http://www.nasrecruitment.com/TalentTips/NASinsights/RecruitinManagingTheGenerationsWhitePaper.pdf

Plenty of kudos to you for your accurate representation of the feelings of that generation and why it’s important for employers to stop digging their heads in the sand.

I have been a strong proponent of the need for employers to innovate and to begin looking at other ways when it comes to recruiting.

I am NOT referring to the use of internet technology, the latest techno gizmos, or the latest sourcing techniques because there are already a ton of those HR consultants and providers out there.

Rather, I am advocating the process by which a recruiter goes about identifying and recruiting that 21st century talent, that new generation of candidates out there who are holding their breath waiting for employers to respond to their needs.

I have written an article on that very subject titled ‘Paradigm Shift: Vision for making the transition from Recruiter to Virtual Organization Recruiter or Virtual Organization Consultant,’ with the subtitle, ‘A Revolutionary Approach to Recruitment in the 21st Century.’

It is featured on HR Resource.com and can be viewed at:

http://www.hrresource.com/blog/view.php?blog_id=105

Although it’s quite a long document to read, I believe it’s worth every bit of effort for the recruiter who wants to innovate and break out from the pack.

To learn more about this subject, you can go to:
http://www.netwebelitesolutions.com/groundbreaking.html

You are spot-on in your assessment of this generation – and I think it is has much to do with the current nature of our economy, their previous observations of their parent’s careers, and the generation’s overall ‘me-first’ mentality.

They haven’t had to endure a recession or a severe market downturn because they were in college when 9-11 happened and didn’t have to trudge through the aftereffects in the market for the following 2+ years. They also are too young to remember the economic bust of the early 80’s. I entered the workforce after earning my degree in 2000 as a 3rd party recruiter, and those days were a lot like they are today – lots of open jobs, and not enough qualified candidates to fill the seats. From late 2001 until about early 2004 was a tough time in the recruiting industry as the market was flooded with qualified candidates, and not enough companies were hiring them. Now the market here in Houston has never been better. We’re hovering around 4.3% unemployment, and my candidates are typically on the market for a week, maybe two before they are scooped up. This is the first time I’ve actually had someone sound *annoyed* that I was calling them regarding their resume – because their phone won’t stop ringing.

Their sense of entitlement is understandable to a point – especially since companies are falling all over themselves to attract and retain top talent from a generation with no loyality to companies. We (my generation) saw our parents go to work at a company where they had been employed for 20 years and one day they came home with a box and a severance package (if they were lucky). The realization was that employees serve at the need of the companies, and companies viewed their ‘human resource’ as expendable. If the companies weren’t loyal, why should the employees be?

We want more than money and a title, although both are nice, and you are correct regarding the work-life balance. I get 4 weeks of PTO, and can’t imagine working somewhere if I didn’t have at least 3 weeks to spend time to re-focus myself. You are also correct that we want to enjoy what we do – life is too short to hate your job. If I’m going to devote 50+ hours a week to something, I better like it, otherwise it will show in my work product, and will quickly become draining both physically and emotionally. I personally have turned down opportunities at other companies offering substantially more money solely due to their company culture.

Like it or not, this is the future workforce we have been dealt. As the baby boomers are retiring (voluntarily, or involuntarily) this ego-centric generation is coming into the work force and companies will have to adapt to their workstyle or fall behind as other companies find ways to entice these people to work for them. Innovation is what occurs when people try new ways to complete an old process. As a country that likes to view itself as a trend-setter, perhaps this new approach to work and life are what will be necessary to position ourselves favorably in a global market.

I can add here that hiring authorities who engage Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI) to help them access the military-experienced talent pool might not do so explicitly in reaction to Gen Y job seekers. However, they do understand that military-experienced candidates, especially the junior level of the officer and enlisted ranks, have managed more people, projects and $s than those in their peer age group hands down. In addition, military candidates? cultural sensitivity is much higher on average due to the countries they served in and / or the diverse group they worked with.

