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Are You Prepared To Recruit the "Next" Generation?

By Kathy Bornheimer

Do you remember when the only body part that was pierced was women's ears?

How do you develop, maintain or use a "blog"?

Did you participate in Vietnam War protests, or learn about them on the History Channel?

A candidate says, "Working here would be really fly"; is that good or bad?

Did you buy your first new car for under $18,000.00?

When you hear the word "platforms" do you think of:

shoes
computers
trains? (Extra credit; name the three computer platforms)

One of your employees says "I'm going to pick up some nine inch nails. Can I get you something?" Which store is she going to?

Translate the following text messages; wut up, ttyl, bbl, lol, brb and cul8r.

How you answer these questions determines your readiness to be able to recruit the "Next" Generation. This concept is ever changing since the "Next Generation" is fluid. Previous focus was generation X, then Y and now is the millennial. This is the future workforce born 1985-1991 and currently in high school or just graduating college.

Your experience (not including your own children) or exposure to this group will be a factor in your recruiting and hiring of the population. Educational and life experiences from middle to high school and then college influence behaviors, attitudes and work styles of each generation. Start becoming active in the area schools (middle to high school). Find out about the student population, the schools focus and target some of those "diamonds in the rough". These are the ones that you can mentor and assist through graduation. All it takes is a handful to go through the job shadowing, part time employment and internship (at the college level) to full employment for you to develop a good system. You will be assisting your local schools, community and be able to "try before you buy" a future worker.

Learn about and benefit from this future workforce before your baby boomers retire. Keeping the pipeline full of potential sources for recruitment and affect your business's financial success.

About Kathy Bornheimer

Company: KB & Associates
Website: http://www.streetsmartjobsearch.com/

Kathy Bornheimer has over 20 years of experience in recruitment and career coaching. She spent several years recruiting in engineering before migrating to IT professionals.

Since 1992, Kathy has had her own business, K.B. & Associates, and knows what it's like to be in continual search for new business (jobs). Her sales presentations are comparable to interviewing and marketing materials are her resumes.

As a recruiter, Kathy was repeatedly involved in the hiring process with both the employer and the candidate. She was the proverbial "fly on the wall" and was privy to both sides of the issue. In addition, she also witnessed the successes and failures from both sides in the process.

As the Director of Career Services at Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee, Kathy successfully transformed the department from a traditional administrative function in academia to a staffing agency model. Successful matches between the recent graduates and students were made for Milwaukee area hiring needs. In 2004, Kathy transferred out of the Career Services department on the degree side of the college to the Continuing Education division (Professional Skills Center). During her brief tenure there, she developed and implemented the internship program for Clinical Coding and taught "Retooling for Your New Career" in course and workshop formats.

Currently, Kathy puts all of her efforts into her business, and continues to address employment issues affecting today's workforce and the workforce of the future. Kathy is also the author of "The Street Smart Approach to Job Search" (Dorrance Publishing, 2004) and is the co-author of "Work Makes Me Sick (Prescribe Something Quick)!" (2006). In the past, she was a regular contributor to Technical Support magazine (Technical Enterprises). Kathy continues to provide programs, seminars and workshops that are related to employment issues.