Millennial Job-Seekers Have Unique Expectations
Millennial Job-Seekers Have Unique Expectations
Â
Millennials in the workforce are the focus of many articles lately.  I deal a lot with post-boomer generations due to the fact that I teach for several different online universities. Millennials have been singled-out as having different personality issues. In all three of my books, I address how personality issues affect our expectations and preferences.Â
Tomorrow I will be delivering a talk at a local university’s annual forum. The topic will be, “Obtaining Your Dream Job by Marketing YOU as the Product”. I often give talks about how to find jobs and market talents. Tomorrow’s topic will be specifically focused on a younger generation. Many in the audience will be millennials. When talking to post-boomer generations, it is important to realize they have unique expectations.
Many claim that millennials have entitlement issues.  Sixty Minutes did a nice job on a piece they did titled: The Millennials Are Coming.  In that article they stated: You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they’ll always be rewarded, even for just showing up. Â
In another interesting article by ere.net, the following questions were actually asked by millennials in job interviews. Â
- If I don’t like my boss, how can I get that changed?
- How many hours per day will I be expected to work?
- Do you allow the use of Facebook?
- If I don’t like my pay, who do I talk to about fixing that?
- If we do reading for the job, can we do it at the gym during work hours?
- Who will be my mentor and coach while I’m learning my new job?
- What does the company do to make work fun?
For anyone that is older than the millennials, these questions may come across as humorous or brazen. However, they are a good example of how different newer generations may be, in regard to their work expectations.Â
In our book, It’s Not You It’s Your Personality, Toni Rothpletz and I explain how newer generations are often seen as the “me” generation. Jean Twenge did a nice job of addressing this in her book, Generation Me.Â
In my talk tomorrow, I will be discussing the importance that companies put on emotional intelligence when looking at potential new hires. Part of having emotional intelligence is having the ability to have good interpersonal skills and empathy. The interviewee must be able to “read” the interviewer and present themselves accordingly.Â
Generational differences can be a big issue that many millennials need to be aware of. Asking questions like the ones listed above may not endear you to the interviewer . . . unless, of course, that interviewer is a millennial with similar expectations as well. My guess is, that probably won’t be the case.Â
If you didn’t see anything wrong with the above list of questions, my suggestion to you is to do some research into proper interviewing etiquette. I wrote about the mistakes people make in interviews in my book, How to Reinvent Your Career.Â
For more reading, check out articles like:
You May be Looking for a Job . . . But it is Your Emotional Intelligence That Needs Work Â
Millennial Workers – New Ways of Doing Things Â
How is Your Job Satisfaction? It May Be Based on Your Personality TypeÂ
Related Articles
- Meet the Millennials: Our most educated generation faces a most challenging time (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Lindsey Pollak: How Millennial Women Are Shaping Our Future (huffingtonpost.com)
- New Book Points to Millennials’ New Thinking as the Best Way to Restart America’s Innovation Engine (marketwire.com)
Changing Jobs – Be Sure You Have the Right Skills
- Computer use
- Networking
- Interview performance
- Job Hunting
- Communication
- Analytical research
- Adaptability
- Diversity awareness
- Leadership
- Planning/goal setting
- Problem solving
- Teamwork
- Multi-tasking
- People skills
- Self-reliance
 Remember that these are all important skills that employers are going to be looking for in prospective employees. Remember to highlight your abilities in each of these areas when writing your résumé.
Do You Need Help Finding a Job or Reinventing Your Career?
Area Where I Need Help | Solutions |
I need help with computer skills. | http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/topic.aspx?id=140 |
I need help with grammar and spelling. | http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com |
I want to take understand personality assessment that gives a basic idea of personality type. | http://www.humanmetrics.com/#Jung, Myers–Briggs(free site, but not as accurate as the actual Myers–Briggs test)Read my daughter’s (Toni Rothpletz) and my book The Young Adult’s Guide to Understanding Personality.
Monster.com and CareerPath.com have a personality quiz Personal.ansir.com Careerplanner.com Livecareer.com Assessment.usatests.com/ Jobtest/?v http://jobsearch.about.com/gi/ o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn= jobsearch&cdn=careers&tm= 17&gps=179_834_1003_630&f= 21&su=p284.9.336.ip_p554.13.336.ip_ &tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A// tools.monster.com/perfectcareer http://www.discoveryour personality.com/Strong.html |
I need help getting connected to people to start networking. | LinkedIn.comFacebook.comMySpace.comNaymz.com
Ryze.com Twitter.com Meetup.com |
I need help finding jobs, learning to write résumés, and general career advice. | Monster.comCareerbuilder.comjobs.aol.comRead the book What Color is Your Parachute, by Richard Bolles
Check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics Careerjournal.com Workforce.com Talk to your school counselor Careermaze.com Mediabistro.com Higheredjobs.com |
I need help paying for education. | Staffordloan.comCollegeboard.comFafsa.ed.govTuitionpay.com
Afford.com Read my book The Online Student’s User Manual, which is also helpful for all online student questions other than financial. |
I need help with diet and exercise information. | sparkpeople.combodyforlife.comfitday.comdietfacts.com |
I need help with optimism and happiness. | Read The Art of Happiness,by the Dalai LamaRead The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey |
I am getting older and need career advice for my age group. | aarp.org/money/workCareermaze.comhttp://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/workers_fifty_plus.pdf |
I need help to avoid work-at-home scams. | Read my articleInvestopedia.com/articles/pf/09/work-at-home-scam.asp?&Viewed=1 |
I need some other suggested reading to help me reinvent myself. | Read Career Renegade, byJonathan FieldsRead Reinventing Yourself, bySteve Chandler |
I need help with information about expected salaries. | Salary.comIndeed.com salary toolNew York Times Salary ToolsGlassdoor.com
TheRileyGuide.com |
I need help keeping track of my job search progress. | Myprogress.comWorksolver.comExecrelate.com |
I need help researching companies for interviews. | Google.comExecrelate.comCareerTV.com |
I need help finding out about good places to work. | http://www.aarp.org/money/work/best_employers/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/
bestcompanies/2010/ www.hoovers.com/free biz.yahoo.com/ic/ ind_index.html |