Ten Things Every Recruiting Professional Should Know About Millennials

“We see a lot of information on both sides of the employment aisle and thought it might be fun to compile some of it on various market and employee segments into top ten lists. The newest employee group, the “Millennials”, just entering the job market seemed like a great place to start since their interests and work style are still becoming known.”
We see a lot of information on both sides of the employment aisle and thought it might be fun to compile some of it on various market and employee segments into top ten lists. The newest employee group, the “Millennials”, just entering the job market seemed like a great place to start since their interests and work style are still becoming known.
This first list targets key job, career and personal issues relating to finding, hiring and retaining this new talent group as they enter the workplace.
Postbetter feedback based on client hiring experiences provides the basis for the report.
Julie Mattson and Jackie Nerhus of Katun Corporation in Minneapolis have this to offer: “Millennials are very engaged in their job and in the community, they like to have a voice in how things are done and look forward to giving and receiving frequent feedback.”
Glen Gardner of The Vortechs Group, a tech recruiting company in Cincinnati, talks about connectivity: “To find top performers I look for people who blog, who have a website, who publish on others blogs, participate in usergroups and use open source code.”

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Graduate Recruitng Tip: Build Your Employer Brand

Student’s perception of your company and its graduate programme is very important to its success or failure.
Brand images can come and go quickly, and it still surprises me that Google tops the UK corporate brands list.
You can’t argue that being listed in the “Top 100 places to work” will get your graduates’ attention. And heaven forbid if you ever get listed in the “Top 5 worst places to work”.
Work with marketing communications, PR and recruitment advertising to develop and communicate a clear brand. Consider bringing in a specialist external agency, they are the experts. BTW–There’s currently an interesting discussion on agencies on the Talent Management Network.
There is a great post on ERE: “Five things Barrack Obama’s campaign proves about your recruitment brand”. This article includes some of the ways to brand a company and drive a memorable recruitment campaign.
Also be aware of and monitor your online brand. The internet’s instantaneous nature means a company’s image can quickly be blotted and in the Internet domain for a long time. Keep track of positives and negatives. While it is generally true that “all PR is good PR” it pays to be aware of everything that is being said about your company.
What are your thoughts on employment brands and graduates? Leave us a comment, we’d love to hear.
Article by Susanna Cesar Morton
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Yes you can – Join the Web 2.0 revolution

Twelve steps to get up to speed with Web 2.0
Our recent post about “Why is HR slow to adopt Web 2.0 technologies?” sparked an online conversation covering the many possibilities. The main one seemed to be fear – fear of losing control, fear of wasting time on a passing trend, and reading between the lines, fear of the unknown.
Peter Gold recently released a white paper on “Removing the Web 2.0 fear factor; and turning social networks into friends” He points out that a critical mass has embraced Web 2.0 and this trend will continue. You can dismiss Web 2.0 as being for the “younger generation” and let other companies reap the benefits, or you can roll up your sleeves and see what it is all about.
I agree with Peter, the best way to learn about something is to try it yourself. Test the water. At the end of his paper he has a section titled ‘Top 10 tips to becoming an e-socialite”.
Here’s my version. I’ve written it with recruiting in mind, but it can apply to any industry.

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Hire Insight Develops Candidate Database

Many hiring managers use online job boards when sourcing for new candidates. However, while these boards may house many potential applicants, they do little to ensure that those represented have a high potential for success. The traditional focus has been on quantity over quality and in response to this, Hire Insight Group, a firm specializing in assisting clients throughout North America identify candidates with a high potential for job success, offers a solution in the form of Hire Insight Select, a budding database of pre-screened and pre-assessed candidates: candidates whom are all required to complete rigorous tests, assessments, expert interviews and reference checks before being represented by the firm. “We’ve basically taken our most efficient and effective candidate screening and assessment methods and combined them into a single program that quickly uncovers top talent within a group of job applicants,” says Chad Hayward, Assessment Director for Hire Insight Group. “We then upload the most successful individuals to the database, usually only the top 15%, which clients can review when they have an immediate hiring need.” Consultants at the firm realize it will take time to build such a database of pre-assessed talent, particularly considering their strict evaluation standards, and are looking to partner with select employers to help them do so. “We’re offering partners a significant discount on the outsourced screening and assessment process, in exchange for their participation. All they have to do is provide us with a pool of applicants who are to be screened and assessed for their next hiring project, and we will provide them with reports on the past success and future potential of the very best within this group: those who have the expertise, intelligence, personality and motivation to be top performers in the target position.” Should employers wish to participate in the program, they should contact a Hire Insight consultant.
Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Are Doctors Endangered?

