How Recruiting Software Can Help You Evolve To Generation Y Recruiting

Some may find it strange that the personality of a group can impact the attitudes and practices of an entire industry – but when discussing generation Y and recruiting, that is exactly what is happening.  By 2025, this 30-and-under crowd will make up half of the world’s population – and account for 75% of the workforce.

As a recruiter, you need to both be aware of how this group will force your practices to evolve – but also – be aware of how the tools you have at your disposal that can ease this evolution.

And if you’ll forgive a bit of helpful Friday bias, I’ve listed below a few ways that a tool like recruiting software can be this tool:

1. Ensuring You Remain as Technologically Savvy & Connected As Your Candidate
   Gen Y’s have grown up completely immersed and connected by technology and social media.  For better or worse, the right candidate may be counting on this ability to be found by the right employer or recruiter, rather than vice versa.But as my colleague Phil McCutchen writes, when searching for candidates in social media, “you need help separating the chafe (all the junk out there on the Internet) from the wheat (all the good candidate and employee information you need for recruiting.)”With the right recruiting software, you can do everything from record candidates’ online profiles on LinkedIn (ie finding the right candidates) or automate job postings through RSS feeds or social media sites – an effective, if slightly old fashioned method for this group.
2. Record New & Unfamiliar Idiosyncrasies
   What candidate isn’t interested in more money?  Potentially, many Gen Y candidates.  Per the latest Cisco Connected World Report, Gen Y’s will often count social media freedom, device flexibility and work mobility in much higher regard than salary. They will also oftentimes flock to employers that offer such alternatives as compressed work schedules, teleworking and generous leave packages.As a recruiter, the first steps in effectively servicing both employers and Y candidates is to find the connections between the employer that is offering and the candidate that is wanting.  The only potentially new wrinkle to this idea is the variety of non-traditional wants you may hear from candidates.  The right recruiting software is the one constant you can count on to help keep it all straight.

3. Keep A Steady Candidate Funnel
   According to a Gen Y and Facebook study by Millennial Branding, the average Gen Y employee will spend just two years at his or her first position and will job hop multiple times in their career.This does not mean you stop recruiting Gen Y.  It simply means that you always have a backup in mind, especially for your bigger clients.  By using software to match up your current clients with your current list of candidates, you can ensure you are always ready to fill a hole left by a Gen Y candidate that is following their own natural progression.  And the best part is, the new candidate you provide will probably have an even more evolved skill set than the first employee you placed – ensuring your candidate pool continues to be the one your clients prefer to pull from.

How have your recruiting processes evolved to keep up with Gen Y?  Or what challenges have you faced when trying to evolve with this candidate?  I encourage you to share, via a comment below.