We've all seen articles about how to blend people into the workforce and how to "deal" with Generation Y. This strikes me as a bit odd (and at worst insulting). We have had access to more resources, education and information than any previous generation. We are expected to have cured cancer, volunteered, played three sports, and helped the less fortunate...merely for entrance into a top 20 school.
Oh, and to graduate we have to fork over the equivalent of $40,000+ per year. So, needless to say the economic reality of accepting a $30,000 a year position is kind of depressing.
I know that economic realities make this starting salary a necessity. You need entry level workers and new ideas to spur your company forward. However, ideas are cheap. Execution and ability to create effective strategies are what makes a company stronger.
Now, this is not the reality at every company -- many companies have embraced this new wave of workers and have done their best to facilitate growth and development.
This article is not for those companies. I respect and applaud the efforts of innovation, new ways of thinking, and breakdown of certain destructive corporate hierarchies. However, most of the time these companies are very new or come from a start up culture. Thus the vast majority of companies hold true to the old guard.
How to keep your corporate culture intact:
- Look at their resume and only their resume. Want to find out about someone these days? It's likely not going to fit neatly into your .doc or pdf resume. Sorry, we have cultivated rounded, engaging and interesting presences on the web. (Or at least some of us have.)
- Assume any intern can be responsible for your social media strategy. I mean your 12 year old daughter uses Myspace how hard could this social media stuff really be?
- Make it clear that no responsibility at all will be given to the candidate. Just what any person wants to hear: they will be given the responsibility for something they likely could have done before going to college.
- Embrace and promote backwards enterprise technology and block social networks. Can't have Joe slacking on those TPS reports, so you have to block the Facebook and the Twitter. IE6 anyone?
- Inflexibility. Clearly, if you want quality work the best time to get it is from 9-5.
This article was obviously written with a heavy dose of sarcasm. However, a lot of these "worst" practices are simply a reality of the current corporate world. The reality is slowly changing however. Zappos is an example of a corporation where initiative is encouraged and personality is rewarded. Other companies are following this model with a great deal of success. Give us a shot, a tiny bit of backing and guidance. You will be amazed at what ends up being created.
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tagged as corporate hierarchy, generation y, generation y hiring, generation y social media, hiring practices, how not to hire, Marketing, Personal Branding, resume ignorance, social media practices
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
A quick question Stuart,
I agree with most of what you posted expect for the last two:
Why should an employer pay you for spending hours a day on your personal social networks? Aren't you getting paid to work?
Why should a company screw up it's entire schedule just to suite you? After all, if you just worked whenever you wanted to, how is this fair to others? By the way, most jobs don't end at 5pm. Especially in a touch economy, anyone that wants to get ahead is taking work home.
BTW, $30k starting salaries were common for the previous generation too. Gen X is still paying off their college debt, started at 30k, and didn't have Facebook to occupy their day.
Sarcasm, maybe… but you're not too far off the truth! Others I would add to your list are to:
- Develop arbitrary periods of time you must stay in a certain role before being promoted. If I know that no matter how well I perform, I'm not going to be able to move to a new or bigger role until I've been with the company 5 (or 7 or 10 or whatever) years, what incentive do I have to perform?
-Assume that because we may not be married or have kids yet that we don't have lives outside of work, and can thus be the ones to always get stuck doing projects on weekends or after hours. Many of us don't mind working hard if we like the project we're on, but just because we don't have kids' t-ball games or dance recitals to run off to doesn't mean we should always be stuck with the crappy schedule.
@amymengel
Sure thing Michael. I'm bashing enterprise technology more then anything in the 3rd point. Having access to superior tools for brand monitoring, web surfing and general internet usage. Do I want people to pay gen y for unlimited social networking? Hell no. I just want restrictive enterprise systems that hinder work more then help it go the way of the dinosaur.
On the 9-5 bullet? I think my point was exactly what you are talking about. I may have phrased it not as well as I would have liked though. I don't stop working…ever. I try to occasionally, but then I go back to doing so. I have actually been told to stop working so much at a previous job…seriously.