There are certain jobs that Americans simply won’t do. For example, Americans generally are not inclined to pick fruit for the wages that farmers are willing or able to pay. Busing tables, packing meat, and cleaning dishes also are low on the list of jobs that Americans are eager to take.
Unlikely as it may seem, there is another job that may have to be added to this list: family physician. Fewer and fewer American medical students today are choosing to be family doctors. In 2007, less than half of physicians choosing to specialize in family medicine were graduates of U.S. medical schools. The majority were graduates of foreign medical schools. Even with this influx of foreign medical students, an alarming number of family practice training positions (16 percent) went unfilled last year.
Why don’t American medical students want to be family doctors? The unfortunate answer is that family medicine – and medicine in general – has slowly but surely been devalued as a profession. Being a doctor is no longer what it once was. For many physicians, the stress and the hassle of being a doctor today outweigh the joy and satisfaction they get from treating patients.

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Programs That Increase Employee Productivity?

When asked to name the one benefit program that would make employees more productive on the job, 63% of survey respondents cite “flexible work schedule,” followed by 10% who claim “enhanced health and wellness program.” The poll, conducted by LifeCare¬Æ, Inc., a specialist in the work/life industry, further reveals that 8% of respondents would welcome enhanced child or elder care assistance, 7% would chose a stress management program, and 6% – a program that deals with time management. “Clearly, flexible work schedules are attractive to far more people than Gen Y-ers alone,” says LifeCare CEO, Peter G. Burki. “They’re a great attraction and retention benefit because they enable people of all ages to take care of important obligations outside of their jobs – caring for a spouse or older loved one, taking care of their children or addressing their own health and fitness needs.” However, Burki notes, that flexible schedules do not always work for every organization due to the nature of their business. “Enhanced wellness programs, enhanced child and elder care programs and stress management programs all offer employers a win-win proposition,” adds Burki. “They not only help employees become more focused and productive on the job but they also reduce an organization’s medical expenses and other productivity losses related to these issues. They’re the kind of benefits that end up paying for themselves in the long run.”
Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Graduate CVs: Embellish or Not?

Graduates from top-ranking universities are less likely to lie on CVs suggest the findings of Powerchex’s annual CV Survey. In fact, the survey, which was conducted by pre-employment screening firm Powerchex, reveals that 43% of applicants from the UK’s lowest ranking universities embellished their CVs, compared to just 14% of applicants from the Top 20 rated schools. “What this survey says is that graduates from lesser-known universities may feel they need to alter their background to compete”, says Powerchex managing director Alexandra Kelly. “There appears to be a trend that the lower ranked the university, the higher the likelihood of discrepancies on a CV”, she adds. Kai Peters, Chief Executive at Ashridge Business School agrees with Kelly: “The survey suggests that individuals with the discipline to get into good universities are proud of their performance and see no need to embellish their CVs.” The survey also reveals a link between the subject area studied at university and the frequency of falsifications. More specifically, graduates in the subjects of arts and humanities had the highest rate of discrepancies (22%) whilst mathematics based students tend to have the lowest (6%). Contrary to popular opinion, graduates in finance also had a low rate of falsifications (13%), second only to mathematics when it comes to being honest on job applications. It is not good news for some graduates however: “The survey suggests that those who pursue creative writing degrees extend fiction writing to their CVs” continues Kai Peters. This is however good news for business schools that have placed an emphasis on ethical behavior and integrity. Mark Zupan, Dean of the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester (recently ranked 3rd in the world for finance by the FT) comments, “Contrary to the common-held belief that finance students are less inclined to behave ethically, these results indicate that the exact opposite may be true.”
Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Landing Talent: Keeping Focused on Both the Emotional and Analytical Elements

