Class of 2014: Job Market and Career Opportunities

The Hooked Up Gen born 19911995 have grown up with the expectationamp8211amp8211both theirs and their parentsamp8211amp8211that they will readily find jobs and earn good salaries when they graduate from college They39ve come to expect instant gratification instant access to information and instant feedback from friends teachers parents and employers They are now confronted with a new realityamp8211amp8211a job market that is not offering the universal acceptance and instant gratification they have come to expectAccording to a 2011 New York Times article employment rates for recent college grads fell in 2009 and 2010 They fell again in 2011 along with starting salaries for those able to find jobs Less than half of the jobs these graduates find require a college degreeamp8211amp8211leaving these workers with student loans to pay off on wages previously paid to high school graduatesHigh school graduates are finding it even more difficult And as military veterans return from Afghanistan government and private programs will support and assist them creating an even more challenging job market for college graduates for several yearsWhat39s the FutureIn November 2011 at Bob Jones University campus in Greenville South Carolina a group of The Hooked Up Gen discussed their views about the Internet and the impact that the current financial climate and economic outlook will have on their job searches when they graduatequotI don39t know exactly what I39m going to end up doing but it won39t have anything to do with my majorquot said Mary Coleman a 21yearold Journalism and Mass Communication major from Spartanburg SC Mary studied communications and professional writing and graduated a semester early with honors But her prospects upon graduation weren39t great so she began the paperwork required to attend Officer Candidate School and is now working toward becoming an officer in the Navy quotMy internships and coursework during college were great but I still don39t have the experience most companies wantquot Mary said quotAt least I know there39s a future in the militaryquot English major Elizabeth Rogers agreed quotI39m graduating To what Can39t be sure I guess I39ll need to figure out what39s nextquotThe resounding cry from The Hooked Up Gen is What will I do next They are accustomed to a lifestyle they can39t finance with the kind of entrylevel jobs available to those right out of college or even a few years beyond collegequotA degree isn39t enoughquot said Karissa Kincaid a junior majoring in professional writing quotYou can39t just be goodamp8230you have to have a shining resume a load of talent and all the right connections to get a good job out of college The rest of usamp8230well I know I39m going to have to take what I can get out of college and work towards my longterm goalsquotDoubling Down on Work and StudyMore than 60 percent of current college students are already working at jobs to pay college costs Slightly more than 50 percent intend to get a job immediately after graduation while 30 percent intend to go to graduate school Only 7 percent intend to quottake time offquot and 10 percent have no plan for their future Students recognize that their graduation will coincide with a challenging employment market and limited job availability 60 percent of current college students believe it will be more difficult to get a job in the future than it is now Only 14 percent believe it will be easierWhen it comes to their future 40 percent of The Hooked Up Gen say they are optimistic about the future of their age group 23 percent say they are pessimistic Looking forward to when they and their classmates are 30 to 35 years old only 23 percent say they expect their generation will be having a meaningful and important impact on political business and social issues while 40 percent say they will be having some impact On the pessimistic side 21 percent believe they and their classmates will have little meaningful impactRather than complaining or protesting students are doubling down on their academic efforts participating in internships and building networksWhen asked to describe their ideal jobs or to define their vision of a successful life not one of the interviewed students mentioned money Several experts believe that high salaries will be less relevant as mortgages bank loans and even car ownership lose their value as a way to maintain status among friends This may be true but it39s also possible that salary won39t motivate The Hooked Up Gen regardless of their economic futurequotamp8230for many people the inability to secure mortgages may be as empowering as Generation X thought home ownership was As long as there is a plentiful supply of rental accommodation it39s possible that the expectation of vast salaries as well as the intense pressure to perform may give way to a less frantic and more fulfilling type of working lifequot Richard DohertySales DirectorJobpartners Talent ConsultancyIn fact several members of The Hooked Up Gen interviewed for this book had similar answers when asked what constitutes success Their responses mentioned helping other people making a lasting difference and solving problemsamp8211amp8211not hefty paychecks and astronomical bonuses Despite his worry of sounding clichamp233d journalism major Allen Vickers agreesquotSuccess is being able to realize that what you39ve done in your life has touched a lot of people Romeo Brown hosts a blog titled 39You