Where the hell does this "we were all given medals for trying" meme come from? I came in fourth or fifth place or sixth place in a lot of activities as a kid and I never got a got a trophy for any of them. Is this idea backed up by any kind of analysis? Is there an "ur-quote" somewhere that all subsequent repetitions of this idea have descended from?<p>More to the point, the real salient feature of the "Milennial" job market experience is ruthless competition for top colleges and elite jobs, with sharply declining prospects for those who don't make the cut. No generation since the Depression has had to throw so many elbows and jump through as many hoops to carve out a livable career, which makes these kind of coddled-kids feature-length sighs incredibly frustrating to read.<p>The specific instance that this guy is shaking is head over is especially silly. He's throwing this kid some b.s. resume-boosting make-work basically as a personal favor, and he's surprised the kid doesn't treat it like a white-shoe interview?
Wow, here is the conversation this blog is about [1].<p>I'm horrified. Not so much that this guy wants his 'friend' to suddenly start acting like an anonymous jobseeker, in order to get work he is being offered for being a 'friend'.<p>No, I'm just horrified that the author is comfortable boasting about his arrogance. 'Silly college kid'? That's an amazing lack of respect for a human, never mind a prospective employee. I think any high value prospective employee coming across this blog would run a mile.<p>And why is this guy who graduated in 2005 writing articles about how terrible young people are?<p>I'm surprised to see a PR guy embarrass himself publicly like this. Vance Crowe, if you are reading this, is this part of some strategy?<p>[1]<a href="http://static.squarespace.com/static/51683bece4b0af794dea1f9d/t/519d0c09e4b040c7ea721879/1369246792616/photo.PNG" rel="nofollow">http://static.squarespace.com/static/51683bece4b0af794dea1f9...</a>
Am I the only one who doesn't find that job inquiry via text not that bad?<p>There's no text or AOL-speak. In fact, it's worded better than most emails I receive at work. The author and the college kid have what seems like a pretty informal relationship. It's not like he's texting back some HR person he's never met!
This article is ageist.<p>Communication problems and impolite behavior cross all generations, it is not just limited to Millenials.<p>"Step 3. Remember, Millennials have been raised on a steady diet of compliments and praise."<p>Is this not true of every generation?<p>To me, this whole article reeks of "kids today" type angst.
I think what this comes down to is that if you're a young employee and you're interested in being seen as a rising star, you've got to have a lot of cultural awareness. You should be able to combine an ability to leverage new technologies and work patterns to your relative advantage while also being able to assimilate into established structures. The fact that I was raised to adhere to traditional corporate culture has been an asset my entire career.<p>I had a good friend, my same age, who worked at the same company as me, and he didn't have the benefit of a strong cultural pre-education. As a result, he made a number of gaffes in etiquette that collectively hurt the perception of his seriousness in the workplace--things like pranks, being to "familiar" with people, silly voice mail greetings, etc. All these things you can get away with if you're knocking it out of the park, but if you're a regular, competent employee, you're going to find yourself passed over for leadership in favor of people who are a bit more culturally aware, all other things being equal.<p>It's a complicated world. Why should a well-written text message be worse than a well-written e-mail? I'm sure there are several reasons, but the point is that it's not something most young people consider. In today's global, connected, and rapidly changing world, we have choices between many mediums for communication and constantly have to code-switch for different audiences (especially if you're a minority, but that's a whole other topic). The folks who are going to rise are those who are very in-tune, either by intuition or education, with the connotations of the communication and presentation choices they make.
I find the tone and content of this article wildly obnoxious. It addresses the entire situation from a place of undeserved righteousness. <i>These pesky kids, how do we let them know that we've already decided how business people ought to act permanently?</i> I have mental images of this guy firing Zuck for showing up to work in a hoodie.<p>Seriously though, the way young people think about personal information, privacy, and transparency is going to change the way we act at work. I'm at a startup now where our founders are a bit younger than I am (I'm in my early thirties). I remember being really surprised and even off-put when I got Facebook friend requests from them. I was used to keeping my personal and work life pretty distinct. That wasn't as much the world they lived in. They were used to the idea of working with their friends. Now it's super normal to me, and the company really benefits from the fact that we're all actively interested in each-other's lives. It's a bit of a paradigm shift and you can like it or dislike it but I think to paint generational differences as universally 'bad' is really unfortunate and short-sighted.
