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What Employers Need To Know About The Class of 2013

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In order to attract and retain the finest young talent, employers must understand how the two million-plus Millennials entering the workforce this year plan to seek employment, what they expect from their employers, and what it’ll take to hold on to them.

The “Class of 2013” survey, conducted by Achievers, an employee success software and services company that strives to increase employee engagement and performance, and ConnectEDU, a technology company committed to helping students transition successfully from high school to college and college to career, asked more than 10,000 students about their previous work experience, where they plan to look for jobs, how they like to be motivated, and their overall feelings about job prospects, among other things.

Nearly all respondents graduated this year or will be graduating with a post-secondary education and searching for full-time employment within the next two years.

“The goal of the survey is to equip employers with an understanding of the expectations that this graduating class has when entering the workforce,” says Hally Pinaud, a workforce and university solutions product marketing manager at ConnectEDU. “This understanding allows companies to better recruit, retain, and inspire their entry level workforce.”

Without an understanding of the perspectives, wants, and needs of tomorrow’s leaders who are entering the workforce today, employers will have difficulty appealing to potential top talent, Pinaud adds. “Once Millennials have been successfully hired, employers need to understand this new crop of talent in order to fully and effectively incorporate them into their corporate culture. Understanding their expectations and their perspectives is key in creating appropriate programs and guidelines.”

Here’s what employers need to know about the class of 2013:

Prior Experience

As it turns out, the class of 2013 doesn’t have much work experience. About 46% of this year’s respondents have never had a full-time job; almost 10% haven’t held a part-time position; and 41.4% never interned.

This means that office etiquette and politics are foreign concepts to about half of all Millennials entering the workforce—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The study says, “a new hire without expectations in those areas is more likely to accept your workplace norms as the status quo. Nonetheless, to ease their acclimation into the workforce, it is important for human resource professionals to explain workplace concepts and expectations beyond the specific responsibilities for a role.”

How They Plan To Search

Recruitment and job search methods have changed significantly in recent years, as social media has become increasingly popular. Forty-five percent of Millennials plan to use LinkedIn as a primary source for their job hunt. That’s 800% growth from 2010, when a meager 5% said they’d use the social networking site.

“Millennials recognize LinkedIn is one of the best online tools to help jump start their professional careers,” says Razor Suleman, founder and chairman of Achievers. “We’ve been amazed to see how the use of LinkedIn has increased [enormously] over the last four years.”

LinkedIn allows students to research companies and find open positions. They can also connect with recruiters and search profiles of executives and employees to get a better picture of the company, he adds.

However, the majority said they are still relying on the old fashioned approaches.

About 87% of respondents said they plan to go straight to the source and submit an application directly to the company. Seventy percent said they will search for jobs at a networking event, while 65% said they’re most likely to utilize a career services center on campus.

“Employers need to be savvy about the channels that students frequent; all too often, they think all job seekers look for opportunities the same way, but Millennials are much more plugged in to things like campus resources,” Pinaud says. “Employers also need to invest in building their brand. Since students apply directly to the company, or respond in career fair scenarios, you need recognition to see the best traction. We see tremendous success for employers who focus on communicating their culture through the right mix of media and campus outlets. That’s especially true for employers who draw on their employee base to act as ‘brand ambassadors’ for new hires. Alumni are amazing at this, by the way.”

Though social media sites still aren’t the primary tool for job searches among students, there’s a noticeable and significant shift in that direction. Almost 8% percent plan to use Facebook to find employment, while 5% said they’ll use Twitter.

“Social media is where a lot of the conversation is happening, and that is why it is more important than ever for companies to shift their recruiting strategies online,” Suleman says. “It is a cost-effective way for companies to recruit and secure top talent.”

In Pictures: What Employers Need To Know About The Class of 2013

What’s Most Important

The survey also asked students what’s most important to them when making a decision about where to work. They ranked each factor on a scale of one to eleven—and salary came out on top. It earned a weighted score of 8.2 out of 11.

Following close behind were career advancement opportunities (8), and interesting, challenging work (7.3).

