You all know how much I enjoy the www.employeeevolution.com blog. They are getting some excellent readership, particularly from recruiters of Gen Y talent.
In fact, recruiters are providing a lot of the on-line advice we see to date for Gen Y. But feedback from the generation indicates most of the content they read from recruiters rubs them the wrong way. One of my young professional client’s recently said to me, “Why do recruiters write in such a condescending manner?” Good question.
I don’t think recruiters realize the tone they write in has such a profoundly negative impact on Gen Y readers. But it does. Passion for the subject and a desire to get to-the-point can make word choices a bit too direct and preachy to a generation who has had enough of being told what to do. It’s important to ‘think before you speak’ with this generation, more so than with any other. No, it’s not coddling, it’s connecting! And, the secret to conveying career advice successfully to this generation is simple:
A) Share perspective and show just how well you relate to their situation.
B) Provide suggestions, not ultimatums.
Mark Liston, Director of Sales Recruiting for Valpak recently got rave reviews for this post: Back to the Future - A Recruiter’s Thoughts. His post is a great example of how to ‘do it right’ when offering advice to Gen Y. What I love most is how he bridges the gap between his own generation, Baby Boomers, and Gen Y. I look forward to seeing more insightful posts from Mark soon!
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm
J.T.
Excellent insights. I think especially in the online platform, this is critical.