The Best Places To Launch A Career
The top 50 employers for new college grads

And let’s pause here to acknowledge that in some cases, they probably do. After all, recruiting’s most commonly denied reality is that every applied prejudice has its roots in the evaluator’s life experiences.

So, anyway, if you buy this slacker/entitlement/dollars-wanted vs. years-of-experience thing, I suggest you counter one set of stereotypes with another and concentrate on these younger-candidate applicant pools:

1) Service academy graduates.
2) Junior military officers.
3) Anyone raised on a farm or ranch.
4) Anyone raised in the lower or middle classes of any developing country.
5) Anyone from any socioeconomic stratum raised in China, Vietnam, India, Kenya, South Korea, Iraq, Iran, or Pakistan.
6) Any combat veteran.
7) Anyone who financed his or her college education without parental support.
8) Anyone from West Virginia.

In my experience, the percentage of spoiled brats in these populations is remarkably low.

You can probably think of others.

Happy hunting.

Far be it from me to speak for you….but… Ron, did you actually read the entire article? I do not believe that the point of the piece was to discriminate, but to point out a very blatant characteristic that seems to strike a nerve especially with us, the ’slacker’ generation that raised them.

I felt that the points made about the sense of entitlement that a large portion of Gen-Y seem to have were right on the money! In fact the very issue makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. It is because of this ‘attitude’ that I, admittedly, tend to scrutinize the qualifications of a younger candidate just a bit more than a more mature candidate.

My feeling on the driving point of this article was driven even deeper when I had to have the same ‘pay vs. experience/qualifications’ discussion with a candidate just yesterday. I think I got the ‘buy-in’ on that point, but I will think a little harder about presenting this candidate to my client over one that realizes the value of growing professionally and making a move based on a solid career strategy – Gen-Y, Gen-X, Boomer – regardless.

You comment ‘Flash forward to 2007 and my career as a recruiter. Now, I am looking for candidates for a top management consulting firm who were born after Ronald Reagan was first elected.’

As a Sourcing Manager, are you unaware of discrimination laws against older workers – by Your/Cient definition, anyone over 27 wouldn’t be qualified/considered – they’re not even old enough to be covered until they get older!

WOW, I don’t minimize the talents of individuals born AFTER Ronald Regan was elected but I’m concerned that someone would minimize the talents of individuals born BEFORE he was elected.

My purpose about asking for %’s regarding Gen Y candidates either acceping or rejecting your reasoning was only to get an idea about their thinking.Infact many would be rejecting lower offers a few times until they realize what is good for them in the long run.

Even if the no of those that do not accept your offer is large,it is in no way a reflection on you at all as Stephanie has made out to be.I have praised the ‘examples’ that you have so kindly shared with all of us and in my my mind there is no doubt about your success.

Thanks for this very timely piece. I have had many eye opening experiences like this lately and although I do get candidates who think that they need no experience to demand a laundry list of benefits, titles, pay, vacation, etc, it can be a challenge and coming back with intelligent questions was almost impossible since my jaw had dropped to my desk. I think growing up wanting little has created a difficult to recruit generation. These tools are very helpful.

Oh, and no need to quantify your results. Just putting them out there for us to see is proof enough of your success as a recruiter, at least for me.

thanks again,

Steph

That you are able to convince the Gen Y candidates to concentrate more on learning skills which would be useful to them in the longer run than a few more dollars at present deserves congratulations.

I think most would make use of the examples that you have given.Only thing is the choice of words ‘introduce doubt’ are somewhat strong and manipulative.

Could you please share as to how much %(roughly) of candidates whom you wanted to hire were persuaded by your reasoning?

Let me request you and other readers to share their experiences as to the counter questions by the candidates such as:

why fortune companies want to pay less than market rates.

details of skills and how they would be useful.

astornomical salaries of top executives.

controversies that the company may be facing

lay offs etc.

Thank you for the good article.