Young, Confident, and Looking for a Job

Sara and Lauren.  You don’t know them but you’ll soon have to make a decision about which one to hire.  Both are part of the 70 million Gen Yers that will soon enter the workforce.  If you take a moment to get acquainted before going over the job duties and requirements, you’ll learn some things about these two young ladies.

Sara is tall, lean, and blonde.  She is an athlete.  Specifically, a heptathlete.  Yes, she competes effectively in heptathlons - woman’s athletic competitions where each contestant must compete in seven events, which are typically the javelin, hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put, sprint, and 800-meter race.  She has a full college scholarship in track and field, works in between classes, and coaches on the side.  Her major is business management.  The best time of her day?  Training for her events – it’s de-stressing for her.  She has a very proud family.

 Lauren is petite and bubbly with jet black hair.  She is newly married and has been working in a high end women’s boutique.  She is captivated by the retail industry, its current fashion trends, she loves dressing people, and wants to continue her college education someday.  She loves people and wants some experience in business to go along with her retail experience.  Without much conversation, you’ll find out her life goal is to be on Oprah.  She is very close to her family.  In fact, she’ll tell you she left home the other day without a jacket not realizing how cold it was outside.  She called her dad who immediately went to the store, purchased a jacket, and brought it to her at work.

Both of these ladies will soon come to you applying for a position with your management company.  Because you’re a Baby Boomer, your first thoughts may be negative, something like: “These young people just don’t have the work ethics that I was brought up with.  I don’t know what the world is coming to if these are our future employees.”  But you have to consider them.  You’re desperate for employees.  You interview 15 or 20 people (and most of them are really young!) to find one good possibility.  Then you train them, believe they are doing well, turn them loose, and several months later they quit. 

To sour things for you even more, you just read Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable—Than Ever Before, by author, psychologist, and Gen Yer, Jean Twenge, who says of her generation, we are “unapologetically focused on the individual.”  

Aaron Shulman, also a Gen Yer, says “we heed social rules and figures of authority only insofar as they don't get in our way.”

If you take a moment to look at the resumes, it doesn’t look like there is much there except they both have some college education and no significant work experience.  Sara is still in college, Lauren is not.  Sara lists as her accomplishments several state and national track and field championships at the high school and college levels.  Lauren lists her memberships in several clubs in high school and her involvement in various groups at church.

But take another look.  There may be more than meets the eye. 

Think through the fact that Sara is a heptathlete.  Imagine the kind of self-discipline, internal motivation, and courage it would take to excel in seven events and win national championships?  Though you can’t ask about her gender or race, it’s obvious she is female and white.  She competes in a mostly black field.  She is a minority in her environment.  Think of the prejudices of herself (remember, white men can’t jump) and of her team mates she has overcome.  She is a team player and probably knows one when she sees one.  Obviously, she knows what it feels like to lose and try again and be a gracious winner.  She’s not afraid of hard work and has already demonstrated through her coaching that she is willing to invest herself in the betterment of another.

Lauren’s resume shows her involvement with groups and clubs, but doesn’t mention any team-related accomplishments.  You can’t tell if she has ever been part of a team.  She was a member of a group, but is that the same as a team?  Does she have any experience in winning or losing?  She hasn’t indicated she ever achieved a goal that required focus, motivation, courage, or self- discipline.  It’s good she wants to add some business experience to her retail experience, but she can’t say why.  She tells you she doesn’t know what the accomplishment will be that wins her a spot on Oprah, but she knows she’ll be set for life once she gets there.  You’re beginning to think that for Lauren, life is all about “me.”  Does she only want to be rich and famous?  Then it finally strikes you as odd, that she is married, but calls her dad, who brings her a coat.  You wonder how her husband felt about that.

Sara and Lauren are both articulate, polite, and appear to be motivated.  Neither of them showed up for their interview in flip flops or with bellies exposed by low rider pants.  You know it’s not realistic to believe any new employee will stay forever.  The trends of the younger generations indicate they will go where the money is, or the benefits are, or where they can have flex time.  Gone are the days of employees staying with the company for 20 years.

Stephanie Armour, USA Today, says “… new job entrants are changing careers faster than college students change their majors, creating frustration for employers struggling to retain and recruit talented high-performers.  They want to work, but they don't want work to be their life.”

Sara may be a Gen Yer and predisposed to being “unapologetically focused on the individual,” and may not stay forever, but she’s the better applicant.  She will make a positive addition to your staff.