Attract Generation Z and Millennial Membership for Your Association with a Job Board

Generation Z and millennials often view membership organizations such as professional associations as outdated or lacking in value, especially when they don’t see a clear return on their investment.

Considering their monetary challenges with student loan debt, economic instability, and inflation, you have to adapt your strategy as an association to attract these young professionals. One of the most effective tools at your disposal is a job board.

In this blog post, we will explore how having a job board can help associations connect with millennials and Generation Z members.

Understand their perspective

Millennials and Generation Z have entered the workforce during uncertain economic times, which has shaped their views on employment and professional development. Many began their careers either during the Great Recession or the COVID-19 pandemic, facing periods of unemployment or underemployment. As a result, they tend to stay informed about job trends and are often cautious about spending money that does not provide immediate benefits.

However, these generations are highly educated and tech-savvy—hence worth investing. So if your association can effectively demonstrate how membership can provide career benefits, you can more easily attract younger members who will find value in joining.

1. Communicate a clear return on investment

Firstly, your association must clearly demonstrate how joining can lead to tangible career benefits, for example by:

• Showcasing success stories: The easiest way to do this is highlighting success stories from current members who have found jobs or advanced their careers through the association’s resources, including the job board. Use testimonials that speak directly to how membership has positively impacted their professional lives.
• Breaking down membership costs: Provide a detailed breakdown of what members receive for their dues; and compare it to non-members. This could include access to exclusive job listings, networking events, educational resources, and discounts on professional development courses.
• Highlighting networking opportunities: Emphasize that membership provides access to a community of professionals who can offer mentorship, advice, and connections in their field. With personal connections become increasingly important, young professionals are putting a lot of work into building relationships that can lead to job opportunities. A survey found that Generation Z actually benefit the most from going to networking events, with half of them having secured a job this way.

2. Integrate modern technology

Younger generations are accustomed to using technology—for any- and everything! To attract them, you have to ensure that your job board is accessible and user-friendly across all devices, especially mobile phones.

Overall, around 62% of job seekers place job applications via mobile devices. This means that over half of all users browse listings on their smartphones. A mobile-friendly job board becomes a non-negotiable at this point, especially when looking to appeal to Generation Z and millennial members.

You want to make it easy for users to navigate your job board by organizing listings into clear categories and providing intuitive search filters. Also consider offering social login options via Google or LinkedIn to reduce friction for job seekers during registration, especially when on mobile.

No, you do not need to create a standalone app for your job board. Ideally, your association’s website is already mobile responsive and you can simply plug-in a job board with specialised software, such as Niceboard.

3. Make your career center exclusive

Finding the right balance between exclusivity and visibility is key when attracting younger members. These professionals are often hesitant to commit to memberships if they cannot see the tangible benefits upfront. Therefore, it’s essential to make your career portal both exclusive and public in a way that makes the benefits obvious while still preserving member-only advantages.

If your job content is only accessible to members, potential recruits may miss out on the opportunity to see what your association has to offer. So even if access to your listings is exclusive to your members, it makes sense to promote your job board and some listings widely—through social media, email marketing, paid ads, and partnerships with other platforms. This gives prospective members a taste of what they could gain by joining. For example, you might showcase the top five job listings or highlight companies that frequently post on your board. Just like educational institutions providing course catalogs publicly while reserving the actual content for paying students.

Here are a few more ways to create exclusivity while maintaining visibility:

• Employer spotlight: Showcase desirable employers that are actively posting jobs on your board. Young professionals are often interested in working for companies that align with their values and offer positive workplace cultures. So include detailed company missions, values, and employee experiences.
• Weekly job highlights: Create a weekly blog post or newsletter that highlights new jobs and featured employers on your board. This not only keeps current members informed but also attracts potential members who may be interested in those opportunities.
• Collaborate with influencers: Partner with industry “influencers” or even better: thought leaders who resonate with millennial and Generation Z audiences. They can help promote your job board through their channels, reaching a wider audience and enhancing credibility.

4. Join existing niche communities

Did you know that 66% of Generation Z job seekers use digital online career platforms to learn about job opportunities, and more than 8 in 10 believe that digital connections sparked by messages will lead to a job opportunity. So the key here is finding out which online platforms Generation Z and millennials in your niche are using frequently.

Social media

There are a lot more platforms than just Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Have you considered starting a social media presence on Threads, X or Blue Sky? While they have a much smaller membership base, they are more targeted and not as saturated as the bigger social media sites. Plus, they can provide you with a unique opportunity to leverage your association’s industry expertise with more text-based content. These are usually much easier to produce and can even be repurposed from your website and blog!

Of course, career-focused platforms like LinkedIn remain popular among both groups for sharing career advice and job opportunities.

Niche communities

Private online communities such as forums or blogs have been growing continuously, with 78% of Generation Z belonging to one or more niche communities. But how do you leverage those online communities to reach Generation Z and millennials for your association? Here is how we recommend you go about communities:

• Identify relevant communities: Research forums or niche groups that align with your industry or profession. This could be Slack groups, Substack newsletters, Facebook groups, and Reddit communities. Engage with these communities to understand their needs and interests.
• Participate actively: Contribute valuable insights, answer questions, and share resources related to career development within these communities. Establishing yourself as an authority will build trust among potential members.
• Introduce your job board: Once you have established yourself and gained trust within the community, subtly introduce your job board or association’s career page. Share relevant job listings with a link to your job board and there you have it: Niche traffic to your page!

5. Start a newsletter for young professionals

For millennials and Generation Z professionals, newsletters are (believe it or not) their bread and butter. No other digital medium has seen such consistent engagement and sparks such loyalty as weekly newsletters—95% of millennials are subscribed to at least one!

And as an association, this is something you can lean into as well. Association newsletters can be a powerful tool for building authority, driving traffic, and sharing job opportunities with your audience. But instead of cluttering your newsletter with ads and links to existing content, you need to provide value directly in your newsletter through a unique POV, tips or stories.

Here's how to leverage newsletters effectively:

1. Share relevant content: Develop informative and engaging content exclusive to your newsletter subscribers (or those you want to attract). This can include weekly job market insights, career advice, success stories, and featured job listings.
2. Regularly send newsletters: Establish a consistent newsletter schedule and provide valuable content on a regular basis. This keeps your subscribers engaged and ensures your job board remains top-of-mind.
3. Promote your newsletter: Encourage visitors to your job board to subscribe to your newsletter. Niceboard has a built email capture form for job alerts that you can use to get started with sending emails automatically or use your custom email form (e.g. ConvertKit) to send customized emails.

Attracting millennial and Generation Z membership requires associations to adapt their online presence and offering. A well-designed job board serves as a powerful tool in this effort by providing valuable career resources, networking opportunities, and showcasing popular employers using your site to these generations.

By leveraging a job board strategically, you’ll not only attract younger members but also strengthen the overall impact of your association in your industry.