Recruitment 411: Putting Public Service on the Market

This summer, Julie’s colleague Eric Erickson is writing the ‘Recruitment 411’ blog posts. Eric has worked for the federal government in Atlanta since 2002 — he’s held several different positions, each in communications.

Real estate company ERA recently released a report on how to recruit more members of Generation Y. While their focus was on how to bring these youthful job seekers into real estate, much of the information could be valuable to recruiters in other industries looking for ways to attract this younger generation.

In our agency, many of our colleagues are eligible to retire now, or will be eligible in the next decade – or even sooner.

As these older workers leave the hustle-bustle of work life for the hum-drum of retirement, we will not only lose those seasoned workers, but vast institutional knowledge. As we look to build the next generation of govies, ERA’s research could be valuable in making sure our needs align with their wants.

ERA’s report identified the following four priorities that are most important to Gen Y job seekers:

• Helping to build communities
• Developing extensive professional networks
• The opportunity to do different things every day
• Working independently, but with the support of a broker and a brand as back up

ERA also provided six things to focus on when recruiting Gen Y:

• Use social recruiting
• Provide career support and an opportunity for collaboration
• Clearly identify a career path
• Promote a work-life balance
• Highlight community service
• Leverage existing Gen Y talent to recruit peers

Now, is it just me…or does this reek of government work?

Helping to build communities and a concentration on community service? Check!

Clearly identified career paths and a focus on work-life balance? Ding ding ding!

The promotion of extensive professional networks and the use of social media? That’s what we all do right here on GovLoop!

The folks at ERA have outlined how to bring in a new generation to help sell homes. I think we can use the same tactics to help sell public service.

Has your agency used any other tactics to recruit younger employees?