How To Attract New College Grads

As college graduation season reaches its peak, young, talented millennials are searching for places to house and cultivate their talent. The traditional hooks of corporate America -- job security, competitive salaries, retirement benefits -- no longer lure America's grads like they once had.

Instead, grads increasingly are flocking to start-ups, even if they earn salaries 30% below market.

So how can you compete with start-ups for the new talent?

According to Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte, grads want "a career that actually matters" and "to know how they will make a positive difference in the world if they join your business."

A recent PayScale survey cited Entrepreneurial Studies as one of the most popular majors of the current generation, despite start-ups having less resources, brand image and job security than established companies.

To be successful at attracting young talent, you first have to understand why start-ups are so successful at it, despite their ostensible disadvantages.

#1 - They excel in marketing themselves toward millennials by emphasizing meaning and impact in their job descriptions and career pages.

#2 - They bestow big responsibilities to young talent right away, whereas corporations offer a slow, long climb up the ladder that many millennials are naturally averse to.

By understanding these two concepts, here are 6 specific ways to improve your success at hiring the highest quality graduates:

1. Focus on change and personal impact. By highlighting the company's values and using impact-driven language in all company material -- especially recruiting material, such as landing pages and brochures -- you are showing the "bigger picture" of which a graduate can become a part.
    
2. Constantly emphasize company's vision and mission to employees. Make them feel they're part of something they can impact by involving them in strategy discussions.
    
3. Extend leeway for employees to pursue their own ideas and growth, such as Google's "20%" policy in which employees can use up to 20% of their work time on any project they want, even if it's not related to their job responsibilities.
    
4. Identify young talent and promote them early on. According to the Harvard Business Review, they won't be likely to stick around for more than a year for that first promotion.
    
5. Offer equity in addition to salary. Millennials want to feel like they have skin in the game and a sense of ownership.
    
6. Consider offering perks like free massages or commuter car service. Commuter car service is actually a cost-effective way to increase your employees' productivity, boost their morale and enhance the quality of their work. 

When you consider the extra time employees spend on work during their commute instead of driving through stressful traffic, the benefits of commuter car service can outweigh the costs.

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