How to Recruit Great Candidates from Generation Y

As baby boomers exit the workforce for retirement, successful candidate recruitment from the Generation-Y worker pool is more important than ever. To attract and retain professionals from the younger generation, companies have to rethink their hiring practices. Hiring is now an all-the-time process requiring the use of social media, and organizations now put in as much time advertising employment benefits as applicants put in on crafting resumes.

According to a Washington Post article, employees born in the latter part of the twentieth century aren't likely to hold lifetime jobs. For Generation-Y workers, the average tenure for jobs in the first half of a career is about a year and a half. Recruitment organizations must recognize this trend and understand that hiring practices no longer guarantee a lifelong commitment. Candidate recruitment that lets applicants know what a company can do for their futures is important. Younger workers are looking for learning opportunities and stepping stones, so you need to let prospective team members know if you offer tuition reimbursement, educational programs, and the ability to move on or up through sister organizations.

It's important to meet job seekers where they are. Although traditional job classifieds are still a viable option for letting candidates know about jobs, social medial is becoming more prevalent in candidate recruitment. Younger workers participate in a number of online networks and look for opportunities on job sites. The most valuable players may not bother with applications at all: young professionals have been taught to set goals, put out feelers, and wait for responses. To find the most talented candidates, HR representatives may need to join social networks and browse posted resumes and profiles. Link up with over a million HR professionals via the Nexxt community to find out more about using social media in your hiring practices.

In the past, a basic benefits package and the promise of job security were enough to draw applicants. Today, long-term job security is hard to promise, and young professionals are cognizant of that fact. Instead, they look for other benefits and often seek out fun, adventure, and challenge. If your candidate recruitment processes are old fashioned, you aren't going to appeal to these applicants. Offer perks like educational, work-at-home, travel, and mentorship programs to catch the eye of the best and brightest.

Once your candidate recruitment processes score a talented team member, the work isn't done. You can't count on that employee staying around for the long haul, so you need to keep your hiring practices well oiled. Staying up to date on trends and offering continuous opportunities for workers already in your organization will help you retain talent. Remember to include your current staff in candidate recruitment; new talent is great, but young workers want to know they'll be looked at for future promotions.

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