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When you think about how the digital age has brought us from VHS players and dial-up modems to music streaming apps and Wifi, for HR professionals, it’s hard not to think about how things have changed in recruiting. If you’ve wondered if your organization is keeping up with the times in bringing in new talent, then attending this meeting would have been right up your alley!

Ajilon Vice President Tisha Danehl led a lively discussion about how far things have come in recruiting in the digital age. This is the first time there are four generations in the workforce. When you realize Millennials and Gen Xers make up 68 percent of that, it becomes necessary to change the way you reach your target audience. Today, potential applicants are doing more research on companies prior to submitting a resume. Gone are the days of relying solely on the company website; what are others saying about your company? Glassdoor is a prime example of review sites candidates are looking at.

In a recent survey on where candidates are looking for jobs, 83% claimed the internet was their prime source with 10 percent being staffing firms, 4 percent friends, 2 percent schools, and 1 percent networking. Job boards such as Indeed and LinkedIn have more traffic now than ever before. With results like these, it is no wonder many organizations are restructuring the way they post jobs to improve their SEO results. The earlier your job post comes up when someone is searching for opportunities, the more likely you are to get more traffic to your page, therefore increasing the likelihood you will attract your ideal candidate.

What keeps a candidate interested in your company and the role at hand? A shortened length of time to hire, an increase of revenue Y-O-Y, and low turnover rate seem to be most attractive. As we are all too well aware, a bad hire affects your business, depending on the seniority level. The cost to your company for a bad entry-level hire is 40% of their salary, mid-level employees at 150 percent, and high-level employees at 400 percent!

But there are ways to overcome that skills gap. Partnering with a staffing firm, keep a pipeline of candidates warm, develop your team from within, provide flexible working arrangements, create a positive culture and listen to employee feedback, and use social media to build your brand. Facebook is a great way to reach a multigenerational audience. With Twitter, you can come up with a creative hashtag which will enable others to research what your company culture embodies. (Take a look at #myjobsmorefun!) LinkedIn is not just a place to upload your resume-it has become a great tool for networking. You must have a professional presence there. Also, use other forms of media such as Instagram, where you can create a sort of online scrapbook of a “slice of life” at your organization. Even Snapchat, the new kid on the block, has been successful in recruiting. Some companies are doing video job posts.

If you take anything away from how recruiting has changed in the digital age, remember the workforce is multigenerational, just like social media. You must understand how each generation wants to be recruited, retained, and inspired… and how to leverage that properly and wisely. Put the human in human resources.