Studying the Post-Recession Careers of Millennials

Earlier this year, I joined the Career Advisory Board, a panel of academic, corporate, and career experts sponsored by DeVry University.  Our goal as a group is to provide insight, advice and counsel on trends, economic forces and cultural shifts that impact career opportunities.  

In my role as a founding member, I helped to devise a research study, The Future of Millennial Careers, which took current thinking about the careers of Millennials (or current twenty-somethings, born 1980-95) a step further.  We wanted to assess how Millennials and their managers felt about the younger set’s future career potential given the recent economic downturn, and some of our findings were surprising.

For example, the research demonstrated that young professionals have a new definition of success, but that hiring managers don’t see a substantial change.  For a successful career, doing work that is personally meaningful and achieving a sense of accomplishment are just as important to Millennials as earning a high salary, but Millennial managers still perceive compensation as being the primary motivator for their younger employees.  And perhaps due to the recent recession, young professionals are being far more cautious about career moves than traditionally believed by managers who labeled them “job jumpers.”

Fortunately, Millennials and their managers did agree on the opportunity areas for Millennials to develop their workplace skills.  For instance:  Fifty-one percent of managers believe Millennials exhibit an inability to accept criticism from their managers; 54 percent of Millennials are in agreement. Fifty-five percent of managers believe Millennials lack patience with established processes; 47 percent of Millennials agree.  And thirty-eight percent of Millennials believe their generation cannot communicate effectively; 35 percent of managers agree.

The research results are detailed in a white paper that also offers actionable advice for working Millennials and their managers.  We suggest, for example, that managers help Millennial master transferable skills like such project management, marketing and finance that will allow the younger set to succeed in their future careers.  We also recommend formal and informal mentoring programs so that the generations may learn from one another, and in-house generational dynamics training so that managers and Millennials can address and remedy some of their communication challenges.

Comments

[Bob]

To be honest, as a GenY worker, I don't get this stuff about 'meaningful' work. The only reason I go to work is for money, and while having meaning in my work is nice, as long as the work environment isn't unpleasant, I'd rather take a $10,000 bonus over feeling special.

[Alexandra Levit]

@Bob: Well, there are individual differences among Gen Y-ers just like any other generation, but overall people are saying they would choose passion over money.

[Rajib]

This observation coldun't be more accurate: this fervor for non-commitment is also accompanied with a desire for greatness.But, to offer another perspective, do you think part of the lack of willing to commit comes from an instinct to not accept mediocrity? Like you, I'm on the early part of the millenial wave. After college, when it was time to get a job, I took a sales job that wasn't challenging o related to my major. It was, however, a means to an end an end of not having any money, not having my own place and not having insurance. I was happy with doing something mundane for the time, but knew it wasn't a permanent situation. I lasted 2 years.On the other hand, I've also had friends who have passed on multiple job offers because they want to immediately be placed in a situation that puts them on the path to greatness. For some, it's been joining a small start-up and for others it's been joining a Fortune 500 where they can carve out a new niche at an established company. Both, however, share that desire for greatness and would not settle for something they thought would have no mental or fiscal reward for them.