Recruiting great graduates

Millennials have gotten a reputation for wandering from job to job and having a need for constant feedback. A 2014 US Bureau of Labour Statistics study showed that the average tenure of a 20-24 year old person was just 1.3 years. While generational differences can cause some friction, getting and keeping the best junior employees is as important now as it ever was for a company's future. 

A Collegefeed study found that the three most important things to young professionals today are people and culture fit, career potential and work/life balance – In that order. Compensation trailed in fourth place.

Use this knowledge when recruiting; when visiting campus career-days make sure to put your best foot forward and showcase your company culture with the right people at the desk. Make your organisation seem like a community graduates would like to be a part of.

It terms of advertising career progression, you don't have to start them in the corner office. If you can show them there is a pathway for advancement, it demonstrates that your company sees them as more than a disposable labour unit. 

Advertising work/life balance doesn't mean working less – often millennials are looking for flexibility. The job needs to get done, but does it need to be worked on in the office? With the right productivity software in place, working from home is an easy offer.

While Generation Y's desire for feedback can be frustrating, it's worth remembering that this is a generation schooled in an environment of constant testing which continued into university. Constant scrutiny has been the defining element of their lives. 

One option is to see this as an opportunity. Skip the hour-long yearly evaluation because if their average tenure is anything to go by, they're three-quarters of the way to leaving by then anyway. Instead, casual on-the-fly feedback about what's going right and wrong can be valuable tool for improving skills and nipping problems in the bud.