measure success by how many people you bless39 And that always stuck with me When I get older I want my messages to reach people It39s not about money as much as knowing that I39ve helped somebody become a more positive person I mean money would be awesomeamp8211amp8211don39t get me wrongamp8211amp8211but that39s not the measuring stickquot Allen VickersStudentThe key to understanding The Hooked Up Gen39 attitudes toward big business and employment is to understand this generation39s definition of success For The Hooked Up Gen the definition of success is not simply accumulating wealth In fact some are actively hostile toward this definition Many members of The Hooked Up Gen aren39t motivated by the same things as earlier generations were Accumulating money isn39t enough to keep them focused on repetitive or nonchallenging tasks or in jobs they find unfulfilling or ethically unrewardingSo what motivates this generation They seek variety in responsibility social engagement and collaboration relevance and a knowledge that they are contributing to something larger than themselves or the business they work for The Reflexive Generation a report by the London Business School39s Centre for Women in Business notes that a misunderstanding about attitudes toward wealth could be key to the perception that millennials have little work ethicCautious Corporate RelationshipsBaby Boomers gained a detailed and visually graphic knowledge of the Vietnam War by watching television The Hooked Up Gen on the other hand have had continual exposure to the economic collapse of the United States and the global economic crisis They39ve witnessed corporate and government dishonesty and mismanagementamp8211amp8211from quotToo Big to Failquot to auto industry bailouts Congressional battles over tax cuts and 99 percent vs the 1 percent They have watched the quotOccupy Wall Streetquot movement grow They39ve witnessed the trend of outsourcing jobs to thirdworld countries with cheap labor partnered with attacks on US labor unions and their longstanding role and value for American workersThe Hooked Up Gen have viewed the quotperpwalksquot of highprofile executives who mismanaged or cheated stockholders out of billions of dollars They39ve been exposed throughout their lives to highly publicized economic scams from Enron to Bernie Madoff Pioneers are well aware of the gap between the middle class and the most wealthy business owners and stockholders and they see the political battles between change and status quoIs it any wonder that The Hooked Up Gen are wary of big businessYet the wariness runs both ways Corporations are also cautious Some business experts expect a crisis of human resource management as this new generation enters the workplace Consulting firms like Kelly Staffing and Red Tree offer training modules that assume the millennial applicant is an outspoken bold thinker who is highly proficient technologically but who also has an inflated sense of selfworth and lacks manners and social skillsMillennials according to Jordan Kaplan professor in Managerial Science at the Long Island University Business School are unlikely to respond well to the almost military topdown command structure of most big businesses Internet Natives have grown up questioning authority and with a sense of their own competence empowerment and responsibility Reasons for this include years of watching Nickelodeon with its model of quotquestioning everythingquot and parenting styles that favored treating children more like peers than childrenThe empowerment and sense of self that is evident in the actions of The Hooked Up Gen is a doubleedged sword in the corporate world and often misperceived by many oldschool managers On the down side older coworkers and managers perceive this age group as demanding entitled and unwilling to abide by the traditional structure of rank and authority within a business Corporations may feel they have to nudge The Hooked Up Gen to be productive and to operate within the organization39s guidelines Other barriers include the Internet Pioneer mistrust of big business and lack of corporate loyaltyHowever their sense of empowerment gives The Hooked Up Gen two advantages when working with and within big businessAdvantage of the Front Row SeatGrowing up with constant Internet access has given The Hooked Up Gen a quotfrontrowquot view of people with no extraordinary connections achieving real and important success and communicating it effectively Whether they39re looking at the rise of a simple Internet meme or watching hours of TED talks this age group understands and has internalized human potential in a way previous generations couldn39t Furthermore they39ve freely commented in response to professional news gathering organizations corporate blogs and oped columnists They are equals online and expect their voices and opinions to be acknowledged and heard in corporate boardrooms as wellThis sense of empowerment extends to the arts education medicine and other areas where decisionmaking has been closed and hierarchicalThis has also affected the jobs of reviewers and critics of the arts travel restaurants etc as anyone with an Internet connection can comment on his or her own experience and offer recommendations Today39s consumers are relying more on these critiques than on the advice of professionalsSocial sites such as Pinterestcom offer a new form of response and criticism Users quotpinquot images that appeal to them and other users have the option of