Want to Attract Millennial Employees? Enlist your Marketing Team

Guest Blog by Bryan Fonville

The next time you search for something on Google, type in millennials and see what pops up.

Google’s algorithms are pretty good at helping you complete your search by pre-populating commonly used phrases. What do you get when you type millennials into the Google search bar? The answer: millennials in the workplace.

This says something about the state of today’s businesses. Companies everywhere are working to determine how to attract millennials to work for them. But, this challenge isn’t limited to just human resources professionals. It’s a marketing problem, too. Hint: Search marketing to and notice that marketing to millennials is the first thing to appear.

If today’s companies wish to succeed in hiring millennial employees, it requires the removal of the departmental silos that have traditionally separated human resources and marketing.

Here are three ways HR departments can partner with their marketing teams to attract millennials.

1. Make a good first impression.
You only get one chance to make a first impression. And, unless you’re a Fortune 100 company with national brand recognition, chances are that your website will be your prospective employee’s first interaction with your company. For most marketers, the Career Opportunities section of the website is an afterthought. After all, most marketing teams are evaluated based on their ability to convert web visitors into customers, not employees.

Just as it’s important to make a good first impression with prospective customers, it’s equally important to do the same with would-be job applicants. Have your marketing team build out the career section of your website. Add pictures from your company picnic or service project. Maybe even put a video together that talks about your company’s mission and culture. These additions will go a long way in attracting millennials to join your team.

2. Stop being so boring.
If you’re still using the same job descriptions you’ve been using since 1998, it’s time to update them. Today’s applicants can instantly compare your job listing with hundreds of other listings. What’s going to make your job opportunity stand out from the rest?

I get it. Job descriptions are inherently boring. But, there’s a way to make just about any job sound fun. Enlist the best copy writer in your marketing department to help make your job listings pop.

3. Make it easy to apply.
The customer journey is a critical focus for most marketing departments. How do we ensure that the customer has the best possible experience from initial contact to delivery of goods and services? And, how do we make it as easy as possible for the customer to make a buying decision? This thought process should also extend to the job applicant.

Simply put, make it easy for people to actually apply for the job. If you don’t already have a way for people to apply online, get one soon. No one wants to print off an application, scan it and email it in. Have your marketing team build an online application that users can easily complete. Or, better yet, let job applicants apply using their LinkedIn profiles.

On a related note, if you don’t have any job openings at the time, you might consider creating a career interest form where people can provide you with their name, email address and resume. You can use this list of interested candidates later down the road when an opportunity arises. Not to mention, your marketing folks can also add them to your monthly e-newsletter. That’s what we call a win-win!

These certainly aren’t the only areas where HR and marketing can collaborate, but, by enhancing your first impression, updating your job descriptions and improving your application process, you can better position your company to attract millennials.

SUPPLIED BY WF&FSA VALUE PARTNER PROFILES INTERNATIONAL