It’s no surprise that Gen Y has a ravenous appetite for advancement, and that new graduates crave jobs that will offer growth opportunities. “Salary is high on the list because it helps them meet their basic needs such as food and shelter,” Suleman says. “[But] once a salary meets their basic needs, Millennials still desire progression and growth, along with challenging and interesting work that piques their interest.”

Given that these are such powerful incentives, it’s critical that employers highlight these opportunities in the recruiting process.

Size Doesn’t Matter

As it turns out, size really doesn’t matter to most students when it comes to choosing an employer.

About 27% said they don’t care, which means employers have to distinguish themselves for something other than size. Strong corporate culture is one way a company can assert itself.

Twenty-four percent of the respondents said they prefer to work for a company with 26 to 500 employees, 23.4% said they desire a company with less than 25 employees, another 17.2% want to work for a company with 501 to 5,000 employees, and the remaining 5.6% prefer more than 5,000 employees.

How Long They’ll Stay

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average tenure of Millennial employees in the U.S. is 1.5 years--but 20.6% of respondents expect to stay with their first employer for 5 years. An even more ambitious group, and the vast majority (21.5%), anticipate they’ll stay for more than 10 years.

The stark difference between Millennials’ intended loyalty and speedy departure rates presents an opportunity for employers to design more effective retention strategies.

“Given that many of our respondents have little to no experience in the workplace, they may be basing their expectations on the workplace on unreliable or irrelevant sources, like their parents or TV,” Pinaud explains. “Once they enter the workplace, they may realize that the corporate culture isn’t what they wanted, or that the degree they worked so hard to attain wasn’t really what they wanted to do. As for the average, we see a huge demand in the survey for challenge and growth, something that has been constant all four years that we’ve run the survey. Millennials really want that growth potential and aren’t afraid to go looking for it elsewhere. They’ve also worked through some pretty uncertain times; they’ve never known a world with ‘guaranteed employment’ and consequently they don’t feel the sort of loyalty to employers that generations before them have felt.”

So, just because you’ve recruited a top-notch employee doesn’t mean your work is done. Employers need to acknowledge the possibility that their new recruit will leave. Make sure you’re providing employees with what they want – like career advancement opportunities and an outstanding corporate culture. Another way to hold on to your most prized employees: Reward them for their accomplishments.

Rewards They Love Most

Suppose your employer has an employee reward program. Which would be more appealing to you: Travel rewards or jewelry?

Students were asked this very question on the survey—but they had to rank eight different reward options in order of preference. Travel was the most appealing reward to Millennials. It earned an average weighted score of 6.83.

“Pre-determined rewards such as plaques and certificates for years of service do not appeal to Millennials, yet [most] North American companies still use them,” Suleman says. “It’s a wasted opportunity.”

An experience reward, such as a spa getaway or white water rafting trip, was the second most appealing to students and recent grads.

Feelings and Expectations

When respondents were asked, “How are you feeling about your job prospects upon graduation?” a majority (66.6%) said they’re very or somewhat optimistic. Only 4.7% were very pessimistic, and 19.4% were somewhat pessimistic. Another 9.4% were unsure of their feelings.

“Millennials are an optimistic bunch, in general,” Pinaud says. “They’re very confident; some have had internships, and they’re graduating at record numbers. Things are definitely looking up for them, too, even if we aren’t quite back to normal in the hiring world.”

Respondents were also asked how long they think it will take to find a post-college job. About 19% weren’t sure and 17.9% thought less than one month. Almost 16% thought it would take about three months, and only 3.1% said it will take a year or more.

When asked about salary expectations for their first position post-graduation, 40.7% said they think they’ll earn between $25,000 and $49,999. Thirty-six percent anticipate their annual pay to be between $50,000 and $74.999, while 9.1% said they expect a yearly salary of $75,000 to $99,999. About 3.8% anticipate $100,000 or more; 5.8% think they’ll make less than $25,000; and 4.2% don’t know what to expect.

In Pictures: What Employers Need To Know About The Class of 2013

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