What is a millennial? The term is generally used to describe the new generation of 21-33 year-olds of today. They are also known as Generation Next, because they followed the Generation X children of the 80s and 90s, and "Echo Boomers" because most of them are children of the original baby boomers. Use any term you like. One indisputable fact is that this generation is the group that lives on their computers, the users who made Facebook a billion dollar company, elevated Google to be the king of search, and helped create a whole new way to date and interact with each other. They are the Now generation and, like it or not, they are your potential personnel pool.
How do you hire millennials? Like any good hunter, you need to go where the object of your search lives. For this generation, that would be on the internet. Start by investing in an online applicant tracking system and then cast some feelers out there to online networking groups and social media sites. The qualified men and women you're looking for are out there and you will not reach them by running a help wanted ad in the local newspaper. Generation Next doesn't read newspapers. Most of them are into greener pastimes like getting their news from Yahoo updates or Politico.
Does you company have a Facebook page? If it doesn't, create one, especially if you're recruiting. The familiar Facebook icon is one of the most clickable links on the web. You should have it on your website and also on any online ads you're running. Your job recruitment software should have an updatable category list where you can register where a response came from. Add Facebook to newspapers, magazines, and help wanted fliers. You'll find after a few months that it outperforms every other medium on that list. In this century, electronic media is number one. Use it or you'll be lost.
Have you learned to Tweet yet? There are those who still scoff about the effectiveness of Twitter as a business communication device. If you have doubts, open an account and do a search for those who work in your industry. Build your follower network and then tweet about your available job openings. The response will be instant and positive. That's something none of the formerly traditional forms of advertising can offer you. Do you know of any newspaper or magazine publications that have millions of people referring to them dozens of times a day? Twitter can make that claim.
If you are still using the same database you used in the 90s, your recruiting tracking system needs to be updated. Many of the online options available today didn't exist before the last decade. Facebook itself emerged from the Ivy League for general use in 2004, only seven years ago. Twitter and Linked In are even newer than that. If you want to hire millennials, you'll need to be able to use all of them, and you'll need to have the right software to keep track of all the applicants you get.
