Kids, teens, computers and mobile phones

by Fabrice Calando on July 21, 2011

Kids, teens, computers and mobile phones

Last week I went to Toronto to meet with some potential clients and meet the TMP Worldwide team over there. At TMP we tell our clients that recruitment has changed forever. It’s not in the process of changing, it has already happened. Younger generations are more comfortable with digital technologies than you and I will ever be. I took the train and on the way back I heard a couple interesting things. If you’re thinking “kids? teens? what does that have to do with recruitment?” then stick with me.

Here are two examples…

“Mommy, can I play with the games on the phone?”

Not far from me was a kid with his mother – he was roughly 4 or 5 years old. He asked her if you could play with games she had on her phone and it hit me: He’s going to be applying for summer and part-time jobs in roughly 10 years. Most of us will still be working then and if he’s already completely comfortable with mobile devices just imagine his reality when he’s 16. If your career presence isn’t optimized for mobile today, is your digital presence going to be able to speak to him in a decade? Will you be able to attract him to your company?

Start optimizing your presences today so you can be ready tomorrow.

Teens and computers

Still not convinced? Ten years is still a long way ahead? On that same trip I spoke with a guy who was in charge of computer networks at a school district in Ontario. He’d been doing that job for over a decade and the one of his conclusions? “Those kids are getting better and better with computers. Each year it seems to be easier and easier for them to get around our security measures” (obviously I’m paraphrasing).

Think about it. Unlike the kid in the first example, these teens are applying for jobs in the next few years. Are your job postings going to appear when they search on Google or Bing? Are they going to be able to browse on their iPhones or Androids? Are they going to be able to interact with your company on Facebook or LinkedIn?

Are your recruitment strategies inline with this reality?

Digital is evolving at a faster and faster rate. Are yours keeping pace and able to attract today’s candidates as well as tomorrows?

(Photo credit: IvanWalsh.com)

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