How To Recruit Millennials and Recent College Grads

Whether we like it or not, Baby Boomers are tapering off in the workforce. It’s leaving a skills and employee gap that needs to be filled. Millennials, also referred to as Generation Y, will help fill in the gap. They will also bring fresh ideas and an enthusiasm and motivation not seen in years. 

But recruiting and retaining these young workers won’t be a piece of cake. Many employers argue that young workers lack loyalty and have a poor work ethic.  That’s only one part of a bigger story.

But rather than debate the shortcomings of Generation Y or how business and economy have fallen short, let’s take a look at the solutions for the impending recruitment climate change employers face moving forward.

Millennials will take a job because they want to work there, not because they have to.  The decision to take a position or not involves many factors.  A good job is no longer defined by money alone.  A recent Corporate Executive Board study revealed that 80 percent of Millennials will stay with the organization if future career opportunities are available; 70 percent will stay for development opportunities.  Only 61 percent selected compensation as the most important factor.

In other words, what young people are looking for is making a difference in the world, or the company. “Millennials are far less likely than Boomers at the same age to agree with statements like “the most important things that happen in my life involve work,” and “life is worth living only when people get absorbed in work.” (Collegiate Employment Research Institute, 2007)

Success will come from differentiating your business from the rest of the competition. “Get them interested early on”, says Neil Howe bestselling author of Millennials in the Workplace.  Offering internship possibilities is a great way to catch their attention. That’s a good thing because according to NACE’s 2011 Internship & Co-op Survey, internships are an integral and ever-important part of the college recruiting scene. The survey finds that employers expect to increase internship hiring by about 7 percent this year and co-op positions by nearly 9 percent. Furthermore, they will draw approximately 40 percent of their new college hires for 2011 from their internship and co-op programs.

The Class of 2011 Study released by iloverewards.com states some of the best ideas as they come straight from the horse’s mouth: Millennials spoke out about will interest them in a particular company and how to keep them there:

• I’d like to hear more about corporate culture in job descriptions.
• I’d like to see companies recruit more via local job fairs at off-campus school locations, along with on-line virtual career fairs.
• If a company makes a recruit feel like they would be valued at the company, recruits would be more likely to work for them.
• If I were given the choice of picking my own employer, some of the things that I would consider would be how established the company has been over the course of its life, the moral values by which the company is guided and operates under and last but not least the work environment.

It is also well worth noting that 88% of new recruits will seek you out directly if your company branding strategy speaks to the values of Millennials. Seventy-two percent say they will use an on campus career service while more than one third will find their next employer through social media – (7% Facebook, 28% LinkedIn, and 2% Twitter.)  Only 28%, down 6% from the year prior, search for a job using newspaper ads.

The survey also revealed what terms young recruits use when searching for a job.  they use for seeking a job: 25% Position Title, 23% Entry level jobs, 19% Entry level careers, 15% Industry Title, and 18% Company Name.

It is also recognized that parents are well involved with their up and coming Millennials in searching for an employment opportunity.  The Collegiate Employment Research Institute reports that,
“Nearly a quarter of all employers have “sometimes” or “very often” seen parents involved in the recruitment and employment of recent college graduates. Forty percent of employers report that parents have called them requesting information about the company; 4 percent report parents actually attending the interview.

Although there is a fine line with this topic, Neil Howe recommends offering a constructive environment, rather than trying to block the parents.   “Keep the parents of young hires in the loop with parent newsletters or a parent section of your website. Allow them to engage personally with their children’s work environ¬ment through visiting days or special events.”

Read more: “6 Ways Parents Can Help Millennial Children Job Hunt.”

When all is said and done, Generation Y isn’t asking for things that are so different from any other generation: they want to be respected and recognized for their workplace contributions. They are however much more vocal about it.  And with social media forcing transparency and exposing deep dark secrets, companies need to take heed of the changing workforce climate. Understanding and being sensitive to the needs of Gen Y workers, as well as Gen X and Baby Boomers, will be the key factor in recruiting and retaining them. If you want employees to care about your company, show them that you care about them first.