RockstarCarlene.com: The Unrelenting Optimist

I stumbled across this article today and my god, I found that it both hit way too close to home while being completely enjoyable.  It’s the first time I’ve read an article lumping my entire generation under the term “entitled” while also explaining why in a concise way.  It was written by a Gen Y-er, and it’s an honest and, frankly, awesome look at the most volatile generation yet.

I’m not quite sure how that works, but it does.

Some of my favorite clips are below, and click on the link on the bottom if you’d like to read the article in its entirely.  It’s worth the read, I promise.

Attracting the twentysomething worker

Generation Y..[...]…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 early baby-boomers, [....] with their ’60s sensibility and navel-gazing – [....] left their mark on just about every institution they passed through. Now come their children, to confound them. The kids – self-absorbed, gregarious, multitasking, loud, optimistic, pierced – are exactly what the boomers raised them to be, and now they’re being themselves all over the business world. [....]

When it comes to Gen Y’s intangible characteristics, the lexicon is less than flattering. Try “needy,” “entitled.” Despite a consensus that they’re not slackers, there is a suspicion that they’ve avoided that moniker only by creating enough commotion to distract from the fact that they’re really not that into “work.”

[....] For some of them the concept “work ethic” needs rethinking. “I had a conversation with the CFO of a big company in New York,” says Tamara Erickson, co-author of the 2006 book “Workforce Crisis,” “and he said, ‘I can’t find anyone to hire who’s willing to work 60 hours a week. Can you talk to them?’ And I said, ‘Why don’t I start by talking to you? What they’re really telling you is that they’re sorry it takes you so long to get your work done.’” [....]

While development is a long-term goal, it begins in the short term with harnessing Gen Yers’ energy. “They’re so vocal that you can almost take an associate to a meeting with the CEO,” says Asher, “because something that comes out of her mouth is going to be actually outside the box, something that none of us have ever thought about.” [....]

Gen Yers have been told since they were toddlers that [....] they were not promised a healthy, happy tomorrow. So they’re determined to live their best lives now.

Read the rest of this article in its entirety.

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