If you are recruiting today, it goes without saying that Milennials likely make up many, if not most, of your prospects. Millennials (a.k.a. Generation Y), defined as people born anywhere from 1980 to 1999, have access to technology, communications, and publishing that simply wasn’t available decades ago. As a result, they have demands for career and lifestyle that are often different than older generations.
Employers that better understand what motivates and retains Millennials will be able to secure the top talent, keep them happy and productive. And while salary is important to Millennials, there are certainly other aspects that motivate them during the hiring process. In fact, once a salary meets their basic needs, Millennials still desire progression and growth, along with challenging and interesting work that piques their interest.
To find out what it takes to draw in this highly sought-after community, we broke down important hiring techniques for Millennials.
Engage in social media
Engage with Millennials on the platform they use the most: social networks. By creating and maintaining Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ company profiles, you open the door to new potential employees by giving them an opportunity to easily get to know your company, its products, and services (but make sure you avoid common social recruiting mistakes). Also, it provides them a way to interact and network with your company's employees.
Have a “why” for each candidate
This catch-all envelops an entire employer brand, philosophy, and attitude toward staff and others that extends well beyond a paycheck. Ultimately, a Millennial wants to know why they should take this job. How will it help them with their overall goals.
The old mantra that the company holds all the cards in the employment landscape is rapidly deteriorating is no longer exactly accurate. We now have a candidate-centric market, with Millennials making up a significant part of the workforce. This means that companies must sell them on why they should join, what their career progression will be, and most importantly, translate how they'll make an impact on not just the company, but the world.
Get even more insight. Check out the Dice 2020 Tech Salary Report.
Make sure your website and social identities are up to date
One of the old sayings of job searching is make sure your resume is up to date. The same holds true for organizations looking to attract talent at any and all times. If your company plans to have a blog and be on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, then you need to keep each channel up to date and aligned with your corporate website.
Nothing screams “we don’t care about our company” than a blog that hasn’t been updated in a year or a Twitter stream that doesn’t even have a personalized Twitter avatar. If you can’t demonstrate that you care, how can you expect a potential new employee to care?
Maintain a positive candidate experience
It's particularly important that you maintain good relationships with Millennial candidates – regardless of whether they get the job or not. If a candidate didn't get an offer this time, they may be the ideal fit for an upcoming role. Ensuring that your candidate experience is positive is crucial to building your network.
At the same time, Millennials are deeply connected with their networks via social media, and they are likely to share their candidate experience. Ensure that they have nothing but positive things to say about your hiring process and employer brand.
Expect and prepare for repeat business
Millennials are more project-oriented than they are company-loyal. If they lose interest on their current assignment, they’ll move on to something else. The frequency that Millennials change jobs is both a challenge and an opportunity for recruiters.
As a result, recruiters must use more inbound marketing techniques to build long-term relationships and relationship opportunities instead of more traditional outbound marketing techniques.
