Recruiting Generation Z: Tips That Make Your Job Postings Work

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Contents

• Recruiting on TikTok: the final answer?
• Is Generation Z a fun generation? Far from it!
• Values: what makes Generation Z tick?
• In your job postings, talk about what makes your company special
• Embed videos and images in your job posting
• Stay true to reality
• Is your job posting smartphone-friendly?
• Conclusion
• Frequently asked questions

TL;DR

To reach Generation Z in recruiting, job postings need above all authentic content: concrete details about values, culture and flexibility, real photos and recruiting videos, a mobile-friendly design and a clear point of contact, rather than a mere TikTok presence. TikTok clips of dancing employees will not solve your recruiting problem. If you want to win over the Zoomers, start with the content, not the channel.

!Young woman from Generation Z looking at her smartphone. A picture of mobile recruiting and job postings that speak to young talent authentically.

Author: Dominik Becker · Published: October 27, 2021

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Are you seeing this too right now? Job postings no longer reach talent as effectively as they used to. Generation Z in particular is hard to find. So many HR professionals are looking for new ways to reach the youngest generation of workers. TikTok, for example. But do you really need a new channel, or could it be the content of your job postings that keeps candidates from biting? That is the question we look into in this article.

Recruiting on TikTok: the final answer?

The video platform TikTok is a huge hit with young people. Here they post short clips in which they lip-sync to audio from comedians, for example. Or they dance and film themselves doing fitness routines. It goes down well. There is a reason the platform captivates 800 million users around the world. Some 2.5 million of them come from Germany alone.

And here is the kicker: 69 percent of users belong to Generation Z, the group everyone wants on the job market. So what could be more obvious than reaching the so-called Zoomers on TikTok? Other social networks like Facebook and Instagram have, over time, turned into promising recruiting channels too.

Is Generation Z a fun generation? Far from it!

For exactly that reason, more and more employers are posting clips on the video platform. In these, staff from doctors' offices, for instance, put on a lively little dance with a plastic skeleton. Meanwhile, regional banks lip-sync to recordings of comedian Thorsten Sträter. All of that is well and good, and fun to watch too. But does it solve the recruiting problem within Generation Z?

We do not think so. Because what companies show of themselves on TikTok has nothing to do with reality. And reality is exactly what Generation Z cares about when looking for a job. It expects transparency and authenticity from a company. In recruiting, then, completely different values matter than on TikTok. The Zoomers are anything but a pure fun generation. They are far more multifaceted, as studies keep showing.

Values: what makes Generation Z tick?

One of them is the "PwC Europe Consumer Insights Series", which highlights Gen Z's distinctive set of values. According to it, young people are tech-savvy, open-minded, tolerant, curious about new things, eager to learn, impatient and demanding, and conscious of their health and the environment. These attitudes are what shape their expectations of employers in recruiting.

Young talent looks for companies that are equipped with the latest technology, offer an exciting and meaningful work environment, act sustainably and are socially engaged. Something else that matters to Generation Z: it wants to work flexibly, earn a good salary and have a secure job.

Embed videos and images in your job posting

Granted, that is a lot of questions. But make sure you let go of the idea that you have to answer them all in writing. After all, a picture says more than a thousand words. Use that power and, ideally already in the header of your job posting, show photos of real employees in their actual work environment. That gives applicants a first authentic look inside. On top of that, from the gestures, expressions and body language of the people shown, they can tell how strong the sense of togetherness is.

And when candidates also notice that the photos show employees of different ages, genders and ethnicities, they know at a glance that the topic of diversity is anything but foreign to you.

Stay true to reality

We also recommend adding a recruiting video. Here candidates get to know potential colleagues in action and see right away what they are like. That sharpens your employer image even further and makes everyday life at the company tangible for talent. Here too, the rule applies: stay true to the facts. Do not have some Hollywood-grade video cut together with all kinds of effects. Show your company as it really is. Candidates want to see real people at their real workplaces, not staged scenes. So under no circumstances should your employees memorize any set phrases. They should speak freely and show themselves as they truly are.

By the way, you can also use vivid wording to create images in your candidates' minds and reinforce the positive impression they gained from the recruiting video and the company photos. For example: "Your future team lead Michael and his team of five are looking forward to meeting you." That really makes you want to apply, does it not?

Is your job posting smartphone-friendly?

We have one more really important tip for your job posting: even though pretty much every one of us carries a smartphone and browses the internet on the go day after day, many listings are not optimized for small screens and do not display well on them. That is fatal precisely when recruiting Generation Z. After all, this generation grew up with smartphones and tablets and is used to flawless online experiences. So if you have not done it yet: rework your design and make it mobile-friendly.

Oh, and there is one more thing: name a point of contact, and ideally add a photo of them too. That is appealing and builds trust. In many job postings, candidates miss concrete contact details. Yet this matters a great deal to Gen Z as well. It is connected to its community around the clock and expects quick answers to open questions. But how is it supposed to get them if no contact person is named in the listing?

Conclusion

So what have we learned from all this? Above all, that the time is not yet ripe for a new recruiting channel. Far more important is adapting your current recruiting campaigns to what applicants actually need.

Modern HR software makes that easy. There are ready-made job posting templates in responsive design, into which you can embed your text, images and videos and then publish them on job boards or on the social media where you reach Generation Z best. Then your recruiting is bound to click with the Zoomers.