Insights

Every recruiter knows the frustration of a hard-to-fill role. Unlike high-demand positions where you’re choosing between dozens of qualified candidates, these roles either receive very few applicants or an overwhelming number of unqualified ones. Whether it’s a niche skill set, lack of candidate awareness, or low interest, the question remains the same: What do you do when you have a role you just can’t fill?

With return-to-office mandates in full swing, most new college graduates expect to relocate to the city where they’ve landed a full-time role. This aligns with Gen Z’s preference for in-person work, with 79% saying they hope to work in a hybrid structure, while only 7% prefer a fully remote role.

Do your current recruitment marketing strategies appeal to Gen Z candidates? With this generation constantly shifting their priorities and behaviors, its important to optimize and update for what appeals to this generation.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are a cornerstone of higher education in the United States, enrolling and supporting a significant portion of the nation’s Hispanic and Latino student population. Defined as colleges and universities where 25% or more of undergraduate students identify as Hispanic, these institutions have been instrumental in fostering academic success for one of the fastest-growing demographics in the U.S. Over the last decade, the Hispanic population has grown by nearly 10 million, with Hispanic and Latino students now accounting for a significant share of college enrollments.

Recruitment is no longer just about securing an offer acceptance—it's about keeping candidates engaged and excited as they prepare for their start date. A recent RippleMatch survey found that 73% of candidates will continue passively searching for other roles even after accepting an offer. This means that organizations must rethink their post-offer communication strategies to reduce the rate of reneges and build strong connections with future hires. Here's our top advice for keeping candidates warm in between extending and offer and their start date. Need help understanding Gen Z? Download our quick fact sheet on key Gen Z stats, download our Salary Benchmarking Guide to understand how to offer competitive compensation, or request a demo of RippleMatch to find out how we can connect you with top Gen Z talent.

In 2024, early-career salary expectations are influenced by the competitive landscape and Gen Z’s priorities. According to the RippleMatch 2024 Salary Benchmarking Report (available to download for free here), competitive compensation is a top priority for Gen Z talent, many of whom value financial growth potential over other job attributes. This report provides a comprehensive breakdown of salary data across fields, industries, and job functions, with particular insights into the expectations and realities of entry-level roles and internships.

Generation Z is now the dominant entry-level cohort, reshaping early career recruitment with new expectations and behaviors. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z candidates often rely solely on the job description to decide whether to apply, with limited additional research into the company beforehand. Recent data collected by RippleMatch shows that 69% of Gen Z candidates read the full job description before applying, but don't seek out further details on the organization until later stages. This makes job descriptions critical real estate for communicating essential information, as they’re often the only impression a candidate will get before deciding to apply.

In today's recruitment landscape, winning over Gen Z candidates can be time-consuming and expensive. Between visiting campus, attending conferences, hosting virtual events, and posting on online platforms, recruitment teams are turning to multifaceted methods to build out their class of entry-level hires and interns. That means when teams do narrow down their applicant pool to the ones they want to extend offers to, maximizing that offer acceptance rate is key. Let's take a closer look at how teams can increase their offer acceptance rate among Gen Z candidates, backed by RippleMatch data collected on what candidates are looking for in the hiring process and workplace. Looking for more effective ways to recruit Gen Z talent without burning through your recruitment budget? Learn more about how RippleMatch can help you recruit interns and entry-level talent here.

Welcome to the RippleMatch Product Pulse, your monthly hub to learn about the products & features we’ve released to help you make the most of our platform. Highlights this month include: Interview Scheduling: Easily coordinate interviews within RippleMatch. Candidate Activity Feed: Get visibility into each candidate's journey in your hiring process. AI Chat Filter: Quickly find the best candidates for you with natural language prompts. Updates to our Communities product: New Themes and Templates that help you save time and own your brand identity. Learn more about these features and other recent releases below!