Reaching Gen X and Gen Y Candidates

I came across two pieces of information today that I found interesting, and thought I would pass along.

According to research performed by Forrester:

"who polled nearly 43,000 people during the second quarter of 2010, between Generation X (31 to 44 year olds) and Generation Y (18 to 30 year olds) smartphone ownership stands at 23%. That's roughly 1 out of every 4 people owning a device that gives them access to their social networks, maps, music and even the occasional YouTube video."

And secondly;

"As noted by Bernstein Research analyst Colin McGranahan, consumers are adopting the iPad faster than any other consumer electronics device, including the iPhone and the near-ubiquitous DVD player. The iPad's current sales rate is approximately 4.5 million units per quarter, according to Bernstein. That tops the 1 million per quarter that the original iPhone sold at launch, and the 350,000 per quarter when DVD players first launched. " (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/10/05/ipad.adoption.ars/index.html)

Why do I pass these along? Recruiting. This demographic represents a tremendous number of people. If we're trying to reach them using traditional recruiting means (and even some that seemed "new" and "cutting edge" as recently as a couple of years ago) we simply may be missing them. Traditionally we would advertise in printed newspapers for candidates. Those referenced in the quotes above are getting their local news from smartphone apps. They are most likely not reading the printed version of the newspaper, or watching the TV news broadcast. Their smartphone or iPad is attached to them 24/7. Those devices have replaced the need for a printed newspaper, or watching the local news.

If we are using traditional recruiting resources, or even job boards as our sole recruiting resource we are likely missing opportunities to communicate with this attractive, talented demographic. Consider such resources as pay per click social media advertising; paid ads on local news media "apps"; or keeping in touch with candidates through text messaging or blogging.

At TriStarr we have invested a great amount of time and energy in investigating, and using these and other tools effectively to reach potential candidates so that they are available when you need them. If you are interested in learning more, feel free to contact me, I would be happy to share what we've learned.

Scott