Embrace Technology—New Ways to Recruit Generation Y

Generation Y is a technology generation. We embrace new technologies as they come out, and we not only learn how to use them, but we master them. 

Companies looking to employ more Gen Y workers should also embrace technology and use it to their advantage—as a way to recruit and hire. There are many organizations that have started doing this, and they are reaping the benefits.  

Ernst & Young LLP, a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited, has created an interactive careers Web site as a way to recruit close to 10,000 employees this year; they are especially hoping to attract members of Generation Y. 

“Our job seekers expect to see real examples of what a career in professional services is really like,” says Melissa Taylor, recruiting, branding and communications leader for the company, in a press release. “This ‘Generation Y’ audience is increasingly exposed to highly personal media like YouTube and reality television, and they expect the same level of reality from their employers. We developed EY Insight to give them that. The features and tools we’ve developed for EY Insight are unlike any in the profession and demonstrate the flexibility, opportunities and guidance college students will receive as full-time employees.” 

EY Insight is a suite of three tools: in-depth views of Ernst & Young employees and the company’s culture, an overview of E&Y practice areas and opportunities, and information on preparing for an interview. 

Quest Flexible Staffing Solutions, a firm that specializes in recruiting people between ages 18 and 25 for outsourcing contracts and temporary positions, has turned to Facebook for help recruiting employees. 

The Facebook application they created includes a short test that defines the person’s working style and offers an option for those who take the test to be contacted by Quest with job opportunities based on their personality type. The questions are worded to suit a social environment. 

“People like to do quizzes that give them an insight into their own personality,” says Carolyn Bose, Quest’s public relations manager. “When you’ve done the quiz, you get a ‘work personality.’” 

Colleges have also started using social networking sites to recruit prospective students. 

And even organizations, such as church youth groups, have started using technology to recruit members. 

Johnathan Sumpter, the youth director at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Amarillo, Texas, has set up a MySpace profile and a Web site for kids to see what’s going on in the church’s youth group. He says kids in the group act out scenes from the Bible and the group leaders videotape it, do the editing and make it look cool so the kids will want to go to the site to show their friends or put it on YouTube. Sumpter says technology is not a luxury, but a necessity today. 

“It becomes a language of a generation and for you to spread any message, you have to first speak the language [of those] that you’re speaking to,” he says in a NewsChannel10.com article. “The message doesn’t change, just how you present it.”

So do you want to start embracing technology and using it to your company’s advantage? Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Build a MySpace, Facebook or other social networking site Web page for your company (or build a few of them!). Advertise this page on college campuses that you want to recruit from.
• Create videos about different aspects of your company—your company culture, employee point-of-views, a typical day at work, a guided tour of the facilities, etc., and post them on your company’s Web site and YouTube (or you can also make a micro-site for the videos).
• Offer prospective employees text message alerts for job opportunities at your company with information about how to apply.

Generation Y is a technology generation. We embrace new technologies as they come out, and we not only learn how to use them, but we master them.