The Differences Between X and Y

Normally I despise labels; however, the one chosen to describe my generation seems to fit - Generation X. Us Gen X'ers are the "slackers," the frustrated, cynical underachievers of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Remember the students in any John Hughes film? Yep, that was me, my friends, and my classmates back in High School. We grew up to become the cast of Singles – young, recent college graduates, broke, unable to decide what we wanted to be now that we’re all grown up.

Despite all this and the generally negative image cast upon us by the media, my generation and I somehow managed to become successful in our chosen careers. Some of us (myself included) have even switched careers once or twice, and continued being successful.

You're probably asking yourselves where I'm going with this...

The other day I was talking with a potential candidate - this one, one who was born during the Reagan Administration's first term, during the era known as Generation Y. As I started talking about a position currently available with a client of mine, she stopped me to ask the following questions within the first five minutes of the conversation:

· What accounts and clients will I be working on?
· What’s the salary and benefits package?
· What level in the organization is this position? If it isn’t Senior or Manager, then I’m not interested.
· How soon will I be eligible for promotion?
· Oh, I’m leaving for 3 weeks in Europe in December, so I’m going to need 15 days of paid vacation.
· What other areas can I work with? And, if I can’t pick these areas, I’m just going to pass on this opportunity.

Generation Y? Seems more like Generation WTF to me. I’ve noticed more and more Gen Y’ers who approach their career searches like this – like they are fully within their rights to dictate the terms after *at most* three to five years of “on the job” experience. I have candidates with 15 to 20 years experience who don’t have the chutzpah to do this – and they probably should!

Why does the younger generation think they are entitled to be so picky?

1. They think because their skills are “fresh” and they are more comfortable with the new technologies out there – things they’ve grown up with, like email and cell phones.

2. They don’t see the offsets of demanding rapid promotions and raises. That is, they cannot (or will not) fathom the possibility of ever being downsized. So they don’t understand that, if they get promoted to managing an entire department just a year or two out of school, then are downsized a year later, they really won’t be able to compete with someone who rose steadily up the ranks. Also, raises come with promotions. They can price themselves out of comparable positions and promotions if their current salary is too high by industry standards. They don’t all understand the phrase “overpaid and underqualified.” It’s much better to be “in the middle” of the pack – your odds are incredibly better there.

3. Unlike generations before, Gen Y’ers expect to have fun and balance work to allow for this. Many Gen Y’ers figure that, with all the technological advances, they’re entitled to take time off. All work and no play?! No chance! Unlike generations before them, this younger group doesn’t see unused vacation time as a “badge of honor.”

Look, I’m trying not to generalize too much here. I’m just saying this is something I see professionally on a daily basis. There are too many 22 to 28 year olds who come across my desk for me to not see a correlation.

I usually need to explain, very gently so as to not hurt anyone’s feelings, that you need to be realistic. Potential employees cannot dictate all the terms of employment. They need to understand that they must be flexible and accepting of the potential employers’ policies and needs. And, while the majority of my Generation Y candidates are accepting and adapting, there are a few who hang up on me and never reestablish contact. That’s too bad because they are (for the most part) ideal potential candidates in terms of education and skills, they just don’t understand how Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers manage employees.

While writing this, I started thinking Who is my ideal candidate? I guess it would be someone with the current knowledge of a Generation Y member, the understanding of a Generation X’er, combined with the professional drive of a Baby Boomer. Put them all together in the blender, hit “whirl”, and out comes the ideal “Candidate Smoothie”. lol

Well, I should wrap this up, as I am starting to feel really old. Maybe I should yell at the young whippersnappers to get off my lawn? : P

- Comment welcome.
Mary Stewart McGovern
President
Stewart McGovern Enterprises
http://www.stewartmcgovern.com/

*****Check out Mary's new ebook, I've Graduated from College. Now What? Or, How to Go About Starting Your Career and Not Finding Just Another JOB. Now available for purchase on our website, http://www.stewartmcgovern.com/!