In a candidate-led market, the way recruiters are attracting talent is changing. If you want to be ahead of the game you need to expand the methods you use to recruit, especially when recruiting millennial talent.
Millennials are an increasingly influential generation, meaning as a recruiter you can’t ignore their impact on the job market. Just as sites like CV Library disrupted the job search market when they spotted the improvements to made in job search by switching from paper CVs to Word documents sent via email; millennials are bringing about candidate led changes which are causing employers to change the way they think about selecting talent.
1. Video CVs
Video CVs are fast are growing in popularity, with recruitment firms like Inspiring Interns using them as their sole marketing tool for their graduate candidates. With candidates looking to boost their applications and stand out from the crowd, this unique way for candidates to showcase their applicable skills and experiences is becoming more popular.
Use videos to gauge a candidate’s personality, allowing you to better match them to the existing team the role would be part of. Consider factoring in killer questions to your application process, getting potential candidates to answer those questions in their video CV, helping you more effectively sift applications.
Videos can also be a more appealing approach to presenting candidates to your clients or stakeholders. Incorporating this trend into your recruitment process can be a win-win for both your client/ stakeholders as well as any prospective candidates. Beneficial for stakeholders as they can get more from an initial application and a more digital-friendly method to attract candidates from the millennial generation.
2. Personal blogs
Personal blogs are not just reserved for hobbies and can actually be a useful tool for recruiters looking to gain more of an insight into a potential candidate. Look out for any links to blogs within a candidate’s application or LinkedIn profile, reviewing their writing style, interests, and their passion.
Especially blogs relating to the field the candidate is applying to can demonstrate their commitment, knowledge, and ambition to pursue that particular industry. Looking also into how they have potentially engaged with readers through their blog writing.
Search for blogs online to widen your network of available candidates and reach out to potential candidates through their contact page. Going through blogs can add authenticity to a candidates CV and help you establish whether the claims within their CV are legitimate.
3. YouTube channels
With over a billion YouTube user, this is a social media channel that can give millennials a great platform to share their passion or expertise.
In a similar way to video CV’s, you will be able to see how they communicate and present themselves and how they interact with their viewers. Youtubers tend to upload new content on a weekly or monthly basis, giving you an array of content to review as part of their application.
More and more candidates are adding links to this type of content onto their CV, giving you easier access. YouTube channels can help you establish a candidate’s suitability much more easily than relying solely on a written CV, helping in pre-screening to decide whether to bring that candidate forward for 1st stage interviews. Consider also searching for specific users and reaching out to them directly about your new opportunities.
4. Side Hustles
Full-time employment is not the only way a candidate can display their marketable skills. More millennials are stepping out on their own and starting a side hustle.
Whether freelancing or setting up an online business, a side hustle shows determination and the enthusiasm to achieve. Qualities that are required in any role.
Question how they started their side hustle or how they win new business as well as how they balance this with their other commitments to gain a better insight into a candidate’s appetite to accomplishing outcomes under their own management.
A side hustle shows a candidate’s resilience, self-motivation and can be extremely relevant for any position that includes a degree of self-management or the need to prioritize workloads or projects. Look beyond the 9-5 traditional employment to match relevant skills or experiences to your client’s or stakeholder’s job specification.
5. Charitable Projects
Beyond reviewing a candidate’s experience, qualifications, and skills you should be delving into their extra curriculum activities including any involvement within charitable projects.
Key skills such as organization, communication, teamwork and even leadership can all be demonstrated through these types of extra commitments. When comparing two similar candidates, these additional components could help highlight the more applicable candidate.
Review their overall contribution to the charitable event and use this experience to further discuss how they proactively worked in a team or organized certain projects.
Explore particularly any achievements or accomplishments a candidate gained from these experiences, tailoring this to how they could transfer these experience/skills into your or your client’s organization.
