Avionics News October 2013 - 70

series

BUSINESS BASICS
B Y

G R E G

L A S L O

Gen Wise

How Millennials Can Thrive in the Workplace

T

his is not a good time to be
a young person. According
to Gallup, if you’re between
18 and 29 – a member of the
“Millennial” generation or “Gen
Y” – the odds are better that you’re
unemployed or underemployed than
you have a full-time job. Even if
you’re one of the fortunate 43 percent, your reward for all those years
of schoolwork, a steady paycheck,
goes immediately toward paying off
outsized student loans. Lucky you.
But according to experts, getting
a job may have been the easy part.
Keeping it – and turning it into a
lifelong career – means your work
has just begun.
I don’t mean to sound old, but
your co-workers have assumptions
about you. They have heard the stories about your generation, and none
paints you and your peers in a particularly flattering light.
Some of the research bears them
out. According a study by MTV
called “No Collar Workers,” you
demand frequent feedback and recognition from time-strapped supervisors, you believe that those managers could learn a thing or two from
you, and you believe you should

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2013

have input into how projects get
done, even if this is your first time
at bat. Altogether, it depicts your
cohort as a bossy, self-absorbed,
idealistic group of employees who
are out of touch with how business
really works.

types, they’ll have to work extra
hard just to get noticed,” said
Rich Milgram, founder and CEO.
“Nowadays, it’s not good enough to
be good enough.”
In other words, whether this
criticism of an entire group applies

... Yo u r c o - w o r k e r s h av e a s s u m p t i o n s a b o u t
yo u . T h e y h av e h e a r d t h e s t o r i e s a b o u t yo u r
g e n e r at i o n , a n d n o n e pa i n t s yo u a n d yo u r p e e r s
i n a pa r t i c u l a r ly f l at t e r i n g l i g h t.
It gets worse.
According to a Beyond.com survey, human-resources professionals
don’t think workers of your generation are good team players, or that
you have functional interpersonal
communication skills, or that you’re
loyal to employers who pay a lot of
money to hire and train you, or that
you even work hard.
Ouch.
So this is what you’re up against,
and even Beyond.com seemed to
sympathize. “Until Millennials are
able to overcome existing stereo-

to you personally isn’t important.
Rather, you’ll need to work hard to
overcome perceptions by embracing
your role, building your professional
reputation and managing your career
with wisdom and wit.
CROSSING OVER
The good news is the brains and
effort you put into your training will
help you succeed beyond the campus quad. The bad news is you’ll
have to apply them differently to
adapt to the world of the workplace,
as you learn how to fit into a shop
http://www.Beyond.com http://www.Beyond.com
Avionics News October 2013

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