One clever way to attract millennial talent

Young people bring not only education but fresh ideas and perspectives. But how do we attract them?

One clever way to attract millennial talent

Over the last few years, the market has been flooded with millennials anxious to secure career paths commensurate with their newly acquired college degrees. During the recession, jobs naturally became more scarce. But the curious thing was that college attendance did not decline in the least. Young people were still going to school in hopes that work would be waiting for them when they got out. Now, there are thousands of educated young people looking for their place in the labor market.

In the mortgage industry, we've been trying to lay claim on this influx of young talent into the marketplace. Young people bring not only education but fresh ideas and perspectives. True, they lack experience. But they may also be more flexible because of that -- lacking the resistance to change that experience can sometimes bring. So while they may not be the only talent pool that we are seeking when we build our teams, we certainly don't want to ignore them. So how do we get their attention as the economy improves and more industries are hiring?

One interesting idea I heard about recently was to provide student loan repayment. The millennial generation is steeped in student loan debt more than any other generation in history. Certainly, paying off student loans is something that weighs heavily on students' minds. What if you agreed to make a certain percentage of the student loan payments for the employee as long as they worked for you? How much of an incentive would that be for them to join? How much more of an incentive would it be for them to stay? Just an idea. But whatever we try, we simply cannot ignore the benefits that millennials can bring to the industry.