Technology, Recruiting, and Social Media

Editor's Notes

• #3: Why? The Millennial Generation was born between 1977 and 1998. The 75 million members of this generation are being raised at the most child-centric time in our history. Perhaps it's because of the showers of attention and high expectations from parents that they display a great deal of self-confidence to the point of appearing cocky. As you might expect, this group is technically literate like no one else. Technology has always been part of their lives, whether it's computers and the Internet or cell phones and text pagers. We already know a few big things about the Millennials. They are the most ethnically and racially diverse cohort of youth in the nation's history. Among those ages 13 to 29: 18.5% are Hispanic; 14.2% are black; 4.3% are Asian; 3.2% are mixed race or other; and 59.8%, a record low, are white. They are starting out as the most politically progressive age group in modern history. In the 2008 election, Millennials voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by 66%-32%, while adults ages 30 and over split their votes 50%-49%. In the four decades since the development of Election Day exit polling, this is the largest gap ever seen in a presidential election between the votes of those under and over age 30. They are the first generation in human history who regard behaviors like tweeting and texting, along with websites like Facebook, YouTube, Google and Wikipedia, not as astonishing innovations of the digital era, but as everyday parts of their social lives and their search for understanding. They are the least religiously observant youths since survey research began charting religious behavior. They are more inclined toward trust in institutions than were either of their two predecessor generations -- Gen Xers (who are now ages 30 to 45) and Baby Boomers (now ages 46 to 64) when they were coming of age. What to Expect? Students: Millennials want instant access to information. They will typically want the information after normal business hours. Millennials will use more technology to job search, research companies, and prepare for interviews. They will want more guidance when making decisions. So this may mean that Career professionals will not only be talking to the students but also their parents in some cases.   Employers : Companies will use technology more to reach the students and will use it as a means of saving money on the budget. Internships will emerge as a necessary step to gain full time employment which may detract from standard full time recruitment in Career Centers and at job fairs.
• #4: Students : Students must have access to technology and information on career development, interview prep, etc. It must be available to them even when office hours are closed. Career Development Center has to be active with the use of technology and social media as well as provide outreach opportunities to reach this group. And utilize social media in the office as well educate students on professional use of it. Parents : Parents will use the schools website to see what information they can provide to their son or daughter to assist in the job search. I recommend having a section for them that would provide them with useful strategies. This is the group that was termed helicopter parents for a reason! Alumni : Alumni will be needing a section dedicated to them in their job search since technology and social media are more present in the job search area. They will need a do’s and don'ts type of guide them in their use of social media for job searching. Work with Alumni association to reach this population by posting information about jobs or tips on job searching via Twitter or Linked pages for The Alumni Association. Faculty : Faculty want to know how we reach out to employers and how they can help connect us with their employer contacts. We must be proactive in reaching out to faculty. I suggest faculty luncheons in our office to spark interest among faculty members. We may want to first start with department chairs and have a forum where we discuss how we recruit employers and what services we offer both students and employers. Employers/ Recruiters : Access to our job posting system must be streamlined. We must be familiar with how employers recruit students. My suggestion is to add fields to the employer profile page that ask for Face book, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or other social media’s they use for recruitment. Employers are tightening budgets and so our universities. How we reach out to employers is a little trickier. I suggest we become active in Chamber of Commerce events in our surrounding areas/ states, strengthen our state affiliations employer groups, and promote grassroots campaign by telephone and email to reach out to prospective new employers. It will be important to maintain a database with update contacts so that we can gauge those who have become less active and may reach out to them.
• #5: LinkedIn How to use the full power of LinkedIn to job search, including effectively using your connections and utilizing all the information available on LinkedIn when you're applying for jobs. Facebook If you're using Facebook for professional networking, and more people are every day, here are tips on the best way to use Facebook when you're job searching. KODA KODA.us is a job site with a different twist on social recruiting. It's like a a hybrid of social Facebook and professional LinkedIn. Twitter Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface. Twitter is open ended and people and companies use it in a variety of ways, including to job search. MySpace MySpace is a social networking website offering users the opportunity to connect through personal profiles, blogs, groups and other features. Ning Ning is an online service to create, customize, and share a social network. Users have used Ning to create online social networks about lots of subjects, including jobs and the job search. Doostang Doostang is an invite-only community, founded by a Stanford MBA and an MIT engineer, that connects young professionals to career opportunities through social networking.
• #6: For Students : Ensure that all students know how to use our NACE Link system. Ensure students know information about internships and how important internship experience is. Ensure technology is up to date and is being updated on consistent bases. Meet the students where they are! Ensure students have the knowledge to begin their job or internship search, we have to be willing to provide outreach and that may include nontraditional meeting locations / and hours. For example (meet at a coffee shop on campus for quick internship presentation or meet in the student center during lunch with information on how to use NACE Link, or even providing web based tutorials for students.   Recruiting New Employers : How we reach out to employers is a little trickier. Become active in Chamber of Commerce events in our surrounding areas/ states, Get active in our Alumni chapters> many of our alumni are very successful businessmen and women. We have to tap into this resource as a tool to meet employers. Maybe we could even split the cost of travel with The Alumni Association. Strengthen our state affiliations employer groups (TACE, MACE, AACE, Etc.) Promote grassroots campaign by telephone and email to reach out to prospective new employers. As well as provide site visits to the prospective employers. (It will be important to maintain a database with update contacts so that we can gauge those who have become less active and may reach out to them.)   I know this may seem like a lot of additional work and effort but with the market changing and both students and employers are looking for easy access to necessary resources. We must shift our focus and become even more innovative in order to meet the demand of both students and employers.