Statistically Generation Y, or Millennials, make up the largest percentage of jobseekers and much like buyers in the housing market, these numbers wield power.

They are the next talented professionals in-line and naturally businesses want to capitalise on this. However, gaining and retaining these digital natives has proven to be more difficult than ever.

With an ever varying list of drivers and a change in the core idea of the ‘work model’, businesses are having to readress the way in which they search for talent.

Throw in the development of technology and you have a candidate that interacts and communicates in a way that is the antithesis of traditional. So how can companies share their mission and vision to reach tech-savvy and digitally literate new talent?

Changing landscape

Today the idea of having a job for life is exactly that, an idea. In its place are hungry, ambitious young adults that are prepared to leave their jobs in a bid to make a change and work for something they believe in.

To avoid being left behind by employees for new opportunities elsewhere, businesses have to get into the hearts and minds of today’s job seekers to secure and nurture the next big talent.

This means addressing complex expectations such as flexibility, opportunity and the working environment. What is the company's ethos and vision? What is really like to work for the company? What are the opportunities for development and growth? How flexible is the working environment?

All too often these are the questions that go unanswered by employers. Talent acquisition has developed into a two-way street and employers must do their best to anticipate, engage and address potential queries in order to promote the business to the right people.

A multimedia approach

There is a new trend for creating vision and ethos which includes creating captivating video content and engaging via social platforms to promote that content and ultimately find the best possible fit for an organisation.

Video plays an important role in seeking out Millennials as this is often the first ‘go to’ to source for information.

JP Morgan which recently shared its use of SnapChat as a recruitment tool for young talent

Companies are getting wise to the need for creative visuals that have the ability to be shown across various platforms to a wide group of individuals.

One example of many is JP Morgan which recently shared its use of SnapChat as a recruitment tool for young talent, showing just how apparent social is to this generation and should be a fundamental cornerstone in any efforts to recruit the best fitting talent who share the company's vision.

Maximising retention

It’s no surprise that startups and blue chip companies are struggling to hire and more importantly retain millennials.

Generation Y are interested changing the world – they want to be part of brands with vision, innovation and ambition and as a result they aren’t afraid of changing direction for the ‘right’ company.

47% of declined offers in the second half of 2015 were due to candidates accepting other jobs, up 10 points from the first half of 2015. (Recruiter Sentiment Study 2015 2nd Half, MRI Network, December 2015) and 51% of employees are considering a new job. (Workforce Panel, Gallup, November 2015) at all times.

This is where it becomes important for recruiters to avoid gaining a ‘quick hit’ by simply filling roles with any candidate. The approach has to be focused on the right candidate for the right job and the best way we can do this is to be transparent with our offering.

67% of employers believe retention rates would be higher if candidates had a clearer picture of what to expect

More than two-thirds (67%) of employers believe retention rates would be higher if candidates had a clearer picture of what to expect about working at the company before taking the job. (Harris Interactive Survey for Glassdoor, 2014).

We know that even after having explored companies, it is hard to understand whether someone's skill set is the ‘best fit’. We use machine learning based technology that learns room recruiters behaviour can advise on relevant job-opportunities for which they are likely to be shortlisted for, saving time and effort for many busy professionals.

Additionally, utilising multimedia to provide invaluable insight into a brand is a fundamental part of being transparent. Through honestly showcasing opportunity companies can only attract the best talent for the job, increasing reliability and retention.

Being mobile

According to the Pew Research Center, more than half of 18-29 year old job seekers have used their smartphone to job hunt and less than 40% of Millennials reported using a traditional job board, according to Jobvite data.

Technology is the first step to attracting the right talent and is a real challenge for companies that want to appear as smart and attractive to future employees. For these companies It becomes crucial for them to have a company page that is mobile responsive.

Companies must also keep the social media elements of their business in mind

Researchers revealed, in fact, that almost half of job seekers have difficulties in watching content that is not optimised for mobile phones.

However, just being mobile ready is not enough. Companies must also keep the social media elements of their business in mind if they are looking to attract Millennials.

Considering social networks are one of the most important sources for job seekers employers need to invest in generating attractive content that is both mobile responsive and socially engaging for job hunters.

Location, location, location

The internet has made the world seem a lot smaller and travel far more attainable.

Digital connectivity and social communication tools have allowed today's workforce to attain mobility and flexibility without losing touch.

As a result, todays workers are more fluid, less location based and ready to take on the right employee.

We try to encourage job seekers to be brave, and consider jobs abroad, because the job that can best nurture your talents may not be near home. 

When life gives you lemons…

The advent of social media has brought with it many changes to the way that we communicate. It has improved shopping experiences, increased the proliferation of information and awareness and most interestingly, empowered a new generation of job seekers.

However, many companies seeking talent attraction think they need to use social media to get results and this is the wrong approach. Companies must think about their message, their vision, their attitude towards employees, and then communicate why people should join their team.

They must feel like they are contributing to a joint vision of the company

Companies have varying attitudes and different ways they perceive work, employees, productivity and innovation. In order to attract talent that is ultimately going to be professionally and personally satisfied, they must feel like they are working towards a mutual goal, and like they are contributing to a joint vision of the company.

So while social media and technology certainly have their place for these digital natives. Recruiting new talent is essentially about the ‘cause’ that they will be working towards and whether these free thinkers believe in it enough to drive the business forward.

For this to occur, professionals need to experience a company in a truly immersive way in order to know whether they are indeed the best fit.