Getting the advantage in attracting and retaining what bestselling author Dan Tapscott calls the Net Generation (N-Gen) born between the 1970s and 1990s means looking hard at the behavioral demographics.

Tapscott’s books include Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation and Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. He is also the founder and CEO of New Paradigm which published Rethinking Information Technology and Competitive Advantage Part II: Strategy in the Age of Collaboration.

These changes have implications for recruiting, training and engaging employees. Initiating the relationship with N-Gen requires that companies brand differentiate themselves in the talent marketplace, use personal networks to recruit candidates, and create a mutual selection model. New idea: Rethinking the résumé

A recent study by the Association of Technology Staffing Companies confirmed that social networking sites have become top sources of candidates in terms of quantity but not necessarily quality. IT recruitment firms responses are cited in Tech Recruiters Turn to Facebook:

• 58% consider social sites more useful than print ads.
• 49% found them more effective than Internet banner ads.
• 70% preferred job boards in terms of candidate quality.

That’s a mixed message. But one thing remains very clear. If you want N-Gen’s innovative talents, you have to update your hiring processes and career sites to meet their expectations. You must differentiate your employment brand and make it green. And you need to be connected with social networks and social utilities.