What You Should Know About Recruiting Millennials

The workforce is changing. Millennials are entering the workforce in droves and can add so much to an organization.

While managing Millennials can pose some interesting challenges to management, the upside is tremendous, with the fresh ideas and hard work they bring.

Before you can start strategizing on managing your Millennial workforce first you need to recruit them, and just like managing Millennials is different, they need to be recruited differently as well.

5 things you need to know

Here are some tips to effectively recruit Millennials.

Engage in social media. This generation is more active on social media than any before, and it’s not even close. Millennials use social media for everything, so you can be sure that they will be using social media tools to search for and evaluate potential employers. Make sure you are actively managing your company’s LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc. accounts and that they actively reflect what your company is all about.
Compensate with more than money. The paycheck is certainly important and your pay must be competitive, but Millennials will be attracted to organizations that offer more creative perks. Consider offering trainings or paid tuition, flexible work schedules, paid company lunches, time off for charitable work, fun company events etc. Having more to offer besides a paycheck can go a long way.
Start recruiting before they graduate. The best candidates often have their first job before they graduate. If you aren’t tapping into college students you could be missing out. Develop relationships with local colleges. Offer internships and attend career events on campus. Find other ways (social media) to engage with students and share your story with them.
Create a strong company culture/community. Millennials want to be proud of their employer and know that they are more than just another company. Find ways to give back to the community, and engage your employees in the process. MassPay, a small business in Beverly, MA created their own non-profit called Fed Up With Cancer and their entire company is actively involved in their fundraising efforts.
Have flexible work options. Flexible hours are only part of the picture, here. Millennials embrace technology and more than any generation before, have the tools to work from anywhere at any time. Your Millennial recruits will want to know that they have the flexibility to balance work/life in an effective way, as long as the work gets done. Trust me, it will.

Don’t be left out

The need for top talent may never have been greater than it is today, and the Millennial workforce is growing exponentially.

If you continue to use your old, potentially stale recruiting methods you could be left out of this amazing opportunity to add some great talent to you organization.

This was originally published on the Genesis HR Solutions blog.