repinning or commenting on those pins Facebook and Twitter empower opinions on just about any subject This interactive form of criticism and response will continue to grow as The Hooked Up Gen who perceive this as a normal part of the critical process gain prominence in the arts and businessThe Advantage of Open MindsThe second advantage of empowerment applies primarily to minorities among Internet Natives Web anonymity means previously defining characteristics such as race gender sexual orientation appearance age etc are not known As a result individuals are judged on the quality of their ideas and their willingness to put them out there and little else For example the lack of preconceived ideas about their age has helped The Hooked Up Gen to achieve success in web publishing and starting Internetbased movements or enterprises A corollary to this second advantage is a noted lack of prejudice among this age cohort Growing up in an environment where such things are of secondaryamp8211amp8211if anyamp8211amp8211importance has given The Hooked Up Gen open minds This acceptance can only improve their performance in the workplace enhance diversity and improve corporate capabilities for embracing the growing multicultural consumer populationTraditional organizational models in the corporate world are breaking down in the socially interconnected Internetbased environmentamp8211amp8211and The Hooked Up Gen are very comfortable ignoring these structures and the hierarchical barriers that distance senior management from their newest colleagues If you want to connect with a customer39s CEO your youngest employee may prove more competent at getting access than an experienced middleamp8211amp8211or even senioramp8211amp8211manager The challenge is making sure he or she is prepared with the right message when the CEO reads and responds to his or her LinkedIn or Facebook message More and more experienced executives trained in traditional corporate models will need to fasttrack The Hooked Up Gen into responsible corporate roles Older executives will find value in partnerships with The Hooked Up Gen who are techsavvy at a level previous generations don39t begin to approach By combining their social networking sophistication and their ability to telecommute and access information globally The Hooked Up Gen will lead a movement toward corporate collaboration at an unprecedented level Expertise at Multitasking and Social MediaCourteous body language and respect for social mores relating to communication with senior colleagues are skills easily addressed through training The Hooked Up Gen bring a different kind of social skill to the table These young adults have grown up accessing chat rooms and social networks where they routinely communicate with peers from all over the world They are experts at multitasking complex conversations through multiple modes of media Examples include the ease with which they upload videos to YouTube create podcasts and maintain multiple text conversations while doing homeworkThe Hooked Up Gen reflect a paradigm shift in the way people and organizations will collaborate and communicate in the future The Hooked Up Gen are experts at communicating in their particular idiom Put in charge of projects where this idiom is an asset as most projects will be into the foreseeable future they can outperform older colleagues despite any perceived shortcomings in other communication arenas It39s true The Hooked Up Gen will enter the corporate world and accept jobs in health education energy and other fields with a perspective and attitude different from that of previous generations They bring to the workplace a set of fundamental beliefs about human rights equality diversity fair pay globalization and worklife balanceIn addition The Hooked Up Gen have little confidence in the loyalty of employers toward themamp8211amp8211and thus see no reason to give employers their undivided loyalty This generation will follow multiple career paths often engaging in entrepreneurial ventures while working in traditional jobsFewer members of The Hooked Up Gen are majoring in traditional fields with only 33 percent of males and 18 percent of females following the traditional mathscienceengineering path Psychology and premed majors account for 8 percent of male and 18 percent of female students Communications English humanities and languages are attracting 17 percent of college students Students in majors focusing on political science history prelaw or international affairs account for 9 percent with many students having double majorsMajors that are attracting a growing percentage of The Hooked Up Gen include education healthrelated fields social sciences computer science information technology and digital media fine arts and criminal justice Many of today39s college students are in majors that will ultimately prove unrelated to their career goals While this was often also the case for previous generations of college students the key difference is that The Hooked Up Gen already know and admit it College is for them as much a life experience as an education with internships study abroad and workstudy programs proving more relevant to their eventual career pathSteffani Russell a senior majoring in EnglishProfessional Writing shares a common perspective on the job hunt Many of Steffani39s friends frustrated with the difficult job market and companies seeking employees with more experience aren39t sure if they39ll end up in a career that39s