Guest Post Series

Today we are introducing the first post in our Guest Post series. Since creating the Write Your Own Post section, we have received multiple requests to be featured. Currently we are working with five people to be featured in the upcoming weeks. The more interest we receive, the more frequently we will publish these guest posts. Anyone interested in discussing their career decisions, office culture or anything remotely similar to the topic of Millennials at Work, please send an Email to Employee.Evolution@gmail.com.

Dirty, Rotten Scammers: A Post for the Recent College Grad

As a journalism major, finding my first post-college job was no walk in the park. It seemed like for every ten resumes I delivered, there was one response that read something like this:

We have reviewed your resume and have given your qualifications careful consideration. Given the skills and qualifications needed for the position, we have decided to pursue other candidates who more closely match the required skills and qualifications. We will keep your resume on file for six months…blah…blah…blah.

Ah, the token rejection notice – the politeness police's answer to respectfully obliterating your self-esteem. If dealing with these every couple of days was not bad enough, then there's the companies that can't seem to get enough of you, put you up on a pedestal and tell you how successful they're going to make you. These of course, are the scum of the corporate earth, the scam companies.

I first learned about the scam companies a few weeks out of college. The add jumped out of the classified in its bold text, perfect bait for any naive "17th grader" fresh out of his vain college surroundings: "ENTRY-LEVEL, COLLEGE GRADS! SALES CAREERS IN MANHATTAN!" I guess I should've known better…

Nevertheless, I got excited and immediately applied. A day later I received a call from a young woman telling me her company was extremely interested in me and wanted to see me tomorrow. I said I'd be there, hung up the phone and started wondering how I got so lucky.

The next day I cruised into the city looking like a pro. Suit and tie, fresh haircut, leather briefcase – I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

After pacing around the block a few times, waiting for my appointment time, I walked into the building. My first reaction was an uneasy one. The place was smashed between clusters of second-rate apartment towers and as I walked down the hall I wondered if I had made a wrong turn.

As I finally found the place my attitude took a 180. Fresh wood floors, industrial designs, pop-music playing – could I actually work here one day? As my "future" boss came out to greet me, I had no idea he was really "the boss." He couldn't be more than five years older than me!

He took me into his office and won me over with talk of how he made it big in under a year of working for the company. He told me I had a lot of potential, that I'd be able to do it too. Basically, he tried to say all the right things.

After I left, he told me I would get a call this evening telling me whether or not I got the job. Sure enough, that evening I got the call, they said to come in the next morning for orientation and I said yes. I barely had time to take it all in before they were stuffing a job down my throat. It seemed unbelievable…and it was.

When I finally had time to digest, I decided to check out the company online to see what other people had to say about them. The first three links that came up were "Scam-Reports" busting the business for its pyramid-like schemes and ill-treatment of employees. I didn't believe it, so I searched my would-be boss's name. Who types in their name on Google and gets a Scam-Report as the first result? This guy!

So I learned my lesson, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. If you're a recent college grad, it's likely that someone will try and take advantage of you too. So look for the telltale signs I discussed in my story. Most importantly, if you've never heard of the company before, Google the hell out of them!

Virginia Tech and the New Definition of Community

We are going to stray from the norm on today's post because something much more important than workplace issues has occurred.

Since hearing about the unbelievable massacre at Virginia Tech yesterday afternoon I have literally felt sick to my stomach. I don't think I realized it until right now, but all the talk of this horrific act of violence has dramatically altered my mood. To think that someone could open fire on innocent classmates boggles my mind. It just doesn't make sense. I guess there is no reason to even try and make sense of the situation, because a rational human being could never understand what was going on inside the head of someone sick and twisted enough to gun down 30 people.

Tragedies like this tend to put things in perspective. Life is a precious thing and should never be taken for granted. One day you are about to graduate from college and dive head first into the real world, the next day you are laying in a casket while not only your friends and family, but the nation, mourns your death. April 16, 2007 was a terrible day that will never be forgotten.

The aftermath of tragedies often bring out the best in people. I already see this happening. The students of Virginia Tech will rally behind each other to create a wonderful caring community that will never forget, but will overcome this tragedy, together. I am absolutely amazed at the outpour of support and the communal bonds that this tragedy is creating. The multitude of Facebook pages created to honor the lives of the fallen and to help the families is mind blowing.

