In my last post, I highlighted the need for employers to recognize that a majority of millennial women are seeking a work/life arrangement that both speaks to their sense of worth and caters to their individual needs set.

With this awareness and understanding in place, the next step is to look at the mechanisms and methods you’re employing to reach your target audience and deliver your message.

Job descriptions

Start with the low-hanging fruit —your job descriptions— and be on the lookout for words and phrases more commonly associated with male characteristics and attributes. Research has shown that words like “dominant,” and “competitive,” for example, can be off-putting to women, dissuading them from applying and resulting in a notably higher percentage of male applicants. Consider running your job descriptions through software that can identify and flag stereotypically gendered words such as those mentioned above.

Next, zone in on the visual. Content can generate up to 94% more views when visual elements are added, but take time to consider the videos and images you include, as well as the cues (positive and negative) they send out. Candidates will respond —for better and worse— to what they see, as well as what they read. If millennial women are the focus of your recruiting campaign, make sure they feature prominently in the images and videos on your career site and jobs pages. Also, remember here that authenticity is key. You might include video diaries from real employees, for example, that shed light on what it’s like to work in their role.

Career site

The career site is where candidates go to find out more information on your company after initial interest has been sparked via a job listing, for example. Bearing in mind your particular audience in this instance, it’s important that here, your content speaks to the primary opportunities and benefits I identified in my last post as being attractive to millennial women:

• Ongoing training and development
• Opportunities for career progression
• Flexible working / recognition of life outside of the workplace

Where these are on offer, make it a point to showcase them — whether on the career site’s homepage, or on individual landing pages.

Landing pages

Landing pages can be viewed as career site entry-points for niche audiences as they provide an opportunity to engage those candidates with custom content that speaks directly to their needs and interests.

Easy to share on the social channels most by your target audience, landing pages that feature a call-to-action inviting the visitor to “keep in touch,” for example, or “download a PDF” are an effective means of growing a talent network of “warm” leads i.e. those already familiar with your brand. Those pages that include a call-to-action also give candidates who might not be ready to apply for a job another way of demonstrating their interest in your organization.

Landing pages are also great to have in place when attending those recruiting events and careers fairs that cater specifically to niche candidate groups —like millennial women— as the engaging content and online form means you can gather contact details on hundreds of candidates in a day, including those you don’t get a chance to speak to in person.

It all comes down to authenticity

Of course, recruiting collateral is only as effective as it is authentic. If, in reality, your organization does not follow through on and uphold the image and story it projects online, you will not succeed in converting and retaining the millennial women your business needs to boost the bottom line.