25th
You Suck In The Face
That’s what someone my (the Millennial) generation would say about this article shown on 60 Minutes.
While there is a lot of truth scattered throughout the article, it completely misrepresents the professional profile of people my age.
This is going to be an unorganized rant, so bear with me.
You can find me wearing flip flops at all hours of the day, in any type of weather (even snow, sorry Mom). We are extremely tech saavy. We say fantastical instead of fantastic. We are coddled by our parents. So what? That doesn’t necessarily carry over into the office.
- I’ve been to college. I understand the value of company culture and I’m going to conform to it. Working at a startup like Facebook is very different from working at a Wall Street firm. We don’t have the perception that we can, “roll into work with [our] iPods and flip flops around noon.” It doesn’t work like that. They’re confusing company culture with an entire generation. We’ll fit in whether its Zappos or an I-Bank. We’ll show up at the same time (or earlier) as everyone else. We’ll probably leave later too. I’ll happily show up between 6-6:30am every day. That’s because I’m hardworking and driven— at least the article gets that right.
- Even more ridiculous is our perceived arrogance:
It’s a future of sweet talking bosses, no more “Pay your dues just like I did.” If this generation knows anything, it’s that there are more jobs than young people to fill them.
“I believe that they actually think of themselves like merchandise on eBay. ‘If you don’t want me, Mr. Employer, I’ll go sell myself down the street. I’ll probably get more money. I’ll definitely get a better experience. And by the way, they’ll adore me. You only like me,’” Salzman says.
Give me a fucking a break. If half of this ridiculous statement was true, I’d have graduated with a job. Also, it’s not about the money. Don’t get me wrong, I want to make money— lots of it. But, it doesn’t have to happen (and won’t) right now. I’m going to pick a job that gets me where I want to go later in life— not the one that pays the most.
- Once we are in the workplace, our our bosses can’t, “be harsh. You cannot tell them you’re disappointed in them. You can’t really ask them to live and breathe the company.” If I’m doing a bad job, please tell me. I realize that there are different management styles. Some people are the “kick in the butt” type of managers. We’re fine with that. Do whatever it takes to help me improve. Oh, and you can expect me to breathe the company. As noted before, I’m competitive, driven, and hard working. I take pride in my work and my job.
- I promise that you won’t hear from my mother in any way, shape, or form:
Zaslow says that the coddling virus continues to eat away even when junior goes off to college. “I heard from several professors who said, a student will come up after class and say, ‘I don’t like my grade, and my mom wants to talk to you, here’s the phone,’”
…
“Career services departments are complaining about the parents who are coming to update their child’s resume. And in fact, you go to employers, and they’re starting to express concern now with the parents who will phone HR, saying, ‘But my little Susie or little Johnny didn’t get the performance evaluation that I think they deserve,’” Crane says.
Really? I don’t even know how to respond to that. I find it a little hard to believe. Sounds like elementary school.
I’m leaving out a lot of misrepresentation from this article because I really don’t feel like getting into it. I think you get the point.
60 Minutes— you suck in the face. There, I’ve said it. Way to misrepresent an entire generation. You consulted tons of “experts”— how many people my age did you talk to? We may live differently outside of the office, but inside its a different story.