Millennials are the best.

We are the best at iPhones, the best at Tumblr, and we are the best employees. No, I do not have any solid research to back up those claims, but they are all 100% true facts - based on knowledge that I have gained by surfing the interweb.

Okay, so maybe we are not better employees than our Gen X rivals, but we are the next big wave of candidates entering the workforce! And as such, it’s important for employers and recruiters to know what Generation Y is all about, besides Tumblr and Apple products.

Luckily, I do have quite a bit of great information about millennial candidates, and all of it comes from very reliable sources!

On Monday I wrote a post about what employers can expect from millennials, and what millennials expect from them. In the process of writing that piece, I dug up some killer surveys, articles, and Infographics that you really ought to check out.

Here are the links!

Dice interviews recruiters at Talent Tomorrow in this awesome YouTube video about the top tactics to attract millennials.

Some topics, like the importance of mobile and Facebook recruiting, are agreed upon across the board, while others, like the importance of stressing growth opportunities, are highly contentious. These differences of opinion are what make Dice’s video so fascinating, and definitely worth the two and a half minutes!

If you have more than a couple minutes, Achievers’ in-depth study, Class of 2012: Understanding the Needs of your Future Workforce, is an incredible resource for understanding both how to recruit, and how to retain millennials. It’s an undeniably #longread, but the PDF version I’ve linked to is extremely well laid out, which makes the information very easy to digest. If you simply don’t have time, here are some of the most important stats on Gen Y candidates taken from their study.

Now that you know what Gen Y wants, it’s time to take that knowledge and start recruiting them! But where is the best place to connect with millennial candidates? Why Facebook of course, at least according to this Infographic. Now, if you really want to effectively target millennials with Facebook recruiting you had better make sure your job applications are mobile-friendly… I know a certain app that will do that for you, just sayin’!

Back to the heavy duty research! PWC — I'm sadly, unsure of what PWC actually does, but according to their website, they create value for clients. What that means, I have no idea. Sorry. Nonetheless, they released a fantastic survey on millennial employees. The survey covers everything from what Gen Yers value in employers, to their views on flexible working, to the compromises they are willing to make, and why they'll make them.

Lastly, I’d like to revisit Achievers, because not only do they provide tons of great info about recruiting Gen Y, but they also provide some pretty cool software that helps employers retain millennial employees, which is just as important as recruiting them in the first place!