Top talent is in short supply–it’s been that way in the technology market for years and demographic trends indicate we can expect further tightening of the talent pool. The current economy makes it tougher to recruit passive candidates. Economic woes add to the challenge of landing high caliber talent who are often–but not always–gainfully employed.
Today’s economic downturn is impacting everyone, including people who have great jobs. Soaring gas and food prices are having a direct impact on everyone’s finances. Credit is tightening. On paper, people are often seeing a sizable chunk of their assets–home equity in particular–decline. Some of these trends are new and all cause levels of concern and caution when evaluating opportunities. Smart employers are mitigating candidate concerns not by words but by facts and action.
Why would a high caliber individual who has a great job jump ship?
That’s the question organizations who excel at landing talent keep top of mind. Getting to know your candidate from both a ‘resume’ as well as ‘personal’ perspective will go miles towards getting them to say ‘yes’ to your opportunity.
People change jobs because they view the move as a better opportunity and better fit. The chance to work with people they like and respect, the ability to work in a better environment, to earn more money, for more opportunity down the road, a chance at creating personal wealth.
Organizations that excel at attracting talent sell candidates on the whole package and make every effort to mitigate their concerns and issues.
Changing jobs is both an analytical and emotional experience
When trying to close a candidate, most hiring teams concentrate on the analytics–the increase in compensation, the increased responsibilities – and neglect the emotional and intangible elements that factor into a job change.
Evaluating compensation purely from an analytical perspective is pretty straightforward. There’s an abundance of aggregated data from Radcliff, Mercer and others that can tell you a great deal about what people are earning.
But that data doesn’t tell you what it will take to land a particular candidate. It doesn’t factor in a candidate’s perceived risks of a move. And, the data doesn’t speak to what an individual’s contribution to the enterprise is worth.
At the end of the day, candidates will accept offers they believe are in line with the level of risk they are being asked to take. Just like your house, despite all the comps and market data, it is worth what someone is willing to pay.
Less tangible than compensation, and more important in higher level roles, is the candidate’s assessment of the opportunity. Employers who think about what’s in it for a candidate–where the growth is for them, how this move will make them more marketable and valuable in the workforce–win.
Accepted offers take into account and address a candidate’s desires and concerns
Equally important and most often overlooked is the emotional connection to the company. It’s surprising how many candidates are put through a process that doesn’t include any time to connect on a personal level. The best talent magnets have lunch, dinner or drinks with a candidate and make every attempt to bond with them on a personal level. After all, a great percentage of a person’s time is spent at work–it’s a wonderful thing if you like the people you work with.
The most talented individuals have built up a war chest of personal capital that they are leave behind when they change jobs–jump starting the feeling that they are backed and supported should they decide to join your firm will go a long way in reducing that piece of a candidate’s concern.
Increasingly, top talent is demanding more perks that add up to an improvement in their overall well being–the ability to work from home, a reduction in travel, and more vacation time.
What’s your opportunity?
Everyone in the interview process should be both listening to a candidate’s needs as well as selling the opportunity. Putting time into developing a compelling pitch around your particular opportunity, starting with the job description, and keeping your team on message generates candidate enthusiasm.
If your team can’t express that this is a great opportunity, you are not going to be in a strong position to close your candidates.
Putting time and attention into the closing process yields great results
If you are fortunate enough to get to a place where you are negotiating an offer, being highly attuned to the emotional elements that a candidate is wrestling with puts you at an advantage. Speaking on a daily basis, deeply questioning what the drivers are in any particular issue and remaining supportive are key. On the analytical side, put your best offer forward out the shoot and express it as such.
Creatively mitigating a candidate’s issues and motivations can be instrumental during the closing phase. Those hiring managers who delegate the offer phase exclusively to recruiters or HR are going to be on the losing end of the deal. While each can and should play a key role, candidates expect interaction with the hiring executive during this phase.
Once the offer is accepted, it’s time to do another lunch–the standard two week notice period is a lifetime in terms of counter offers and new offers. Keeping your candidate close and engaged in your opportunity is key to ensuring they don’t change their minds.
Article by Vikki Pachera http://www.recruitingtrends.com/advisory_board/tony_lee.html and courtesy of Kenndy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell – Tips for Answering Uncomfortable Questions

I am heading to Chicago tomorrow to celebrate my husband’s birthday and to spend some quality time at Wrigley Field. Since I am packing and preparing for our trip I am feeling a little lazy blog-wise so I thought I would share some words of wisdom on etiquette from my friend Jodi Smith of Mannersmith. Enjoy!
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Newsletter #83
July 2008
A close friend recently asked me a loaded and very dangerous question.
If you interact with other humans, at some point, you too have been the recipient in some shape or form of a precarious query. As they ask, time seems to slow and fast forward all at once. The asker peers into your eyes as your mind races for the “right” answer. Instinctively you know how you respond can impact not only this interaction, but your entire relationship. You must quickly assess the situation taking into consideration the rapport, location, timing, ability to fix the situation and asker’s ability to accept honesty.
When my friend asked me my opinion on her attire, she had me in the hot seat; I needed to do some fast thinking before I opened my mouth. Here are some Don’t Ask Questions and respective responses.

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Law Firms Need to Lighten Up to Attract and Retain Gen Y

Hi All,
The old, big, stodgy law firms are starting to realize that if they want to attract and retain Gen Y as their next generation of partners and leaders, they need to lighten up. We all know the reputations they have of requiring employees to work 100 hours per week, wear suits, and work in a “less than festive” environment.
But, the smart ones, are watching what the corporate world is doing, and they are starting to change their corporate cultures and policies to attract Gen Y talent.
One example is the law firm of Halleland, Lewis, Nilan & Johnson in Minneapolis. You can get an idea of the humor they are now infusing into their culture by looking at their website. And I know of law firms that are offering flex time, encouraging work/life balance, and offering financial allowances to employees so that they can set-up a home office. Plus, some are even starting “Fun Friday’s” for a weekly company party and becoming more relaxed about their strict dress code policy.
Why?? This is all happening in an effort to attract and retain Millennial talent. And, they see that the “fun” change in their cultures are keeping the older generations around longer, too.
Yet another example of why companies, in ANY industry, need to do some serious self evaluation when it comes to recruiting and retaining Gen Y.
Bye for now!
Article by Lisa Orrell, Millennial & Generation Relations Expert and courtesy of Lisa’s Generation Relations Blog