Gen Y's Strengths

The Gen Y Princess Strikes Again.

Refusal to pay dues.
"Paying dues when we enter the workforce is a joke." She paid her dues in high school and college. "We want access to opportunities," she says. And she promises to tell you what she wants. You never have to guess.

Impatience
"Impatience is a virtue.... We’re ready to get things done. Just show us how, or let us take the reins."

Lack of Long Term Commitment
"We don’t see the point in staying in a relationship that isn’t mutually beneficial.... [so] There is no long-term commitment." [Honey, is anyone going to trust you with long term projects?]

Healthy Lifestyle
"We take care of ourselves through exercise, travel, socializing and volunteering in order to do the best job possible. We’re more productive and happy that way." [Please! Isn't obesity on the rise in America?]

This cheerleader's arrogance is irritating but easy to forgive as she is so obviously naive.

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Comments

[Ragan Jones]

Refusal to pay dues? That's a very quick way to get make a name for yourself. That name is "High Maintenence Spoiled Brat." Explain to me just how you pay your dues in high school and college? I went to both and didn't know squat about the real world until i actually got a job - I found out real fast I didn't know everything. And I am GenX! Does this chick even have a job yet?

[Chris Taylor]

Every time I read one of these funny Gen-Y articles I am tempted to cackle like the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. "Your feeble idealism is no match for the power of the Dark Side!"

The hilarity is that they imagine any other generation was different. Everybody wants to get ahead with minimum due-paying. Nobody wants to stay in unhealthy relationships. Everybody wants to put family ahead of work.

Sometimes, the world doesn't offer you such clear-cut choices. Sometimes lousy jobs are the only avenue to decent jobs. Ask anyone who works in television, for instance, if they got to be the on-camera talent, director or producer immediately out of college or university. Not a chance - I guarantee you they spent a year or two in some schmoe job -- being somebody's gofer in Craft Services, making sandwiches for the guy or girl whose job they *really* wanted.

Sometimes the choice is between disappointing your respected colleagues, who depend on your knowledge and ability, and disappointing your loving family, who depend on you for a multitude of things. While we often strive for the win-win situation, sometimes circumstance hands you the lose-lose.

Keeping a steady hand in the worst of storms is not something you learn by eschewing perseverance, patience and steadfast commitment.

[catnapping]

self-absorption is a symptom of the dysfunction our culture. a culture that celebrates individualism. from the time our kids can walk, they're already socialized into believing that the individual is more important than the clan. and that man is more important than the planet (and all other life here on her.)

[Cody McKibben]

Actually, Gen-Y cares quite a lot about the planet. And about the clan. I won't bother justifying that to you, but if you haven't seen it, you haven't been paying attention.

High school and college ARE dues-paying by definition in our country. They are requisites for entry...in other words they are dues.

And lack of long term committment here means we don't see the need to stay faithful to a job that isn't giving us what we want...isn't getting us toward our goals. When corporations are no longer offering workers a guaranteed lifelong employment, why should workers keep working for companies that don't meet their needs? You're right though, sometimes you just gotta take what you can get and stay there until the bills are paid.

And finally, the boomers are actually the ones who are pioneering work-life balance right now. Have you ever heard of a part-time VP position split by two people?? Check out the most recent Stanford GSB publication. Gen-Y just isn't afraid to embrace this trend.

The fact is that every generation, yours included, the work world sees transformation. We're no longer an agrarian society. We're no longer an industrial powerhouse. Right now we're all about intellectual capital. Things change. Get used to it. A lot of young folks are creating these opportunities for themselves, so quit your complaining.

[Ashley at The Balanced Life Spa]

Just a few of my thoughts on the "dues" issue:

http://web.mac.com/ashleybrewer/iWeb/The%20Balanced%20Life%20Spa/The%20BLS%20Blog/B1DFD088-6F92-4A31-B999-4C7EDFFFF8F1.html