School is getting out and another wave of young professionals is slated to roll in the door of your booming business. Are you prepared for them with targeted recruiting efforts and a tailored hiring process? Do you have a hiring process that will send them running back to Google, or one that is designed to invite them and capture their attention?

Mobile Searches

This generation was practically born with a smart device in hand. If you’re site isn’t optimized for mobile, you are going to miss out on a huge segment of these young workers.

According to education tech provider, ConnectEDU, 68% of the 18-25-year-olds polled in a surveyuse their mobile devices to search for jobs. The primary mobile channels were:

• Job search website (56%)
• Company website (53%)
• Career-related App (32%)
• Career advice/resource website (28%)

Mobile Efforts

While this list covers what they might search for, it is also important to know what Millennials will respond to. A surprising 79% of those polled said they respond to job alerts on their mobile devices. Mobile job alerts have proven to bring in large response numbers from this age group and they aren’t hard to create with the right technology.

Newsletters were the second highest rated thing Millennials respond to via mobile, at 38%. Looking for room in the budget to offer mobile optimization, newsletters and job listing alerts? Cut the job advertisements; only 14% respondents engage with banner ads on their smart devices.

Social Media

Companies in the market to hire Millennials (which is just about everyone) have to get better about finding their recruiting voice and targeting their communications via social media. According to the Pew Internet Foundation’s 2013 Future of the Internet report,  75% of Millennials maintain an active presence on social media sites, compared to only 41% of the total online population. Click here for more information from our blog on creating your social recruiting strategy.

Perks

A CareerBuilder article reveals that 45% of Millennial employees would chose workplace flexibility over pay. The guest contributor said:

“Even if you’re throwing money at your workers, many would much rather have a work-life balance than be slaving away at the office until all hours of the night. If your organization doesn’t have telecommuting or remote working options, Millennials may find these flexible options elsewhere.”

We understand that the person making decisions any type of perks available is not the same person in charge of employer branding or the marketing of that employer brand. That is exactly why HR is no longer a silo department. Every department must work together to meet talent needs and create a competitive advantage through offerings.

Efficiency

This is a group of folks who aren’t used to waiting to hear feedback, they’re used to instant gratification and lighting fast, efficient processes. They shop and pay bills with the click of a button or they simply automate the process. They aren’t willing to spend 40 minutes applying for one position, they won’t attempt to create a ridiculously complicated password for the 5^th time and they certainly won’t travel for an interview if video interviewing is an option.

The simple offering of video screening and interviewing not only delivers the convenience and efficiency that this group craves, it shows your candidates that you are a company that embraces technology and better processes.

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