Gen X is just as screwed as Gen Y. I can't deny that fact. But you guys did have better music, tv, and activism in the early 90's. Justin Timberlake is the closest thing Gen Yers have to hold up to the Gen Xers Kurt Cobain. (Lame.)
@Michael
I can see where you are coming from, at the same time I can see Stu's point. If someone is hired to work on a companies Social Media strategy then give them the breathing room. If they are hired for a 9-5 data entry position then you have to block thier browsing to keep productivity up.
But let's get down to the heart of the matter. Gen Yer's and Gen Xer's seem to get it when it comes to the internet. Well most of us GenX'ers do, as some GenXer's are still stuck in an old way of thinking.
Let's say a new marketer enters a coporate realm, and is instantly forced into the old way of thinking, that is not good in the Social Media arena as the new marketer would be force feeding a company agenda. In Social Media you should engage your readers and the people discussing your brand. This is where the GenYer's come in. Most know how to properly use the internet and Social Networks. They know not to force feed an agenda. Therefore, for your stratedgy to be done correctly, you must give them the breathing room to work.
If the boss keeps asking “What are you doing on Twitter” the response should be: “Engageing potential clients”. Engagement is the name of the game. Not force feed an agenda. The more your name is out there the more you are respected and people actually listen to what you have to say.
Take JasonFalls for example, I met him after I questioned one of his posts. He reached out and engaged me in a conversation saying: “Hey man, this is what I am about and this is what I do, let me give you a run down and answer any questions you might have.” He engaged me, got my attention, and earned my respect.
So loosen up the reigns a bit depending on the Gen'Yers job description.
I do like your second point Amy and I know that holds true for a lot of people starting off working. I'm wired slightly differently, in that I can't stop working…like ever. But I'm crazy like that…
Thanks Jay, you pretty much knocked that one out of the park. I love Jason Falls' willingness to engage you and explain what he is thinking when writing. It's been extraordinarily beneficial for me to hear his input on his and my thinking.
Great post Stuart. I linked to this article as its a perfect supplement to the lessons we found out in hiring for Scribnia this year. http://scribnia.com/blog/?p=104
However, I do think that one downside of our generation is that we tend to believe we deserve interesting work all the time. This is a good thing as people in our generation will push themselves to innovate because they don't want to be bored. The downside, though, is that we come across as sounding too spoiled.
It's “we have had more….than any other generation,” not “then any other generation…” If you “Gen-Yers” want to get any respect from other generations(the folks most likely to be hiring you), try brushing up on the use of the English(or for that matter, any other) language. The posts generated by your generation are grossly illiterate.
Steve C.
Thanks for calling me out on confusing “then” and “than”. I fail to see how that makes me grossly illiterate though?
I really feel you on these points. I had a difficult time job-hunting when I graduated from school because it was hard to find an existing organization in my area that was “cutting-edge” or forward thinking in action… not just rhetoric. I got a lot of interviews but some people were baffled or intimidated about where I would fit into their corporate culture. I worked for an agency for a year after school and their clients were ASKING for social media help… but they just couldn't figure out how to “use me” and try a new trick that was different than what they'd been doing for the past 10 years.
My suggestion to you is to consider giving up the pipe-dream of a full-time corporate gig that is going to satisfy FOR NOW. It might not happen in your needed, financial time frame. Take some kind of work… even non-white-collar work that won't intellectually exhaust you – that will pay your basic bills and allow you to get going on doing independent social media contracts… and you'll be motivated to be successful with those and make it grow.
Then at some point, maybe 6 months from now… maybe 2 years from now… the perfect job opportunity will open up and you'll be able to bargain them into 6 figures, no discussion about 5. I am determined to build my skills and brand to the point that if I ever did take a job – my title would be “manager” or “director” and there would be high salary, travel budget, European vacation standards, etc.
What you deserve and what you are seeking is something that is very cutting edge and you're not likely to encounter it in most places you go looking – so it might be better to let it find you and you call the shots of it.
Just my thoughts… take them for whatever they're worth. I know you are really talented and hard working, and you're trying to get married and all… and the world seems like it wasn't built to value social media guys.