related to their chosen field of study quotamp8230 Some students are just here to get a degreequot Steffani said quotThey have specific career plans they know how to get there and they see a degreeamp8211amp8211not an educationamp8211amp8211as the key to reaching their longterm goalsquotI39m at the point where I really enjoy being in school If I don39t have any strong prospects for a job related to English education or writing after I graduate I39ll just go on to grad schoolquot Steffani said she plans to take a combination mission tripcourseforcredit this summer in Africa and then return to school for her master39s degree in English Her plans are to have quotfaith that God will providequot an avenue to utilize her education and her skills when the time comes for her to enter the business world fulltimeThe common thread among these students is the need to make themselves visible and available to potential employers with an online presence quotIf someone wants to see samples of my writing I can give them links to published articles online versions of print stories I39ve gotten published and my personal blogquot Steffani said quotIf they want a resume I can email them the one I want them to see in a heartbeatquotGrad School as an OptionMany students are choosing this option Graduate school is appealing to grads who can39t find their niche in the job market In the meantime it provides students with more education and experience in their chosen fieldsHowever the trend seems to be that graduates are less likely to take the MBA route and are more likely to look for programs modeled around apprenticelike trainingConnecting Grad School and BusinessAn emerging trend in postgraduate education is to enroll MBA students in dualdegree programs linking an MBA with nonbusiness disciplines such as art and design The Johns Hopkins University39s Carey School of Business has launched a joint MBAMA in Design Leadership through a partnership with the Maryland Institute College of Art as well as art schools in Canada and EuropeThis generation recognizes the need to understand business whether they39re heading into corporate careers or launching a personal website They39re more inclined to enter programs that will lead to defined professions and jobs instead of openended educational programs that provide little value for realworld application And as they begin their careers they will come with experience and an intuitive knowledge base that will qualify them for positions well above typical entrylevel training jobsDespite this many will be forced to accept jobs at salaries too low to repay their college loansPutting a Meaningful Life Ahead of MoneyThe Internet has created new job opportunities that are just beginning to be understood and exploited and these will become increasingly relevant For example visual artists have opportunities to distribute and market their work in ways that were unavailable to previous generations of artists Instead of pursuing the gallery circuit a young artist can set up a website and social networking page to promote and sell art directly Online marketplaces such as Etsycom and Saatchi Online allow artists to reach potential customers Visual artists have access to online collectives that put them in touch with artists across the globe Collectives such as SlashThreecom allow digital artists to showcase their work and connect with others working in the same mediumDifferent Perspectives on Work EthicsMembers of The Hooked Up Gen are likely to have a more positive attitude and work ethic than older members of their digital generation Although Pioneer attitudes toward big business worklife balance and their place in the world are similar to the sense of entitlement of their older age cohort group they differ in key ways The Hooked Up Gen express a sense of empowerment that seems to come directly from their perceived ability to make real change happen on a local national and global scale They understand the need for hard work fulfill their commitments and are sufficiently aware of life39s complexities and the need to moderate their expectations and to have realistic goalsIn contrast to the pessimism of consulting firms such as Kelly Staffing The Hooked Up Gen are unlikely to protest or act out any mistrust through poor job performance They are more likely to focus on reasonable career goals applying their technological savvy and gaining the experience they will need to make changes They will actively apply a deep understanding of social communication to their work sometimes eliciting results impressive for people so youngLifestyles of the NonUpwardly MobileThe life model for Generation X and Tom Brokaw39s quotGreatest Generationquot was to commit totally to a job and job security For the Greatest Generation this meant mothers in unpaid work at home and fathers who were rarely homeFor Generation X it meant both parents working long hours outside the home with children in the care of daycare centers nannies babysitters relatives and a string of afterschool enrichment activities More men in this generation have taken an active role in childrearing and this pattern will accelerate among The Hooked Up Gen and Natives who will be more likely to put families ahead of careers even changing jobs and careers to adjust to changing family requirementsAccording to the Bookends Generation study conducted by New York City39s Center for Work Life Policy 89 percent of current college students report valuing flexibility in their work