Dear Us, the Millennial Generation:
As Kid President would say, "I'm talking to you… yeah you!" We are the Millennial Generation, defined as those born after 1980, who have come to age in the new millennium (Pew Research). Statistics show that we are the most confident, connected, most ethnically and racially diverse and possible on our way to being the most educated generation in history (Pew Research). As awesome as we are, we also have our downfalls.
Studies have shown that we are all these things along with being the most over-parented generation of all time (Pew Research). Is this because we've lived through terrorist attacks, massive gun shootings in schools, malls, theaters and grocery store parking lots? Or is it because we no longer know our neighbors, have block parties and therefore cannot trust anyone? We do indeed have great confidence, but why? Is it because we, as Bruce Tulgan (2009) states in his book, have always gotten a trophy even when we didn't win first place? Why bruise our tender egos, just give us a trophy to build our confidence… that wouldn't create any backlash in the future, right? I'm not too sure of it.
Here's my theory - we are the most educated generation in history, whether by choice of continuing our education or by forcing ourselves back to school because we can't get a job and our parents, who most continue to live with, keep yelling at us because we sit at home hoping to get that awesome job we went to college for. Because we are the most educated, we believe we should come out of college with the $50k+ job we were promised in our 4-5 years of working towards receiving our Bachelors degree, despite the fact that we only have 1-2 years at minimum of "real world" life experience at best. We believe that we are equal to those generations before us that have put in years of hard work to get to where they are at and that we should just walk into their job without putting in any blood, sweat or tears into it. Unfortunately, this isn't the reality we live in.
We may be the most educated generation, but studies show that we do not have the same work or moral ethic than generations before us (Pew Research). We feel entitled to the jobs that we do not yet deserve. Getting our "dream job" just does not happen! It's time to realize, Millennial Generation, we are not entitled. It takes thousands of hours of hard work, passion, the need for continual education, on-the-job training, a handful of great mentors and individuals who will fight for you and stand by you. We have to build meaningful relationships, believe in the work we do and set goals to attain that Everlasting Gobstopper known as our "dream job." Out of everything we do, we have to be responsible for our own selves by applying to those jobs that will get our foot in the door. We have to start at the bottom and work our way up, just like everyone has had to, despite our many degrees. And most of all, we have to stop posting every bit of whining and ranting on our employers and future employers on social media sites - hiring officials do research on potential employees and will see your Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and the other sites you're on, so don't do it!
Remember this, yes we are the most educated, crazy awesome generation but we are not entitled to anything. We are no longer children who will get a trophy just for participating . "We've got air coming though our nose, a heart beat…. get up and do something!," Kid President. Work hard, play hard and get things done!
Sources:
Pew Research: Social & Demographic Trends. Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/02/24/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change/
Bruce Tulgan. 2009. "Not Everyone Gets a Trophy." http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-everyone-gets-a-trophy-bruce-tulgan/1112034818
Pep Talk. Kid President. http://youtu.be/l-gQLqv9f4o
No comments:
Post a Comment