Ten things you need to know about recruiting Generation Y’ers

Yesterday someone was asking me about the difficulties they have in recruiting generation Y’ers. Judging by the amount of searches for ‘generation y’  on one of my Adwords campaigns, they are not alone. It is something that is generating alot of interest for companies needing to recruit new staff. I am finding myself busier with clients who feel they need to examine their candidate attraction strategies, to make sure they don’t miss out on this particular generation. Shamless plug, but if your company is in that situation, feel free to contact me to discuss it further.

There has been much written about this generation (defined as being between 13-27 years old), but I thought I would repost something I wrote last year on a different blog, that I feel is still relevent, about their philosophy to work. So here are 10 important things you need to know about recruiting gen Y’ers:

1. They don’t expect to be asked about their work experience - they have very little. They will tell you how the world is moving so fast they don’t need experience - but they do expect you to still give them the opportunity to show what they can do.
2. They will want to work in a two-way management situation. Just don’t expect them to to sit back and take instruction, they will reply with their own input.
3. Questions. Be prepared - all they do is ask questions.
4. They need to be part of a continuous feedback loop. They constantly need reassurance and constant feedback to keep their interest.
5. Money is key. They have an inbuilt expectancy to be paid a good salary from the beginning.
6. Training is important, but so is the style of training. They will want to pass test like training, where scores and definative marks are given - don’t forget they are not long out of school/college.
7. Short attention spans. Boredom will kick in quite quickly with them, and don’t expect them to work unlimited hours in a day to get that project done, they will only work when they want to.
8. They are focused on their social life and consequently plan work around it, rather than the other way around.
9. Don’t expect them to win that gold watch for staying long in your company. They will already be planning the next job before they have even started with you. And they see nothing wrong with this.
10. What does money mean to them? A means to an end - they won’t be buying a house, they will be focusing on enjoying themselves. So they will earn (and spend) what it takes to do that, not much more.