Gen Y: We DO Have Drive
This week I’ve jumped into doing social media for Off Campus Media in addition to my regular accounts. Like any other good social media player, the first thing I did was set up my new keywords and begin monitoring. Two of my keywords, “millenials” and “gen y” began gathering posts immediately, and excitedly I dove into what my TweetDeck prepared for me. Being part of Gen Y myself, I was excited to explore the feeds, however it wasn’t long before I felt defeated by the many articles proclaiming Gen Y as lazy, inarticulate, and lacking independence.
Yes, I’m a recent college grad, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to procrastinate my life away while I eat pizza and watch Jersey Shore. During my undergraduate career, I studied abroad, held two internships, participated in athletics and several student organizations, and then graduated summa cum laude—ahead of schedule. I couldn’t have accomplished that by being lazy. And I’m only one of millions of college students worldwide—I promise I’m not the only one with drive.
What about the Gen Y-ers starting businesses, engaging in politics, and attending graduate school? Record numbers of recent grads are applying to graduate school immediately after undergrad, and many others are facing a job search in the highest unemployment period since 1983.
It’s a shame that the other end of the spectrum, the party-too-much-lazy-unorganized members of Gen Y are getting all of the press. I know there are others out there just like me—working hard, striving for success, and not stopping until they achieve it.
I’m about to say something that might make other Gen Y-ers cringe and older generations gasp, but I’m going to say it anyway—I think that all of us can learn from each other. Older generations have the work experience, the client relations knowledge, and the management expertise. They know the “ins and outs” of business. They are examples to learn from.
In contrast, Gen Y-ers are the “new kids on the block.” They are naïve and in many ways inexperienced in the business world, but at the same time they are tech savvy, social media mavens and multi-tasking machines. Gen Y has grown up with technology and is quick to learn new processes and gadgets. During an average work day, I have approximately 10-15 browser windows open, use several applications at a time, and learn at least 5 different types of applications each month.
Think of what could happen if we merge these two experiences—if older generations embrace Gen Y’s multi-tasking methods and accept that the “traditional work life” is changing, and if Gen Y-ers learn from the example of older generations and accept their knowledge.
It may be idealistic, but if we can focus on working together and learning from each other rather than complaining about our differences, I believe we could be unstoppable.