Is there solid research that shows that the Millenial generation actually holds the characteristics listed in this article?<p>I know I've seen some of them in my friends, and I've certainly seen a lot of people reference them -- but common experience doesn't equate to fact. I'd love to see work that addresses the generalities with rigorous evidence so I can know whether to lean on them or not.
"They don’t know what texting during a meeting makes others think"<p>I ran into this recently while wearing my Sales Engineer hat.
I use Evernote on my Nexus 4 to take notes on everything but it clearly gave off a negative impression. The looks of disapproval ceased after I started using a tablet and leaving the phone out of sight.<p>There seems to be a generation gap between people that fully use smartphones and those who view phones as just phones and tablets as a acceptable replacement for legal pads and laptops.
From step #2:<p>"One thing that older employees often don’t understand about Millenials is that Millenials have been rewarded their entire lives for doing things as fast and as efficiently as possible. Video games, homework assignments, texting/chatting online, finding fun things in the far reaches of the Internet all rewarded young people for doing things incredibly quickly.<p>Very few, if any, points were given for taking time, looking at details, learning slowly. They have learned that mistakes can be corrected but that time is of the essence. If you need to change that line of thinking, you will need to explain to them why they should not value speed above other attributes, show them their are rewards for slowing down."<p>As a millenial, this really resonated with me. And I can verify with numbers (read: test scores) that this line of thinking is in many ways at odds with a lot the "conventional" 20th century.
Why is it inappropriate to communicate about a job for a presumed friend via text message? I mean I think it would depend on the relationship, maybe the "kid" just judged it wrongly. Wouldn't calling be much more intrusive, for example?<p>Also, perhaps new generations really are not so keen on traditional employer/employee relationships. And I don't think they are the only way to get work done.
To me, the biggest problem of this guy isn't his use of text message, it's his attitude of entitlement "what do you have to offer me?"<p>I think that since the two have been hanging out regularly for half a year, it would be acceptable (to me, at least) to ask for opportunities available politely over text (email would be much better of course), but for him to make it sound like he's hot commodity and the author is the one who can't wait to hire him, is just plain silly.
> Step 1. Make sure that what you think is inappropriate has a business reason behind it.<p>What is the business reason behind thinking text is in appropriate method of communication. I'd be willing to argue anything "in appropriate" doesn't have a business reason behind it. "In appropriate" is short hand for "in violation of social norms". And social norms vary by culture, social status, and tellingly, age.<p>I'm 42.
It's interesting that some communication mediums are considered more "formal" than others.<p>SMS messages and emails are just ways of sending ASCII around, but one is considered more "official" than the other. Of course as time moves on these expectations change.<p>For example, in the early days of social networks it would probably have seemed crazy that serious businesses would be setting up profiles on these and giving them high priority.<p>Nowadays I am often surprised by the amount my cooler friends use facebook/twitter and the like for business dealings and job search.
As a guy whose wife is trying to figure out what to do for my 50th birthday party, I would like to ask the author: WTF is wrong with you? A kid you see in person once a month sends a text about a job possibility that you proposed, and that calls for a snarky answer and a blog post bemoaning "these kids today"?<p>The author grew up without cellphones and social networks? I grew up with a party line (look it up) and no computer until I was 17, and I fail to see what the big deal is. It's not like it was some random kid off the street. For my personal tastes, I'd <i>rather</i> the kid text me than call me.<p>These kids today, making us real elderly curmudgeons look bad.
tl;dr: <i>Millennials don’t have the same view on authority from above that seems like the natural world order to older employees</i><p>don't bother looking for examples of actual inappropriate behavior -- the only examples the author can come up with are text messaging instead of calling, and getting bored at boring meetings.
I think the real jerk in this story is the author, since he abruptly decided that a person who believed they were friends had to bow and scrape to him once he started asking about a job. I'm roughly the same age as this guy, and I just think he's just being crotchety.<p>Maybe his spirit has been beaten down through years of happily taking people's BS at some fascist workplace, but not every company is like that.<p>_Your_ workplace culture isn't a good fit for this person. Quit speaking for the rest of us, dude.
