Recruitment : between companies and young graduates, there is a gap

August 27, 2019

Digitalisation RH & conformité légale : La paie et le contrat de travail

For human resources, recruitment is often a sensitive issue. An HRD will be more likely to favour experienced, flexible and common profiles for security reasons. Far from the ideals of young graduates who focus more on the interest of the job, career prospects and the working environment.

It is well known that the world of work can sometimes be cruel for newcomers. Between repeated internships, sometimes unpaid, often boring in more than limited working conditions, most students clenched their teeth long before graduation. Favouring well-being and the interest of work thus becomes natural after so many hardships.
On the employer side, the labour market has profoundly changed both hiring conditions and requirements. A great divide between two worlds has formed…

Employers and the temptation of homogeneous candidates

While companies are reluctant to recruit on permanent contracts, they are also reluctant to do so on candidate profiles. A recruiter will select a “copied and pasted” and experienced profile for a similar position at the expense of someone who shows a particular interest in the job. In reality, the company’s aim is to limit hiring risks by favouring flexible profiles. According to a Monster-IFOP survey, recruitment time increased from an average of 4 weeks in 2012 to 6 weeks in 2016. Worse still, France is the world champion in terms of length of recruitment processes! Despite this, the short list of selected candidates is now very short and sometimes non-existent. Once a recruitment firm has selected the right candidate, the profile is sent to the company, which usually quickly offers him a contract without really checking his qualifications. It is a fact that recruiters are suspicious of Generation Y, which is aware of its special relationship with the company. She is perceived as very volatile, wishing to get a first job for a relatively short time before trying the experience abroad.

New generation wants to impose its codes at work

Often perceived as allergic to hierarchy, concerned about preserving their private lives and with the entrepreneurial spirit, the new generation disrupts the business world in its own way. The first reason is the difficulty in finding a job, young graduates are certainly flexible about the nature of the contract but are reluctant to go against their codes. The priority is elsewhere, with the interest of work itself as the first priority. During the recruitment process, the candidate will be particularly sensitive to the missions proposed and to the total transparency of the company’s culture.
Unlike their elders, this generation is looking for adventure and does not hesitate to multiply their experiences. Remuneration remains an important factor despite everything, generally due to the cost of education. However, they are willing to accept lower remuneration if they consider a company to be socially responsible (focusing on skills, employee satisfaction, job creation, etc.). They need to feel valued by their employer and supported in their career development.
Hyperconnected, the new generation is generally under the influence of the Internet and the media. The working environment to which they aspire consists of open, connected and multicultural spaces. Collaborative work is essential for this generation.
On the management side, authority does not work with “Millenials” and hierarchy does not necessarily mean reframing, quite the contrary. A manager who knows how to communicate information clearly and involve his teams will quickly be seen as a model. Participatory management is no longer an option but an obligation, just like well-being at work.

However, this generation remains aware of the realities. Starting with the one that shows the change in work and that they will probably have to work longer than the previous generation. She is willing to do so but needs her job to evolve throughout her career. The companies that manage to tame these young graduates are those that integrate these new values into their companies.