Change In Progress

Your First Job...

Most college seniors will soon graduate and start their first jobs. My firm also has a good group of recent graduates joining us.  This time of year always takes me back to the memories of my first corporate job.  Here are just a couple of thoughts for those brave souls about to start their careers.

 

DO NOT THINK YOU ARE TOO GOOD TO...copy, bind, research, set up conference calls, put together boring spreadsheets...etc. Yes, you just received a very expensive college degree and you have knowledge you want to put to work on important tasks.  But you must demonstrate to your boss you are a team player and willing to do any task from the boring to the most engaging. In time you will get more responsibility after you prove yourself.

 

DO NOT GET INTO CORPORATE CLIQUES...organizations who have a large number of young employees tend to have cliques--it's like going back to high school.  When you first start a job, lay low and talk and get to know everyone.  You don't want to be associated with a certain clique before knowing what those individuals are about.  The best advice I ever received about friends and work was that you are not at work to make friends. You are there to excel in your career and make money.  Those areas need to be your focus- not making friends.  Work friendships will naturally form over time you don't need to stress about joining the popular group.

 

DO NOT REVEAL TOO MUCH ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE...so you become good friends with some of your co-workers but hold yourself back from revealing every detail of your hot date from last Friday night- or the boy/girl you are crushing on, or the drinking binge of a weekend you had.  People talk- and the last thing you want is to have the bits of your personal life get out in the public. Use discretion.  You want your managers to hear about what a great job you are doing. You do not want to be judged on your personal affairs.

 

EVERYONE HAS GREAT IDEAS BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO TO PRESENT IT TO...I received this great advice from one of the VPs I worked for.  I used to go into his office with a GREAT idea on a daily basis. Ideas that could have really improved our business. But what he taught me is that while it's important to have great ideas it's equally important to play the politics and convince the right people. Find a champion to really buy into your great idea. Maybe you had a great marketing idea. Have your champion try it out.  If it succeeds other executives are going to naturally want to replicate the idea.  Always try out an idea on a smaller scale instead of trying to convince the organization as a whole to implement it. 

 

BE CURIOUS...a lot of factors go into what makes a successful person.  But I believe a thirst for knowledge and curiosity is what sets some employees apart from the rest.  Just because school is over doesn't mean your learning is over. Read every single day.  Read about the field you are in.  Read about the job you eventually want to do.  Read newspapers, magazines, blogs, research...etc.  Also, share some of the interesting findings with your managers or co-workers. Just send a simple email stating: I read this article in (XYZ) and found it interesting. Just wanted to share it with you.

Henry Ford said it best, "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." 

 

ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE NEXT STEP AND START PREPARING...employees need to make sure they are absolute rock stars in their current position.  But they also need to think about the next step and how to get there.  An example of how I got into consulting... I was working in marketing at my current company but I knew I wanted to be in our Change Management practice. There were no openings on the team but I told my immediate manager that the topic of change management interested me and I wanted to be put on a change management marketing campaign.  He agreed.  I worked directly with the VP of that practice and got to know him.  After doing a couple of months of research on the area I set up a meeting with him.  I told him that I was very interested in change management and it felt like a right fit for me.  I knew he didn't have any associate positions open but I asked him how I can prepare myself to interview for the position if he ever had an opening. I wanted to get his suggestions on books I should read on the area.  He suggested a couple of them which our methodology was based on.  Then we set up calls to discuss what I learned.  Eight months later there was an opening and I got the job!   

 

FIND MENTORS...you need a good supportive board of advisors to be successful.  Your mentors can range from someone just a couple levels above you to the VP of your group.  Figure out what you want to learn from that person and approach them.  Just set up a time to talk to them and pick their brain.  Don't go into the meeting and ask, "Will you be my mentor?" that relationship will bond naturally over time. Most people in corporate America are eager to help out new employees and give them advice. All you gotta do is ASK!!

