As millennials enter the workforce, they are more interested in exploring a variety of different careers in temporary jobs rather than staying with one company for a longer period of time and making their way to the top (In fact, temporary jobs are expected to grow 13% over the next five years, according to a new study by CareerBuilder).
Related: How Millennials Can Help Bridge The Workplace Generation Gap
This attitude that millennials have about jobs being temporary is making an impact on the way companies go about hiring employees. Employers are having to tweak the way they approach job candidates to show why staying with their company will benefit them in the long run.
When hiring millennials in these changing times, employers should use these tips to help grow employees and build a successful company culture so that they can retain millennial talent.
Recently, PWC.com, a multinational professional services network, conducted a Millennials At Work Survey. The results were:
38% of currently working millennials said they were actively looking for a different role
43% of currently working millennials said they were open to job offers
18% of currently working millennials said they expect to stay with their current employer for the long term
“Gen Y's notoriously short attention span has even transferred over to the workplace, where it's not uncommon for a 20-something to have worked for three or four different employers just in the last few years,” said Nicole Fallon in an article for Business News Daily.
Here are two ways employers can retain millennial talent:
1. Put yourself in the shoes of the potential employee.
“No matter how passionate you are about your company, it's important to always look outside a person's job responsibilities and guide them to focus on areas where they want to develop themselves in,” said Aaron Harvey of Ready Set Rocket.
If you’re hiring a new employee, take a second and put yourself in their place and consider these questions:
-Will I be able to use the skills I have to effectively do this job?
-Will the skills I have currently improve from this job?
-Will I gain skills that will be useful to me later in my career?
-Do I have the opportunity to learn additional skills that aren’t required for this position?
-Will this job open up opportunities for me in the future?
-Do I fit in with the other employees here?
Of course these questions are rather broad, and depending on the industry that the company falls into, they will vary.
Additionally, when hiring a new employee, while it’s important that the potential employee can handle the job responsibilities, it’s also important that the employee has the opportunity to develop other skills that might not necessarily be needed to do the job.
If the company ends up hiring this person, they can entice them to stay in the position by offering professional development programs.
2. Help employees see their future with the company.
“Your employees will want to be in your shoes one day,” said Harvey, “help them paint that picture. If you're not tying someone to the big picture, then you're not doing it right, you need to let them see what they are trying to achieve.”
Starting at the top of a company from the beginning of your career is nearly impossible unless you’re starting your own company. You can’t expect to be hired as an upper level manager or executive immediately after graduating from college.
However, what many recent graduates can expect is an entry-level job that will likely involve a lot of grunt work that’s not particularly rewarding. While grunt work needs to be completed, if employers can show millennials that doing the grunt work will eventually pay off and earn them a higher position with the company, then the company will be able to better maintain millennial talent.
“For millennials, their jobs are everything,” said Alyson Krueger in this Forbes article. “Their job is everything – how they introduce themselves at parties, what they think about during their free time, how they make friends, even how they express themselves creatively. Because it is the center of their lives and their identity, they are concerned with how they are going to advance in their career and succeed.”
Finding and retaining millennial talent can be an arduous task, but using these tips can make the process a little easier.
Sarah Lynch is an intern for CAREEREALISM Media. She is a senior Mass Communications Major with a minor in Public Relations at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. Connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
Bigstock
Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
Bigstock
Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
Bigstock
Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
Need more help with your job search?
Become a member to learn how to land a job and UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.