Companies Need Millennials, and Text Message Recruiting is Dumb

I recently read an interesting article by Michael Kane from the
New York Post about the high demand of college seniors and the new tactics employers are using to recruit them. I am just less than a year removed from being a college senior, so this article was of particular interest to me.

The first few stats discuss the amount of baby boomers leaving the work force (85 million) and the amount of Gen Xers (50 million) who because of sheer numbers will not be able to fill the amount of open positions. Obviously, this means that young workers are at an all time premium. Here's a shocker, we already know this. Its simple math 85 million job openings minus 50 million people to fill them leaves 35 million unfilled jobs just waiting to be taken over by driven millennials. To say the least, this is a pretty cool time to be a recent or soon to be college graduate.

As you delve deeper into the article, Mr. Kane describes new methods of recruiting that companies are using to attract young people. Some of the methods he describes include:

1. Setting up corporate MySpace and Facebook Pages

2. Personalized Web Pages

3. International Exchange Programs

Each of these methods seem reasonable in theory, the International Exchange Programs especially peaked my interest. However, he goes on to discuss Travelers Insurance as leading the way in sending text messages to recruit college students. Now I'm not sure what caliber of candidate Travelers Insurance is looking for, but to me this idea is absolutely ridiculous. The company comes across as sounding terribly desperate to find any employee who can work a cell phone.

There is an unspoken rule about text messages that Travelers Insurance must be unaware of. To me, Texts are more personal than emails or phone calls. The only people I text message are my girlfriend, my brother and my close friends. Texts are short, to the point messages that can only be understood by someone who knows the personality behind the abbreviated words. I immediately delete those stupid Verizon advertisements that end up in my inbox. After a quick laugh, these recruiting texts would be deleted as well.

The article goes on to say that these personalized text messages.target young people and play into our need to feel special. Sorry Travelers Insurance, these mass text messages will not make us feel special, rather they will make us feel like targets in a recruiting scam by a desperate company. By the way, this whole need to feel special thing is getting on my nerves. Regardless of whether or not we need to feel special, the statistics show that companies have to start one upping each other to get the top talent, and like I said before, my peers and I are well aware of this.

I will not completely dismiss the role of text messaging in recruiting young people. If I have already come in to your office for an interview, met with you face to face and formed some type of personal bond, a casual text wishing me good luck with my job search would be fine. This is not something I would expect or even want for that matter, but if you are insistent on using text messages as a recruiting tool, this is the route to take. Skip the BS text message job advertisements, play into our need for a team oriented, friendly work environment and your text message recruiting MIGHT work.