Immense role of digital & social media in attracting and recruiting Generation Y
The list above shows that Generation Y offers new skills, competencies and perspectives.
Generation Y was raised by their parents telling them that they can achieve anything, be anyone. This healthy (???) dose of self-esteem sometimes backfired by celebrating mediocre results and rewarding all, regardless of the merit (a gold star just for showing up).
Millennials also want to live in the present, not plan for living when they retire. Instant gratification pays a big role in their attitude towards work. The insistence that work is a part of life, not life itself is a great opportunity for the employers who will cleverly build health, free time and ethics into the job equation.
Generation Y’s image of the ideal employer reflects a down-to-earth blend of idealism and pragmatism. The employer must have strong ethics and a mission (beyond the financial one). Moreover, he has to acknowledge Millennials as individuals, stretch and develop them.
Being the digital natives, online social networking is often the first step towards applying for a job. Why not, since they are constantly connected:
91% of people surveyed for the Class of 2015 Report said that they make their Foursquare and Facebook Places check-ins publics.
66% of Gen Y would check out stores that their friends had checked into.
43% of people surveyed had liked over 20 brand pages on Facebook.
71% said that they had liked a brand on Facebook in order to take advantage of an offer.
52% of Gen Yers have over 300 friends on Facebook and the top 10% have over 1,000.
40% check their Facebook more than 10 times per day.
76% spend more than 1 hour each day on Facebook.
58% said they used Twitter “all the time”.
In order to reach high-caliber job candidates that are right fit for the company, corporate online presence has to appeal to Generation Y. Otherwise it will be lost in the sea of unmemorable career sites. Once the company manages to grab Millennials’ attention, social media offers almost unlimited opportunities to:
Listen to prospective candidates;
Ask them questions and solicit feedback;
Engage with them;
Once they are ‘in’, keep them in the ‘talent pipeline’ if you don’t have the role for them today.
Arrow’s Five Years Out brand statement has a real impact on Generation Y: “Innovators live in the world of Five Years Out. Where their flashes of brilliance collide with millions of our practical components to form smarter solutions for all of us. Shaping the tangible future of everything from cars to coffeemakers.”
A prospective Generation Y candidate can extrapolate from this statement the following:
Arrow is a leader in its field – surely I will be able to learn a lot there.
Arrow provides solutions – I love solving problems.
Arrow helps customers harness new technologies – I like that, I am an early adopter myself.
As ‘baby boomers’ gradually exit the workplace, the employers will have problems filling up the vacated positions. Generation Y (until the arrival of the next generation) offers a lot of opportunities, if we accept their different approach to work and life in general.