When you talk about Millennial employees, a few common misperceptions can emerge. Some imagine an entitled young employee who thinks he or she has all the answers in between Facebooking with friends and Instagraming their morning coffee. The truth is far, far different — and is the reason more of your clients are actually looking to add Millennials into their office environment.
Soon, Millennials will come to dominate the workplace. According to a study by the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flager Business School, by 2020 Millennials will make up at least 46 percent of the workforce. Smart companies know it’s important to tap such a large, talented pool of candidates.
One way to recruit Millennials is to embrace new technology. As digital natives who have grown up around emerging technology their whole lives, Millennials are much more at ease with adopting new tech to solve old problems. In fact, 74 percent of Millennials think technology makes life easier and 75 percent of Millennials have created a social networking profile.
Embracing new technology, including social media, is a smart way to connect with these tech-savvy candidates. But you still need to get a better feel for the candidate personally before you suggest them to your client.
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Video Interviewing For Millennial Talent Recruitment
Social media is great, but it can’t provide the face-to-face interaction you need to evaluate candidates on a more personal level. Video interviewing can, allowing you to connect in real-time with candidates across the country and around the globe.
Millennials are just as comfortable with online video as they are with social networking or carting their mobile phones around 24/7. A study by comScore found that, in one day alone, 45 million Millennials watch approximately 667 million online videos.
By utilizing video interviews, you’ll be speaking in a language in which most Millennials have a high degree of fluency. You’ll also be branding your organization and your client as a digitally-savvy organization.
More importantly though, video interviews can give you a more personal feel for Millennial candidates than their Facebook or LinkedIn profile can provide. In a live video interview, you’ll be able to connect in real-time, as if the candidate was on the other side of the desk instead of the webcam. In a one-way video interview, candidates answer your written questions on video, saving you time and helping you focus on only the best candidates for the job.
Just like Millennials themselves, video interviews combine traditional recruiting knowledge with new technology to help you find the best people.
How To Connect With Millennials In The Video Interview
Don’t think just because you decided to use a video interview you’ve already made your client more attractive to Millennial candidates. These tech-junkies might appreciate the fact you employed new technology to connect, but to reel in the best and brightest, you’ll need to know what Millennial candidates crave when it comes to their career.
Here are a few ways to connect with Millennials in the video interview and evaluate their skills:
Millennials are looking for work-life balance: Like most generations, Millennials are looking to enjoy their time at work and their time at home. In fact, 89 percent of Millennials claim work-life balance is the key to happiness on the job.
While many Millennials are looking for their new co-workers to become good friends, at least 37 percent would take a pay cut if it meant flexibility in work location and hours. Knowing this, stress the flexible aspects of your client when connecting with Millennials in a video interview.
Millennials are looking for development: As workers who haven’t been in the workplace for very long, Millennials crave career development. In fact, 65 percent of Millennials said opportunity for personal development was the most important factor in their job. When connecting with Millennials, stress your client’s career growth opportunities. This could be anything from additional training to a company mentorship program.
Look for cultural fit: While you might be using video interviews to connect with Millennials on their tech-savvy level, remember you still have to make sure the candidate would be a perfect fit for your client. Because Millennials are so focused on enjoying their workplace, cultural fit becomes even more important. In the interview, ask questions about the candidate’s work style and ideal environment to reduce the odds of costly turnover down the line.
Evaluate concrete skills: The video interview, like an in-person meeting, is also the place to ask specific questions about a candidate’s concrete skills. Just because the candidate isn’t within handshaking distance doesn’t mean you should give them a pass on showing off work portfolios or answering the tough questions about the day-to-day aspects of the job.
Video interviews can be a great way to connect with tech-obsessed Millennial candidates, the same candidates sending at least 20 texts per day. This is why it’s important to know what Millennials are looking for in their ideal workplace and to focus on whether these tech-savvy superstars will be the right fit for your client.
What do you think? How can you use video interviews to connect with Millennial candidates? Share in the comments!
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