The academic term is over and there is a new group of graduates, hungry for their first professional role. This is an exciting demographic for hiring leaders, who are desperately looking to employ quality talent within a job market suffering from an ever-growing skills shortage.

Many hiring leaders have been preparing for this influx of talent. In fact, employers plan to hire 26% more graduates from the class of 2022 than they did from the class of 2021. And with 61 million people in Gen Z, defined as those born between 1997 to 2012, there is a huge number of young professionals now looking for a new role. As such, employers need to make sure they’re making the most of this new surge of talent, using hiring methods that enable them to find the strongest candidates.

It’s also important to remember that Gen Z is the first to be considered to be made up of “digital natives.” 58% of Gen-Zers say they struggle going four hours or more without Internet access. This means any process introduced by hiring leaders has to be new, innovative and, of course, digital if it’s to attract the Gen Z crowd.

To truly understand the group they’re targeting and attract the best talent in a busy job market, HR leaders need to consider three key factors: technology, employee experience and employee location.

A tech-savvy generation

Technology plays a huge part in graduates’ day-to-day life, with over half of Gen Z saying they use their smartphones for more than five hours a day. This means hiring leaders need to be able to contact them easily via text or WhatsApp if they’re to engage with graduates before a competitor does.

Using technology can create a hiring experience that’s tailored to this younger group. By incorporating artificial intelligence and texting automation into hiring strategies, hiring leaders can keep Gen-Zers interested throughout the entire hiring process. Candidates can easily reply to texts no matter where they are so hiring leaders can engage candidates faster than via email. Plus, text-powered chatbots allow businesses to pre-screen candidates and then schedule and reschedule interviews all from their smartphones. 

Studies show 79.4% of younger candidates prefer booking an interview via text over email or even a phone call – texts have a 98% open rate versus 20% with email. It’s clear this is the best way of contacting the new graduate generation.

DE&I at the heart

It’s also essential to understand what Gen Z is looking for, and how it differs from the generations who came before. Recent reports show they’re far more interested in finding an employer who shares their values and beliefs. They want an environment where they feel appreciated, where they can grow relationships with their colleagues and ultimately a company where inclusivity plays a key role in the culture.

According to Intel, diversity “will be a workplace deal-breaker for Gen Z.” Over a third of Gen-Zers say if given two similar offers, they would without a doubt choose the company they saw to be more diverse and inclusive. 

Gen Z candidates are also 204% more likely to engage with a potential employer when they perceive the hiring process to be fair. Businesses need to bring in hiring platforms, such as HireVue, which use industrial and organisational psychologies to actively combat bias, allowing hiring leaders to build and structure interviews with validated questions, to provide an identical experience for all candidates guaranteeing consistency and fairness. Ensuring hiring methods are as impartial as possible will increase the likelihood of top graduate talent choosing to take a new role in the business.

Location, location, location
Today’s job market has changed for good as a result of hybrid working. Graduates coming out of university have done the majority of their studies remotely and will expect their move into the professional world to be equally as flexible. This creates an opportunity for businesses to search for talent across the country and boost the standard of employees entering the company. 

Thanks to remote work, hiring leaders in many industries are no longer confined to searching for candidates by local area. The increase in location-agnostic roles makes it possible to recruit based on job fit and skills, instead of locality. This has a positive outcome for businesses, as hiring leaders can attract and recruit the highest quality candidates. Businesses need to make sure their hiring leaders are making the most of this, targeting universities across the UK, rather than just students within the local area.

While hiring graduates in 2022 and beyond may require a different approach than in previous years, it also gives businesses a chance to hire stronger talent than ever before, using younger candidates to fill the growing skills gap. Companies who alter and update hiring processes to suit the needs of this group will find themselves with a new batch of graduates providing immediate value to their business.