October 12th, 2016 | Sterling

The Age of Millennials: 6 Tips for Screening The Emerging Generation

What do you know about the Millennial generation? Millennials will account for one quarter of the UK population and it’s estimated that there will be over 17 million Millennials in the UK by 2019. According to research conducted by PwC, this growing generation is expected to represent half of the global workforce by 2020! This age group has been studied and surveyed, but yet many companies are still trying to understand their characteristics, choices and mindset, as they are very different from the generations before.

Millennial jobseekers would rather choose when and where they work rather than being placed in a “regular” job, often placing workplace flexibility over how much they get paid. UK Millennials do not stay at jobs for a long time, with the average tenure being 2 years. A newly released report by Deloitte found that 71% of UK Millennials expect to leave their job in 5 years, which is a higher percentage than their American and Canadian counterparts. This generation is tomorrow’s leaders, so it’s vital that employers who want to attract and retain this digital generation really understand how they think and act.

Background Screening For Millennial Candidates

Hiring, screening and onboarding Millennials can bring many positives as well as many challenges. It is important to have the right process in place for background screening these candidates. The Age of The Millennials: Six Tips for Screening an Emerging Generation will provide a guide to improve the screening process for this generation while minimising legal risks for your company. Below are a few of the six areas to keep in mind to get you started:

1. Social Media: Millennials are the social media generation. They grew up with Facebook and are very active on all types social media platforms including Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter. 84% of UK Millennials who use the internet or own a smartphone participate in social networking sites. Extreme caution must be used when referencing social media accounts as a factor in hiring. Information relating to age, disability, gender, reassignment, marital status, race, religious belief, sex or sexual orientation are protected characteristics under the Equality Act of 2010. These same characteristics are considered sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act of 1998 and cannot be processed without the candidate’s explicit consent. When conducting social media searches on a candidate, a company must be certain that it does not violate anti-discrimination laws. Also, when a business is using social media information, they need to make sure it is relevant to the candidate’s role and position in the organization.
2. Age Discrimination: Age discrimination can occur for any generation. Using terms such as “new grads,” “recent grads” and even “digital natives” in hiring advertisements can be considered a form of age discrimination. In order to avoid this from happening, identify words that describe the requirements of the position. Be specific in the qualifications for the job during the hiring process.
3. Hiring Challenges: Millennials just starting out in the workforce offer many challenges for background screening as many do not have a driver’s license, have little to no credit histories, except for student debt, and have limited work experience. Therefore, companies need to be more creative in evaluating and screening credit and work history for potential employees. Companies should ensure that the information used to evaluate candidates is relevant to the job at hand.
4. Candidate Experiences: If all of the other hiring and screening factors are hard to quantify, companies can look at the quality of the candidate’s experience. Hiring managers should be transparent and explain the steps and timeframe of the screening process to the candidates, no matter which generation they come from.

If you provide a positive candidate experience and make informed choices based on the tips provided in our article, you can be confident that your background check process is effective and compliant for Millennials, as it is for candidates of all ages.

Find out more about hiring and screening the best millennial candidates with tips from our report.

This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.