Last year before graduation a common conversation among my friends was “OMG, I am sooo not ready for the real world!” The idea of transitioning from the comfortable college environment to “real life”—cubicles, more responsibility, and less thirsty Thursdays—was daunting. We had our education, we had the tools to be prepared for this new world, but the reality was that the real world was not ready for us. The slow economy and lack of jobs has presented quite a challenge (slap in the face), forcing new graduates to adapt. From possibly accepting jobs that don’t use the education we have studied hard to acquire to moving back to our parents’ houses to accommodate lower salaries, overall the real world has not risen to meet us.
Recently I’ve come across a whole lot of opinions on us millennials in the workplace, referring to people who range in age from 18-34 give or take—born between 1980 and 2000. What a group! Growing up during a time of fast-changing technology from the internet to smart phones to social media, people of this generation are greedy, lazy, distracted, and lack work ethic/professionalism. And they love their parents too much…
This article from USA Today gives a few examples of how terrible millennials are during job interviews. It really made me wonder why I haven’t gotten a job yet if I’m competing against people who text during interviews, bring their CATS to interviews, or bring their PARENT to interviews. What?? Come on. I find it difficult to believe that the reason that people do these things is because they are “millennials” and are too casual. From my perspective, these people are just foolish. Maybe it’s just based on my little world where I don’t know anyone my age who would do any of those things during a job interview, especially because those opportunities don’t come along too often. I can only imagine what that person was texting—“Lol this interview is soo bad,” or “Omg I’m totes going to get this job.” SMH, PEOPLE.
Have you seen this video? I am so frustrated by this guy, AJ. It’s his very first live newscast. He swears on live, local TV, which is hilarious and awful at the same time. He’s rightfully fired for being vulgar. And THEN he becomes famous and gets to go on shows like Today, Live with Kelly and Michael, David Letterman, whatever. What a millennial am I right? So casual. I understand why the video went viral; news bloopers are some of the funniest things to see. The thing that frustrates me, but that I also find interesting, is how much support he’s getting. I guess it’s a sign of the times. He gets to go around on national TV redeeming himself, and I’m sure he will get another job out of it. Maybe I’m bitter because no one has invited me to the Today Show yet, but he wasn’t even that great of an anchor. People may see the video and think that this young whippersnapper doesn’t take work seriously, but it’s just another example of a person who happens to be younger getting a lot of attention for a mistake.
What I want to say with all of this is that obviously, times are different now. People just entering the real world are faced with not only hard economic times but also preconceived ideas about their potential and work ethic. But what I see are a lot of people with great potential & fresh ideas, eagerly ready to put their mark on the world. Technology may have changed since the good old days, different ways of communicating have developed, but people still have the timeless hope of just being able to use their talents to contribute to something. One thing though, seriously, please don’t bring your cat to an interview unless you’re applying to be a professional cat lady/gentleman.
À la missy 