To make a short story long, there is no easy answer. If you are looking to reach 100 well qualified, interested candidates so that perhaps 10 apply so that you interview a few so that you hire one then you need to keep in mind that you're trying to reach 100 people and each of those people have different needs and wants and those needs and wants change day-to-day and even hour-to-hour. What will be well received by a large number of candidates one day will not be well received by them a day later. Employers in Virginia were probably a lot more attractive to students a week ago than they are this week. Students who have opted in, and especially double opted in, to receive recruitment ads via targeted emails and cell phone text messages (SMS) with employment offers are going to be much more receptive to those messages than students who are spammed. Students who receive targeted emails and cell phone text messages which are well targeted to their interests are going to be much more receptive to those who receive poorly targeted messages.

We're all different. Treat us differently. Baby Boomers shouldn't pretend or think that they understand the mindset of a 22 year old member of Gen Y. And even if you are a member of Gen Y, you don't speak for all members of Gen Y nor are your interests going to be representative of most or probably even a sizeable minority of Gen Y.

So what media should you use? As many as you can. Don't put all of your eggs into one basket. Use some media like banner ads and cell phone text messaging for branding. Use other media like targeted emails and job postings to drive responses. But always, always speak to the needs and wants of those who you are targeting and use the media that they use. If the candidates you are trying to reach read the Wall Street Journal, then advertise in the Journal. If they get their employment information from job boards, then advertise on the job boards. If they use their cell phones to text as often as they breath, then reach them through a text message campaign to their cell phones -- but be sure that they've opted in to receive the message and be sure that your message is being delivered to the right target market.