1stFive Experience: A Gen-Z Breakout Session with Mollie Rosen

The house was packed with interns in the enviable position of hearing reflections on the media industry and the individual career paths and choices of senior executives amp160The tables then turned during breakout sessions where the 1stFivers had the opportunity to reflect on their summer experiences and project on their future prospects in mediaMollie Rosen Executive Vice President 4As led a spirited discussion about their individual internships their projects and organizations and most importantly their perception of the media industry amp160With skillful prodding and honest inquiry Rosen was able to engage these young people who shared their visions for future roles in the industry and important takeaways that even established leaders should heedUncertainty Is Opportunityamp160 The only thing certain about business is that it is uncertain amp160The media business is ground zero for disruption and these interns know it amp160Of the 10 jobs that didnamp8217t exist 10 years ago more than half of them are in media or are media adjacent amp160As much as this might be cause for trepidation for an uncertain job market the interns were enthusiastic amp160The uncertainty in the industry was viewed as an opportunity to find their niche amp160Rather than walking into an industry where job turnover might mean the end of a career their prevailing notion was there was a new job a new segment a new field that was waiting to be created amp160They cited being flexible and a high willingness to learn as the two primary assets needed to have a successful careeramp160Academic versus Professionalamp160 When asked whether their academic work prepared them for the summer the majority of students felt that it hadnamp8217t amp160It didnamp8217t appear to be a failure of any particular school or program amp160Instead they cited how different casual and intense actually working in media was on a reallife daytoday basis vs their expectations amp160Classroom work might be adequate for a general overview but it could not take the place of active mentorship projects and client interactionLet Us Be Usamp160 In the earlier session Myers emphasized the need for this generation to stake their claim as Generation Z amp160Gen Zers he offered are distinct and apart from Millennials and should be recognized for its unique characteristics amp160He praised their willingness to exist on a spectrum that embraced peoplesamp8217 racial cultural and sexual backgrounds and perspectives amp160As much as the interns believed they were distinct they questioned exactly how and by what measure amp160They offered pushback as to exactly what their generation was and what they could become amp160Many students talked about being resistant to the idea of belonging to a generation at all amp160amp8220Let us be usamp8221 was their shorthand for not wanting to be defined or placed in any one box amp160Many suggested they had the traits of Millennials while also understanding the yet unnamed amp8220kidsamp8221 that are younger than they areIn many ways what they described was a conscious decision to adapt to what was expected of them given the audience amp160In short they mirrored the generational traits as needed depending on the situation amp160This phenomenon parallels to what is popularly known as amp8220code switchingamp8221 among people of color particularly African Americans amp160Code switching is defined in linguistics as occurring when a speaker alternates between at least two languages amp160In a cultural context it has come to be defined as the ability to move between the dominant culture and home culture amp160This type of natural cultural behavior was a prevalent thread throughout their conversationAs the session wrapped up the internsamp8217 enthusiasm remained strong amp160Their reflections on their summer experience held the promise of long and winding careers in media They might not know all the answers but they seemed unafraid to ask questions and comfortable with doing the hard work to blaze their own trail aheadClick here to view our 1stFive Experience photo galleryPhoto credit Christian Taylor Click on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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1stFive Experience: A Gen-Z Breakout Session with Mollie Rosen

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