life as among the most important aspects of a happy work environmentFor Baby Boomers flexibility meant leaving work early to catch their children39s ball games or dance recitals For The Hooked Up Gen flexibility includes the ability to work from homeamp8211amp8211or anywhereamp8211amp8211as an acceptable option Tim Ferriss39 The Four Hour Work Week even suggests putting in a full week39s worth of work from a tropical island As long as the island has wireless connectivity this scenario is entirely possible for the next wave of Internetbred corporate managers assuming they can pay off their student loans and afford to travelTheir focus on outsideofwork success may lead to a very different work landscape than before with greater flexibility in how jobs are performed so long as benchmarks are met and with the need for corporations to demonstrate social responsibility far beyond the degree to which they contribute today The Hooked Up Gen will be less tolerant of corporate malfeasance and will be aggressively intolerant of a Profit at Any Cost approach to corporate strategy Because the generation overall considers global impact as important as financial gain today39s college students may be able to alter the direction of businesses as a wholeamp8211amp8211first by altering employment policies and later through their influence within the management chain Again the Internet Pioneer generation of college graduates doesn39t feel bound to follow the implied contract of job loyalty that served their parents and grandparents For earlier generations a college diploma meant a middleclass job and upward mobility However a combination of economic recession and overabundance of collegeeducated candidates means this is no longer trueThe Next Great GenerationRed Tree Leadership a management training consultancy describes today39s college students as potentially being the quotnext great generationquotHow big businesses choose to deal with this incoming cohort of new team members over the next few years will have a powerful influence on the future of each company Corporations that underestimate The Hooked Up Gen and Internet Natives do so at their own peril The Hooked Up Gen have the potential to change streamline and improve business ethics and communications from the ground up The Hooked Up Gen may need guidance from senior colleagues about the politics and social mores within corporations but senior managers will in many ways have far more to learn from their younger colleagues The Hooked Up Gen have grown up with the ability to multitask to access information at any hour and to conduct work from any place with an Internet connection Many will be willing to work for less money and even for more hours if given the flexibility to work on their own schedules with liberal telecommuting opportunitiesEven with the challenging reality of a tough job market for The Hooked Up Gen they have the values work ethic and selfesteem to face these challenges with determination and vision They may initially step back and wait for more appropriate timingamp8211amp8211meanwhile accepting roles they perceive as jobs rather than careers But they will inevitably gain a foothold in small businesses large corporations education government nonprofits the arts and organizations Once they gain that foothold their unique perspectives and skills will enable them to mature quickly in their roles bring new insights and move up the career ladder into positions of increased responsibility and authorityEmployers who recognize these individuals and seek their counsel contributions and ideas will be well rewarded On the other hand employers who fail to empower The Hooked Up Gen will find themselves rapidly becoming irrelevantFinding Their WayThe Hooked Up Gen prefer to avoid conflict are uncertain of how their opinions will be received and are therefore often reluctant to voice them forcefully They may however begin to find that voice as they move through their college years gain more confidence emerge into graduate schools and the workforce and realize how advantaged they are and how uniquely qualified they will be to manage organizations and direct strategies The Hooked Up Gen are likely to achieve success following the volatile economic and social climate of the next two decades more so than the XGens who are finding themselves less relevant in a business world that is increasingly digitalAs the nation and world emerge from the period of upheaval caused by the technological inventions of the past two decades we will move faster and further into the application period of the Internet Transformation As change accelerates the need for economic political societal and organizational stability will increase From our current perspective of economic uncertainty and political dissension the future may seem hazy The Hooked Up Gen are just a few years away from imprinting their values on the nation and world Their priorities and challenges will be many to advance logic honesty and human rights into the corporate mainstream and to assure that we return to policies that are of by and for the majority of the American people and the people of the worldIn the coming decades The Hooked Up Gen and subsequent generations of Internet Natives will dominate the workforce Those organizations that empower them will be best positioned for success Chapter 21 Facebook ampamp Google Held to Different Privacy Standards than Legacy Companies

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