Posted in Future of Careers Generation Y/Millennials on May 13, 2010 at 12:46 pm
On Tuesday night I attended a dinner hosted by the Atlantic Media Company in Washington, DC, to discuss the results of the brand new Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll, which offers a look at the economic experience of the Millennial generation.
There were about 20 of us at the table, including representatives from government, think tanks, media outlets and labor unions. The discussion was moderated by Ron Brownstein, who is not only a well-respected journalist and father of a Millennial, but, I learned, is also a fellow fan of Lost. (Yes, he was careful to end the dinner before Tuesday night’s episode.)
Here are some of my main takeaways from the discussion and the poll:
Job security is trendy. One of the more surprising findings of the poll is that 55% of Millennials say their goal is long-term employment with a single employer. And, when asked to rank their most important workplace priorities, job security was number one (with money a close number two). Personally, I believe this will change as the economy improves. I just don’t see Gen Y-ers sticking with traditional career paths with all of the options and portable benefits available in the new economy. In fact, many of the dinner attendees joked that they don’t even want to work for their current employers for the rest of their careers.
Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…
Given my experience in the UK, I would suggest that the confidence found in teh survey may well be to do with the lack of insight that the millenials have into the working world!
That is really interesting about job security. It’s something that we don’t see in our research with students. Weird – I definitely agree that it is just a trend.
Love the part about belief in oneself. This is a great sign for entrepreneurship.
@Lindsey: Both my grandfathers worked for their respective companies for about 50 years (one starting when he was 14 years old). It’s interesting how people want some level of that security again, but as you note, that’s likely to change as the economy improves. I’d love to find a place that’s perfect for the rest of my career (even if that doesn’t exist any more): http://karlsakas.com/his-boss-issued-him-a-revolver/
Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Lindsay. The one that jumps out at me the most us “Higher education is in trouble” and the statement from the dinner guest who pointed out that “college is about more than job preparation.”
Sadly, I’m afraid this may not be as true as it used to be — at least not from the outside looking in. In my recent work with a group of five college girls ranging from Freshman to rising Seniors, it seems the entire focus on college is, in deed, about job preparation. The story I heard as I listened to these girls was that everything they are doing (told to do) is about being prepared to even compete to get a job when they graduate. Get good grades — so you can get a job, work in internships — so you can get a job, volunteer — so you can get a job, seek leadership positions, join organizations, etc. — so you can get a job.
The message, spoken or unspoken, is “you must study hard and work hard and gain experience so you can learn how to succeed at WHAT you are going to do in your career.” The part that is missing is the message that teaches them about the benefits, the value and the necessity of learning WHO they are and who they wish to become.
I have a principle called the SOW Principle, which states that you can be as book smart as the day is long but you must be able to relate to your Self, Others and the World if you want to achieve ultimate levels of success and happiness. What you know and what you do for a living are only one part of success, and as far as I’m concerned, that is the part that runs a close second to who you are and how you show up in the world — two things that are grounded in self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Raising awareness and developing these two areas in the lives of college girls is my mission. I’m working on ironing out the details as we speak, and can’t wait to start an epidemic of socially and emotionally intelligent youg women that are serious about success!
Keeping it real, Shannon
P.S. Sorry for the long response!