So, What Are Millennials and How Do You Market to Them?

What Are Millennials?

So, what are millennials? Millennials are considered a sub-group of Generation Y. Pew Research Center says, " Adult Millennials are those aged 18-33 years and are born between 1981 and 1996.This could be considered a sub-group in Generation Y". Want to figure out what generation you are, visit Pew Research Center's, How Millennial Are You, test. My score was a 94!

How Do You Market to Millennials?

Millennials are the texting generation. I see no one my age who doesn't have their phone out or near them 90% of the day, myself included. This generation is so tapped into everything that goes on and it's right at the tip of our fingers. So, how do you market to them? Well, us?

MarketingProfs.com blogger, Dave Hawley, shares that millennials are sharing in real-time. They long to be in constant communication and the brands they are interacting with need to create positive customer experiences that they can share. Companies also need to create viral content that can be shared all over the internet. Ikea came out with a commercial titled, BookBook a few days before Apple released the information about their iPhone 6. Today it has been seen on YouTube over 11 million times, and it was released just on September 3rd of this year. Ikea released this in Singapore and Malaysia, but clearly because of the catchy video and hidden humor, the Millennials took hold of the video and it spread like wildfire.

Hawley also mentions that companies need to encourage user-generated content that will result in consumers reviewing products and services. A survey conducted by, SocialChorus showed that 91% of millennials trust their friends for their product recommendations. Companies need to encourage consumers to share their purchases and reviews on social media. Do you dream of working for Doritos? Well, for Superbowl last year and this year, Doritos takes submissions for your best commercial. Are you bold enough to try?

Bloggers Jeff Frommand and Andrea Franz, also from MarketingProfs.com, say Millenials are digital natives. We're 2.5% more likely to be early adopters because it is easy for us to adapt to new technology. An example of this would be when a new version of the iPhone comes out. Even if our old generation phones are in perfect working condition, we are more likely to purchase the new phone anyway to keep up with the technological advances. Millenials are also creating blogs and their own online personas. Here they can voice their opinion and give reviews of products and services. 

So, what now?

While marketing to Millenials, we have to remember that they're looking at everything they can. They want the best information about a product before purchase and they will read all the positive and negative reviews. Millenials want to feel connected and that their voice is being heard by the company. Good or bad. Until next time :)

So, You Need a Resume . . .

So, You Need a Resume. 

Aurora University's AMA and Delta Mu Delta hosted a resume workshop that revealed the secrets of how a student's resume should look and what content needs to be added upon graduation.

The guest speakers were, Mary Pellico and Kimberly White. Mary and Kimberly are human resource specialists that specialize in helping not only students, but adults, create strong resumes. The twenty minute presentation was insightful and packed full of tips and tricks to take your resume to the next level.

Pieces of a Resume

To start your resume out, give your most current contact information. Your name should be the first thing the employer sees. The font size used needs to be larger than the rest of the document. Next, include your number, email address, and your LinkedIn, or personal website link that highlights your strengths. Somewhere, where you can show why you are you! 

Make sure your email is appropriate. Using your name is usually best. To make a free email specifically for applying to jobs, I recommend using Gmail. On your resume, you will also want to put your objective. When looking for keywords, really read the job description. This will give you keywords the employer is specifically looking for. It tailors your resume and lets the employer know that you are interested in the company and position being applied to.  

Lastly, go ahead and highlight your schooling and activities. If you have an internship, pull that experience out and create a separate section on your resume that highlights the skills you've accomplished while working there. After your schooling is added, go into your experience. If you can show you've held a job while going to school, that's a huge plus and it shows you are responsible and have great time management skills.

Resume Don'ts

A few of the basic resume don'ts Mary and Kimberly went over were extremely important. The most important don't they stressed was falsifying information. If you put false information on your resume and the employer asks about it in an interview, you're not going to be able to wing that one. Another pointer is, to not include personal information or photos. Adding the link to your personal website will be more than enough for the employer. Do not include your salary expectations. This will more than likely be discussed upon your offer! To prepare for the "talk" go to a salary website and look at comparable jobs and salaries. This will make it easier to negotiate pay later in the hiring process. A last don't is don't be repetitive. You're not going to want to say you are great at customer service in ten different ways! 

Resume Do's

Recent college grads should keep their resume to one page, unless there is enough foundation to fill the second page at least 3/4 of the way. Use a font size between 11-14 and select a font that is easy to read and professional. I recommend using a Serif font, such as, Times New Roman. Make your resume in chronological format, starting with the most relevant information at the top. Resumes should be visually appealing. Use bullets, bolding, italics and be creative! When saving, make sure that you save it as firstnamelastname.pdf. Saving your resume in PDF is a must before sending it off to an employer. It's much more professional. 

Wrapping up, creating a resume upon graduation isn't hard if you have the right components. As long as you can get the do's and don'ts down, you're golden. Until next time :)