Career Fair and Generation Gap

Life in Recruitment was really busy in February. I have now been exposed to all aspects of recruitment. Some of the activities I participated in this month included: Keyano community career fair, manually screening resumes, electronically screening resumes, working with the Taleo application , interviewing entry level candidates and senior level candidates for both Occupational and Administrative, Technical and Professional positions, revamping an employment policy, create job postings, as well as working on the transition of students from an aboriginal trades preparation program into a 1 month work term practicum followed by a permanent position with the company.

While I was an exhibitor at the Career Fair, I was invited to attend a speaker (Max Valiquette) presentation on Youth Culture & Marketing. I was very impressed as Max discussed the major changes that companies will need to undergo in order to attract and retain the new & upcoming generations. Some of the potential issues will be:

• lack of respect (acceptance) for seniority (promotions based on seniority)
• entitlement (Always had it when they wanted it, not having to wait or earn anything)
• impatience (availability of information, when & where, whenever at the tip of the finger)
• life balance (wanting flexibility in order to enjoy life)
• lack of loyalty or dedication (availability of substitutes and alternatives for employment)