 

DRESS APPROPRIATELY...when you first begin a job dress more conservative than you normally would. Also, dress up to work your first week even if it's a business casual environment.  This way you can see what everyone else wears and you can see what is appropriate and what's not.  General rule, if you question what your wearing is appropriate- it's probably not.  Ladies, be careful about your skirt length.  Skirts should not be more than an inch or two above your knee.  Your shirts should not be body tight. You want to represent a professional image at all times.   Do not over accessorize.  Men, make sure you are dressed neatly and are well groomed. 

 

 

 

 

 

GEN Y - Not Simply Defined By Piercings And Tattoos

Yesterday CNNMoney.com ran an article about Generation Y employees in corporate America.  Click Here To Read The Article

Its aim is to enlighten a workforce filled with baby boomers and Gen X members how to cope and deal with Gen Y professionals.

The writer of the article, Nadira A. Hira describes Gen Y workers as:

They're ambitious, they're demanding and they question everything, so if there isn't a good reason for that long commute or late night, don't expect them to do it. When it comes to loyalty, the companies they work for are last on their list - behind their families, their friends, their communities, their co-workers and, of course, themselves.”

The article is peppered with over generalized descriptions of Gen Y workers as:

“colleague with two tattoos, a piercing, no watch and a shameless propensity for chatting up the boss”.

Reading the article appalled me a bit.  I am a member of the Gen Y workforce.  I don’t see any of my 20 something year old colleagues showing off their tattoos nor their numerous piercing. There are no guys in my office that wear funky graphic T-Shirts underneath their blazers on a work day.  Sure Gen Y members have their own sense of style, are liberated and express themselves openly. However, the article seemed to be about Gen Y members in Corporate America and in that case Nadira’s description of its members was blatantly wrong. What Gen Y members wear outside of the office is not really a concern.

Lets take a step back and examine what changed from Generation X to Generation Y employees.  Generation X didn’t come from an era where their parents and society preached “the sky is the limit- you can be anything you want!”  The vision most of them probably had in their minds was to get a job, get married, get a mortgage and have children. In college they didn’t have hundreds and hundreds of courses and majors to choose from.  What really defines the Generation Y workforce?  I don’t think we can really define it- I think we are just a work in progress.

We want more from corporate America- that's for sure.  We want to be given responsibility and yes, sometimes we just aren’t patient enough to stick around for a couple years, prove ourselves to our bosses, and then get responsibility.  We want things to happen at lightening speed.  We want to be challenged at work.  We want to participate in volunteer efforts and give back to society.  We think outside the box.  And yes, as Nadira mentioned in her article, we do tend to question a lot of things.  But change only happens when things are questioned- so I think this is a positive thing that we bring to the table.

What Nadira’s article didn’t point out is the desire of a lot of companies to recruit these Gen Y members right out of college and the value they bring.  Most organizations know that they will not have a competitive edge if they just keep hiring senior level employees.  Organizations know that if Gen Y members are not challenged and happy the first year of employment they will jump ship and move onto the next job. 

So what can organizations do to get a good return on their Gen Y investments?

Organizations need to be open minded.  They need to understand when they start hiring Gen Y employees they will need some hand holding and be assimilated into the new organization.  Also, senior leadership needs to recognize that bringing Gen Y employees and mixing them up with the Gen X workforce is going to require a marriage of two different breeds of people.  I think organizations who are open to recreating their corporate culture by taking the best of Gen X and Gen Y are the most successful in keeping these young employees. 

I am lucky to be a part of an organization who recognize the value that Gen Y workers bring to our company.  I work at an organization where I can go into my CEOs office and tell him about this great idea I have that will improve our business.  I am privileged that I am allowed to take initiative at work.

My advice to Gen Y then is to seek out organizations that are willing to take chances on young employees.  Organizations that allow an entrepreneur spirit.  Organizations that have open door policies and who foster creative thinking.  Write down your values and all the things you want in your dream job.  Don’t think so much about the salary you want to get paid.  It’s easy to be swayed into taking a job because of the high salary it pays.  But the salary is not worth it if the organization doesn’t have the right environment you need to succeed.  When trying to find that perfect job, I suggest that Gen Y members think more so about the environment and the type of management they would work best with.  I firmly believe if you find that perfect environment which fosters and challenges you- you will succeed- and success will come with financial rewards.