I now understand why our generation truly is different and how we will change things. It is not because we are special and it is not because we think that much differently then our parents or our grandparents. It is because of technology and the new definition of community that this technology has created. We have the power to share our thoughts, feelings and goals with everyone, unrestricted by geographical limitations. When Columbine occurred we did not have this community. Young people mourned throughout the country, but we were still somewhat isolated and disconnected. Today, social networking sites, blogs and cell phones provide us with the opportunity to share our feelings, mourn, and eventually overcome, as a community.

As terrible as this incident is, I can't help but to think, this will be a turning point that will eventually define the legacy our generation leaves. Think about what can be achieved if everyone bands together and sets up social networking pages dedicated to ending the global warming epidemic or funding cancer research. With enough support from the community, these simple pages can turn into all out non-profit research centers, or hospitals or whatever other crazy ideas come from the MILLIONS of people involved. Nearly everyone in our generation is a part of this online global community, if we use this wonderful resource for the greater good, like I see us doing in the wake of this tragedy, there is no limit to what we can achieve.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim's families, and the Virginia Tech students, faculty, and alumni.

I'm in 17th grade

Most of my friends would love to run their own business some day. Me too. However, we believe the first logical step is to get a few years of work experience, make connections, and save money.

A couple of months ago, my good friends from college, Matt, Cole and Adam, came to visit for the weekend. These three want none of that work experience I'm talking about, so they are opening up a sandwich shop in a college town.

The first thing Adam said when he saw me was, "What does it feel like to be in 17^th grade?"

He was referring to the fact that I live in an apartment complex with hundreds of other "young professionals" who are basically living the same boring (his words) lives. At first I laughed it off and told him that he was just jealous that I was making money and could afford to live in a nice place like this….Read more at Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk.

A Unique Generation

As you may or may not know, older generations have been studying, surveying and writing about what makes us millennials so unique for years now. It has already been established that we as a generation are different. As always, no traits can define an entire generation, but we all grew up in the same time period and share some similar life experiences. The question now is why are we so different? And, how are we going to change things in the work place over the next 5 or 10 or 20 years?

We may be different because of the enormous amount of new technology that we have grown up with and now take for granted. We have always had computers; we can't imagine our teenage and college years without cell phones, AIM and the ability to have information at our fingertips through the internet. Is this what makes us so unique?

We may be different because we have grown up with constant change and therefore have an innate ability to thrive in any new circumstance. From pagers and car phones to the internet and cell phones, we have seen and adapted to new technologies at a pace unparalleled in American history. Maybe we need this constant change to continue in our jobs. Maybe we can't simply adapt to the status quo of the corporate environment. Is this what makes us so unique?

We may be different because we really are the children of a new age. Not since 1850's Has America seen a fundamental shift like we have seen in the past 10 years. We are indeed in a new era in history, the Information Age. Maybe us millennials simply do not understand how or why we should fit into a corporate structure that was designed over 150 years ago during the industrial revolution. Is this what makes us so unique?

We may be different because our parents, teachers, aunts and uncles have told us since day one that we could do "whatever we set our minds to" and we should "find a job/career that we love." Now we find ourselves in careers that we have settled for and jobs that we don't even like. We work for corporations large and small that deny our creativity, passion and drive to do what we set our minds to by telling us what to do rather than asking for input.

Why didn't they tell us this harsh reality growing up? Why weren't we warned that doing what we love is not always practical in the current environment if we want to sustain or improve on the life our parents provided for us?

Maybe it's because they knew we were different. Maybe we were being groomed from birth to change the way things work. Maybe the answer to getting out of working paycheck to paycheck at a dead end job is not to find a new, better job. Maybe the answer is to change the fundamental structure of the corporate world so everyone can enjoy their jobs. Maybe we can achieve this if we make our voices heard.

We have been labeled "Americas next Great Generation." It is my prediction that by the time we are leading this country, things will be different and eventually we will live up to the title. Why should we wait 20 years to do this? Maybe I'm crazy and maybe these are the same thoughts everyone generation had at 22 years old. But there is one glaring difference - the numbers are in our favor.