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How to More Effectively Engage Millennials as You Recruit

How to More Effectively Engage Millennials as You Recruit

It’s no secret that the recruiting process has changed drastically, particularly when it comes to appealing to the younger generation of workers. When you want to add millennials to your staff, continuing to use the old ways of recruiting will leave you spinning your wheels. In order to engage millennials as you recruit, you’ll need to keep the process creative. Here are some tips for effectively recruiting the younger generation:

Make it personal

Millennials grew up interacting with brands on a one-on-one level via Twitter, Facebook and personalized e-mail marketing campaigns, therefore, the “To Whom it May Concern” format simply doesn’t speak to them. If you want to recruit a millennial, make the experience a personalized one. Get to know them and how they prefer to communicate.  Ditch the “copy and paste” messages or overly formal e-mail greetings and make it a point to develop personal connections.

Be honest about what’s going on

Millennials value transparency from the brands they rely on; this includes the companies they may want to work for too. If you have information, even vague amounts of it, available about what’s going on during the hiring process, always share it with your candidate. They’ll value being kept informed, even if the news isn’t always what they want to hear. Many millennials express frustration about the complexity of the hiring process. Keeping them updated can help to minimize this frustration.

Help them find a job that makes them feel useful

Millennial candidates often seek out work that they deem meaningful. This could mean that their vision and values are in alignment with the company’s, or perhaps they’d like to work for a non-profit. Regardless of what the actual job is, make sure you’re placing a candidate somewhere where they will feel useful as they head into the office each day.

Empathize with what they’re going through

For younger workers, the job hunt is still a relatively new concept, and can feel overwhelming. Understand this and do what you can to help them feel valued and appreciated throughout the experience. Even if you don’t have any openings that would be right for that candidate in this exact moment, keep in contact and maintain that connection.

How do you effectively engage millennials when you recruit? Share your tips with us in the comments!

Image: Sergey Nivens/BigStock.com

Lauren Levine

Lauren Levine is a copywriter/blogger who contributes to a number of magazines and websites including The Frisky, USA Today, and others. She also authors her own blog called Life with Lauren. She loves cooking, anything on the E! network, and is trying to convince herself that running isn't so bad.