Jaerid Rossi offers an interesting perspective on Millennial life. He’s 27-years-old, a proud parent and has five years of work experience under his belt. We hope Jaerid will continue to share his experiences with us in the future, but until then, check him out on his blog, “Life’s Lessons.�?

I’ve been out of college for five years now and recently started my third job. I have had a variety of experiences already, including a technology startup and a very large multi-national company. I’ve had the experience of a horrible boss who passes blame and judgment for his own gain, but also had an amazing mentor who guided me where I wanted to go.

The story of my first job (the startup) is a bit of a worse-case scenario. When I first joined the company (literally in a garage, as the 7th employee) the founders were very supportive and eager to teach me. Then we grew, got funding and hired more people. Soon, there where 16 people and we had 5 VPs, a CEO, a CFO, and a CTO. I was now working for a new VP of engineering. He was a boss that micro-managed me, pressed personal agendas and sacrificed my reputation for his own personal gain. He would give me philosophical talks about how I had to be a company man and should work long hours to show my commitment to the company. However, what I saw in him was a man on his third marriage, a man who had not spoken to his own children in 15 years, a man who had been fired from countless positions and a man who cared for himself alone – he had no interest in my success. Despite my better judgment, I worked hard for that company. I still felt there was an opportunity…financially if nothing else.

Then I was on a business trip presenting at a technical conference. I checked out our brand new website and found my job posted as an open position. When I challenged my boss on this, he stammered and couldn’t give me a reason for it. I had a good relationship with a board member who told me in confidence that my boss had sold me out. That I was the reason he was behind on his projects – projects I had no knowledge of. This resulted in me being passed over for any sort of financial incentives and walking away from the opportunity. (By the way – that company eventually folded)

After that experience, I had a bad taste in my mouth, but I managed to hit gold in my next position. I had an excellent mentor as a supervisor. He spent a lot of time understanding what I was interested in learning and what my career aspirations were. Then he helped devise a plan to make it happen. He suggested books I could read, helped me reflect on mistakes and showed me how to do the same with other people. Once he told me that it was his job to train employees to do what he could do. If one of us eventually took a similar position, or even his if he moved on, he felt successful. He and I would have long conversations where he would challenge me and help me see outside my realm of thought. I knew that he wouldn’t give me the answer, but would help me find it.

What I look for when I interview at a company is an opportunity to learn and grow. I want to gain experience and knowledge while also contributing to the company. I look for mentoring qualities in a supervisor, because I know that such a person will help me achieve my goals in development. I’m much more eager to do work for a mentor than a boss. I don’t look at things as being mundane when a mentor asks me to do them and I become as interested in his success as he is in mine.

I know many Millennials feel this way. We want to learn and grow in a position. We want our colleagues to be successful and have very little tolerance of those who are only looking out for themselves – especially those who are supposed to be guiding us. So please, be a mentor, not a boss.

Share This