listening to Nirvana and wearing Doc Martins. But I’m a part of a growing segment of the workforce that recognizes the value our younger Millennial generation brings. For years, HR wrung their hands in worry that 3 generations in the workforce would become a problem. Many articles in the space painted negative pictures of young and green workers. We were all young once and our supervisors likely worried just the same. But as the Baby Boomer generation is starting to age and retire, statistics show there are more Millennials in companies in 2015 than ever before. However, despite their abundance in the workplace, 53% of hiring managers are finding its difficult recruiting Millennials. There’s no mystery to recruiting Millennials- it’s all about understanding who your audience is and how to reach them.
Tweet this: 53% of hiring managers find it difficult to recruit Millennials
Recruiting Millennials Is Not Scary
Millennials grew up in the digital age. They’re smart, savvy, and adaptive. With entrepreneurial spirits, many are chasing down careers that offer them meaning beyond just collecting a paycheck. Millennials want their work to matter. So how do you reach this group? Recruiting Millennials is all about enhancing the candidate experience and communicating effectively. Try these tips for recruiting Millennials: •
•
•
•
•
Personalize your employer brand. Millennials want to know who’s behind the curtain pulling the strings. They want transparency and insight into what your company is like. In the information age, people are used to going online and finding anything and everything. So why not give a glimpse into your business? This can be as easy as sharing team photos, branding your career page, and offering information that provides a glimpse into life at your company. Software like video interviews further enhance your employer brand and make your company look digitally mature. Digital maturity is very attractive to Millennials. Video interview software offers engaging videos to welcome candidates, freedom to interview anywhere, and the flexibility that are often top of Millennials' lists. Live and breathe your brand. What is your company’s internal culture? Do employees connect with your employer brand? If your company is a great place to work, your employees will show it. Reviews and employee comments in social media will paint a picture of an excellent talent brand. But a company whose culture is suffering is at risk for losing out on more than just Millennial talent. Many Millennials do their research and connect with employees at the companies they want to work for. If your company’s employees aren’t having a good experience, Millennials will see it. Invest the time in making sure your employer brand matches up with your talent brand to assist your team in recruiting Millennials. Get social! Millennials are constant consumers of information. They consume, create, and aggregate information socially on a daily basis. They crave authenticity and engagement more than they crave being talked at. But isn’t that really a part of elevating your candidate experience? Recruiting Millennials with social media postings offers your team a unique opportunity to engage right away in a meaningful manner to Millennials. Paint a vision of their career path. Gone are the days when employees took a job and stayed at the same company for 40 years before earning their gold watch in retirement. Millennials are often seen as job hoppers because they can strategize a career path by joining organizations that can offer more responsibilities, more pay and more meaning. Recruiting Millennials should include the vision for how they’ll advance. Make it easy on them and show the many potential paths to more pay and more responsibility in your organization. Offer training and mentoring opportunities. One thing that’s very important to Millennials is training and development. Often, when recruiting Millennials, hiring managers just assume they’re technological experts. These companies often sit
someone down and say go. But training and mentoring are at the top of Millennials’ lists. They want to learn and to be guided in their career. It’s up to your team to educate hiring managers on these desires. That way you can connect the ideas with the solutions in action to not only attract but retain Millennials. Move Past the Stereotypes When recruiting Millennials, it’s important to move past the stereotypes. Not all Millennials are the narcissistic entitled worker that they’ve been declared. At GreenJobInterview, we work with many excellent Millennials and engage with Millennial candidates on a daily basis. We hear what works in the recruiting process and what doesn’t. So it’s time to elevate your candidate experience if you’re interested in recruiting Millennials.