The upcoming Baby Boomer retirement wave will undoubtedly create significant leadership and staffing gaps.

While there is much debate about when and at what velocity the wave will hit, one thing is for certain: there will be numerous vacancies to fill and the government needs to begin recruiting the next generation of employees – millennials.

Defined as those workers born between 1980 and 2000, they are currently flooding the national job market, representing 37 percent of the private sector workforce and just 18 percent of the federal workforce. They have a huge potential to bring significant digital innovations and service perspectives to federal agencies.

The way millennials undertake job searches is unique to their generation and there are some key steps organizations can take to stand out and influence this critical demographic:

1. Use social media—but don’t overestimate it. Unsurprisingly, millennials are more likely than any generation before them to use social media to learn about organizations, but with some skepticism of the information they find. Often, job seekers place the most trust in friends and family so more traditional channels, such as referral programs, are still a critical recruiting strategy.

2. Don’t stop recruiting once you get a resume. Although millennials participate in the same number of job interviews as candidates from other generations, they receive 12.5 percent more offers.

3. Tell, don’t sell. Millennials spend less than half as much time as other generations learning about organizations before deciding whether to apply.

4. Emphasize personal development—but don’t neglect other areas.Millennials value career and individual development more than other generations. They want opportunities to learn quickly and make a difference from day one on the job.

5. Optimize your website for mobile. Millennials are more likely than other generations to use mobile devices to learn about employers.

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