You might be surprised by the criteria young people told us they would apply when choosing a prospective employer. We have run a number of workshops with young people and each time we asked them to tell us their criteria, in order of importance, that they would apply to prospective employers when job hunting. We want to share with you to the top three things young people told us they wanted to see evidenced by employers, also note 80% of young people will review a company’s online career page content as part of this job hunting process.

Equal opportunities and diversity

Equal opportunities and diversity came out on top of the criteria list in our workshops with young people. We also asked young people to assess company websites to give us examples of companies who would match their criteria for equality and diversity and examples of companies that wouldn’t match their criteria.

Where a company had simply stated an equality and diversity policy with a generic statement the young people felt this did not count because they could not see evidence that this was in place.

What this means is that young people want to work for an employer that is open to all. To effectively match this criteria companies need to evidence that they currently have diversity in the workforce and that there is support for employees with specific needs.

Progression over training

Young people told us they did not value training for training’s sake. The opportunity to develop within a role and progress to the next role was paramount.

Where a company gave a generic statement that they would train their workforce this did not match the criteria. Young people wanted to see an example of someone who had be given training who was then able to progress within the role or progress to the next role.

Clear expectations within job role

When we asked young people to assess the job section on company websites they told us that having clarity around the job role was another important point. Young people commonly found that job roles were not clearly defined, where overly complicated and confusing with the use of business jargon. They simply wanted to understand what the job involved and what was expected of them.

An employer needs to avoid generic role descriptions and be clear about the expectations within the job role and what’s expected of them. When writing job descriptions a company should use plain English to explain what a person is expected to do and avoid jargons, industry terms and acronyms.

So, what does all this mean for your business?

According to an Oxford University brief, 6% of employed people in the UK are EU nationals (that’s 2 million people). There are greater numbers of EU nationals within certain market segments such as food manufacturing, agriculture and leisure. For instance, up to 30% of those working in the food manufacturing sector are EU nationals.

The Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD) recently revealed that three in four HR professionals surveyed expect Brexit to increase competition for talent.

Claire McCartney, Associate Research Adviser at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments: “Today’s research highlights mounting competition for talent and the subsequent need for organisations to sharpen their focus on strategic recruitment and effective retention, to attract and maintain the skills they need in an increasingly competitive labour market. Brexit, and its impact on the labour market, should act as a stimulus for organisations to focus their attention on building a stronger, more productive workforce, by staying alert to potential changes in their skill needs and being agile in their response.”

Given the potential shortage of skilled talent, the impact of Brexit on the availability of talent and the impact of Brexit on our universities, you may find yourself directly competing for talented young people. If you don’t understand the buying criteria of a young person and your competitor does you may lose out in the medium and longer term. During our research to date, many companies are not reflecting in their online content what a young person is looking for in an employer.

Would you like to know how accessible your company is for young people? We are currently assessing the job sections on company websites with a survey that has been created with the criteria set by young people. We will be sharing the overall report of the results and individual companies can contact us to ensure that they are included in the list of employers we are assessing. Any company that is included will have the opportunity to compare themselves against peers in a report that highlights what’s missing, what needs improving and what is done well.