Link To Guest Website: https://www.marczlegal.com/

Title: “What Are Gen Z Applicants Looking For?”
Guest: Marc Zwetchkenbaum – Marc Z Legal Staffing
Interviewer: Jonathan Freedman – MAGE LLC

Click here to read the transcript

Jonathan (0s):
Welcome back to radio entrepreneurs. I’m Jonathan Freedman, our next guest up needs no introduction. Marc Z for another Marc Z moment. Good to see you.

Marc (9s):
Nice to see you too, John. Thanks for having me on the show.

Jonathan (12s):
Always a pleasure. So you always have some interesting things you want to talk about. And our topic for today is to talk about gen Z applicants in the marketplace. And we know that the market is getting flooded with gen Z, you know, sort of if, if not the largest, soon to be the largest, properly component of the workplace and they are quite specific in their demands. Yeah, yes.

Marc (41s):
Correct. It’s a different type of candidate the, these days, John, just in, in every profession, just in terms of what we understood before and just as a recruiter in terms of what we’re, what we continue to learn to really understand. So we can really make a successful match in terms of, of what candidate expectations are from the past, what clients and companies and firms expectations should be. So some of the things that we’re learning about and, and understand is obviously a lot of them, what they went through in their families went through in terms of the nine 11 in terms of now, when they were younger.

Marc (1m 28s):
And then now coming on with the, with the pandemic commitments, aren’t what it used to be because of just in terms of what happened a lot of the gen Z years, where the first, last hired first to be laid off. And so some of the key components that we’re learning that are important for companies and firms to understand are what expectations are really like when we try to find out from our candidates are what are their expectations, what they’re looking for in a job, you know, just in terms of realistically and what, what do they want right now in terms of where this stage of their career is?

Jonathan (2m 18s):
So what are some of those characteristics or those, those, I guess once upon a time we call them features or benefits and, and perhaps perks of the job. Cause it sounds as though there’s, there’s quite a, a, a list that is different from historically being the case.

Marc (2m 37s):
First of all, socialization is really important. A lot of the gen Z are, is, are people looking for positions are really looking at, in terms of the company’s culture. Now it gets to be a little bit of a challenge now in terms of a remote, but what a lot of companies are doing is they’re trying to have the virtual experience be as in person as possible and try to create ways that there is a better connection with, with the candidate, another, another need in terms of what our expectations from the job. So for example, some jobs may be more administrative and just to have an understanding of that administrative can be part of the job, but let me go over what the substantive aspects of the job, which is why we feel, or you may feel the job would be a good fit for you.

Marc (3m 36s):
Another, another aspect is where they are at their stage. Whereas a lot of people who are more senior in their career don’t mind remote. Whereas a lot of people are more junior. They actually one in person. So for companies are bringing people back and say, look, we’ll do a hybrid role. At least we want you back. That’s important a lot of people because they really can connect with, with other people and they have that as opposed to becoming disconnected. So for example, we have a client that we do legal work with, but they’re in really property management business.

Marc (4m 19s):
And after having everybody be remote, they brought people back and hybrid roles and they found the gen Z really connect, started getting more into their jobs, more into feeling valued, more into understanding what expectations are and being able to give word deliverables, you know? So, so those are all things. The other thing is realistically, what’s training about, am I going to get training? A lot of companies big and small have shorter training programs. And it’s often more challenging because some of these gen zeros need more training or they need more mentorship throughout the process because during the pandemic, a lot of them started remotely.

Marc (5m 8s):
So we’ll let job give me more training and will there be follow-up and will I have a mentor in people to turn to

Jonathan (5m 17s):
That’s that’s key one. And I think one that, that I’m seeing a lot in the marketplace, as well as that desire for mentorship and knowledge, because it’s not just the job to them. It’s more about developing their capabilities and desires for the longterm. And so some of the historic asks, if you will seem to be more, maybe what I would consider to be soft, you know, it’s not about money or vacation or things like that. It’s more about what am I going to learn? What am I, what is my responsibility is going to be? So I think really valuable lessons mark, in terms of understanding what the desire of, of this, you know, up and coming big generation of, of individuals are great lesson there too.

Jonathan (6m 4s):
Also for employers, not a one size fits, all right. So really understanding what is the demographic or the, you know, group that you’re talking to and what are the needs that they may have. So it really some great insight is that as well with that, are you finding that, that the, the willingness to sort of transcend industries is there, or to be able to, you know, it seems as though we’re talking about a generation that has a lot more flexibility to some degree, you know, in terms of you’re not so rigid in terms of, you know, I have to, I want to be in this industry and I want to be in this role.

Jonathan (6m 47s):
It seems as though it’s like, everything’s an open book as far as learning the willingness to sort of learn and adapt. How does that play out? Because I think, you know, we’re, we’re one of the things that I’m seeing is there’s a lot of jobs available. There seems to be a lot of people that are having trouble landing in jobs. And perhaps because they’re trying to fit into that box of what their historic either rule has been, or, or industry has been. And it seems as though those paradigms are changing a little bit, you know, there’s skills that are transferable from industry to industry and people who are being a little more flexible or perhaps a little more successful in terms of finding opportunities. Does that make sense?

Marc (7m 27s):
Yes. No, absolutely. I think that gradually as the market becomes tighter, employers are more open to hiring people that need more training and that they’ll invest in and same thing with candidates. It will be open to an area that, you know, what I may, I may think about. That sounds interesting. There’s a lot of contemporaries in this space. So it may be an area for, for me, as opposed to many people say, I just want to go to, I want to go into law or I want to go into a biopharma. They’re definitely looking into more industry.

Marc (8m 7s):
What is the job description? What could I be doing? And where would that job be? And, and interesting is when you talk about, it’s not as much of the, the benefits or the salary, what the other issue we have found is a lot of them are, are talking more. They need more advice to know whether or not the salary is the right salary. They don’t necessarily know their market value. And then a lot of times those goalposts train or are changing. So for example, a salary, they originally told you, they were looking for when they begin the interview process.

Marc (8m 47s):
Now they’re looking for a different salary more, and every time somebody is interested in them, a lot of times the salary will go up. So we’re just coming to an understanding of what they feel is fear and we’ll commit to.

Jonathan (9m 0s):
So it was always a communication putting it on the table, making sure that people are on the same page, leads to success, mark out, always great guidance. Great insight. Great advice, Marc Z. Marc Z Legal Staffing. If people want to get in touch with you and talk further about these things, what’s the best way for them to read?

Marc (9m 18s):
Well, thanks for having me again on the show. John principal, Google Marc, Z M A R C and the letter Z, or go to Marc Z legal.com and M A R C Z L E G A l.com or 6 1 7 3 3 8 1 300.

Jonathan (9m 35s):
It’s tough Marc. Always a pleasure to see you and have you on radar entrepreneurs. And we’ll be right back with another segment on radio entrepreneurs.

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