<a href="http://www.hotel-online.com/Trends/CarolVerret/GenerationY_Nov2000.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.hotel-online.com/Trends/CarolVerret/GenerationY_N...</a><p>> Eric postulates that because their earliest influences have been television and Nintendo, they are “stimulus junkies”, easily bored. They are skeptical with well-developed garbage detectors and desensitized, which means that respect isn’t yours by virtue of your title. Eric says, “They crave the limelight, having noticed that fame comes to many for simply being in the right place at the right time and they are blunt and expressive. The good news is that all of this stimulus has made them adept at multi-tasking, fast thinking, passionately tolerant in terms of diversity and astoundingly creative.”
~November 2000
I turned 50 last month. When I was young I loved doing things as fast as I could. Video games has nothing to do with it, obviously. It was youth and testosterone. This has nothing to do with Millennials, and everything to do with teenagers not knowing manners at all. I had friends when I was a teen who didn't know. If a kid knows good manners and doesn't use them, its simple to tell him to flip to the good stuff. If he doesn't, its nearly impossible, although I did see the Military did pull it off.
The problem with categories like 'millennials' is that it generalizes an entire generation of people and makes it easy for people not within that group to say rude and untruthful things about an entire set of people. Instead of trying to understand where a group is coming from, it makes it easy for people to simply brush off any differences as inappropriate instead of understanding where a group might come from.<p>I've hired plenty of what you might call 'millenials', many via text, and they have been some of the hardest working, most professional people I've ever worked with. I've also been courted for an exceptional job via text, Twitter and Facebook. The hiring manager was in her 40s, and she understood those interfaces better than I did.<p>Hiring should be very personal, not cold and professional. Hiring is about getting to know someone that is the right fit for the team so that the hire brings passion and cleverness to the table. Even at a larger company this should be the case.<p>Hiring is changing, and has changed for many people. I don't think it's fair to force people into what someone somewhere considered a proper 'hiring process' if you end up hiring someone from a piece of paper and not for who they are. This kind of process can cause companies to lose talent, flexibility, and ultimately money.<p>I'm not suggesting that everyone hire in the way I do, but in the way that's most suited to the person you're trying to hire. Having empathy and attempting to understand and respect people on a case by case basis is important, especially when you'll be working closely with them.<p>I'm not a 'millennial' or whatever generalization buzzword some individuals use to make themselves feel more comfortable with the uncertainty of different people in a workplace, but I work with people of all ages and understand each of them as an individual, not as a generation. I communicate in the format they are most comfortable with. I text my boss, who is two generations above me, and email some of the more formal, younger members of our team. The college student in this post is not in the wrong in his communication methods. I understand that the author may be trying to teach him a lesson, but it's not that cut and dry across all industries, especially tech.
The author expects us to be outraged that a text message was used to inquire about an opportunity for "...some drudgework that might be good for a resume and could bring in some spare cash."<p>The real outrage is the entitlement of the author and many employers enjoying the slack labor market.<p>Millennials have been handed a very raw deal by their elders.
OK, so I'm 35, and I don't have much of social life, so I really don't know the rules.<p>Now I am wondering, is it really inappropriate to use text for certain types of communication, or in this case?<p>I mean, I would consider sending an email for the same thing, just because it would allow me to take my time and edit my pitch.<p>A face-to-face or phone call might be be considered more appropriate by some, but on the other hand, would you really want to have to reject someone face-to-face if it were the case that you didn't want to give them the job?<p>I think the idea is that a text is easy to send and doesn't involve enough effort, so its sort of an insult to use it for that.<p>I have a feeling that this is a cultural misunderstanding and that texts should actually be OK for a lot of things.<p>If he had received a typed snail-mail with the same text, would he be offended? The only significant difference there as far as I'm concerned is the vastly greater latency and waste of resources delivering a piece of paper.
"Step 4. Be prepared to have your feedback to be politely/blatantly rejected."<p>Wikipedia was an interesting choice for an example, but I'd think the explosive growth of advertising would be a better example. Also political extremism... someone smart enough to be stuck on either extreme recognizes that something distasteful, like extremism, or perhaps a negative review, is fact, probably meaningless.