Stuart,
No doubt you can find some kind of corporate job soon – but it will most likely be the kind of job that you dissected in bullet lists. Jobs that are thoroughly satisfying and life-affirming for people like us are rare because we are before the prime-time of it.
When you get to that later point in time when greater corporate humanity will regard your skills and even desperately seek people who “really get” it and walk the walk.. not just posers with Masters of Social Media (MSM) degrees… you'll be rewarded for the tough passages you're making now.
As a GenXer I can't say that our experience was too different than what GenYers are dealing with today. Although, in hindsight as I look at my first job, I may have been at the bottom and only $27K a year, but I I learned HOW to get things done on time, within budget, and exceed expectations. I may not have liked playing a back seat and thought I could do it better myself. Though, learning discipline in a work environment was invaluable. It is very different than the discipline in school or b-school. I now have GenYers as employees and interns. I don't hesitate to let them spread their wings. I want them to. My issue is getting them to work things through with less brute force and realize that you can't always jump steps. I'll pay a top dollar salary, and have, to those that are innovative, strategic, and help drive business goals. But, GenYers have to prove themselves to me outside of education, resume, blog, and professor recommendations. I will mentor to a point. But, I'm not going to mentor like a professor would. I have a job to do too and GenYers need to figure things out for yourselves. This is the biggest issue I've had with entry level and interns. You have to do it before you are rewarded. Its just a tough life lesson.
As a GenXer I can't say that our experience was too different than what GenYers are dealing with today. Although, in hindsight as I look at my first job, I may have been at the bottom and only $27K a year, but I I learned HOW to get things done on time, within budget, and exceed expectations. I may not have liked playing a back seat and thought I could do it better myself. Though, learning discipline in a work environment was invaluable. It is very different than the discipline in school or b-school. I now have GenYers as employees and interns. I don't hesitate to let them spread their wings. I want them to. My issue is getting them to work things through with less brute force and realize that you can't always jump steps. I'll pay a top dollar salary, and have, to those that are innovative, strategic, and help drive business goals. But, GenYers have to prove themselves to me outside of education, resume, blog, and professor recommendations. I will mentor to a point. But, I'm not going to mentor like a professor would. I have a job to do too and GenYers need to figure things out for yourselves. This is the biggest issue I've had with entry level and interns. You have to do it before you are rewarded. Its just a tough life lesson.
As a GenXer I can't say that our experience was too different than what GenYers are dealing with today. Although, in hindsight as I look at my first job, I may have been at the bottom and only $27K a year, but I I learned HOW to get things done on time, within budget, and exceed expectations. I may not have liked playing a back seat and thought I could do it better myself. Though, learning discipline in a work environment was invaluable. It is very different than the discipline in school or b-school. I now have GenYers as employees and interns. I don't hesitate to let them spread their wings. I want them to. My issue is getting them to work things through with less brute force and realize that you can't always jump steps. I'll pay a top dollar salary, and have, to those that are innovative, strategic, and help drive business goals. But, GenYers have to prove themselves to me outside of education, resume, blog, and professor recommendations. I will mentor to a point. But, I'm not going to mentor like a professor would. I have a job to do too and GenYers need to figure things out for yourselves. This is the biggest issue I've had with entry level and interns. You have to do it before you are rewarded. Its just a tough life lesson.
As a GenXer I can't say that our experience was too different than what GenYers are dealing with today. Although, in hindsight as I look at my first job, I may have been at the bottom and only $27K a year, but I I learned HOW to get things done on time, within budget, and exceed expectations. I may not have liked playing a back seat and thought I could do it better myself. Though, learning discipline in a work environment was invaluable. It is very different than the discipline in school or b-school. I now have GenYers as employees and interns. I don't hesitate to let them spread their wings. I want them to. My issue is getting them to work things through with less brute force and realize that you can't always jump steps. I'll pay a top dollar salary, and have, to those that are innovative, strategic, and help drive business goals. But, GenYers have to prove themselves to me outside of education, resume, blog, and professor recommendations. I will mentor to a point. But, I'm not going to mentor like a professor would. I have a job to do too and GenYers need to figure things out for yourselves. This is the biggest issue I've had with entry level and interns. You have to do it before you are rewarded. Its just a tough life lesson.