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Ryan Healy is a recent college graduate. He is a founder of 
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New here? Employee Evolution is a blog written by Ryan Healy. Ryan is a Co-Founder of Brazen Careerist, the webs #1 social network for young professionals. Ryan speaks with organizations on best practices for recruiting and retaining Generation Y and how to effectively use social media to reach your target market. To contact Ryan, please visit our contact page.
I used to think that all of the babble about millennials being a generation of job hoppers was a little over the top. I have even heard extremes such as, “they change jobs like their parents changed clothes.” The past few weeks have completely confirmed that statements like this are not exaggerations. Managers: It’s job hunting season for you’re top talent…but what else is new?
At happy hour last Wednesday I found out that two good friends of mine just put in their two-week notice after landing new jobs. We discussed how they could not stand their old jobs and had plans to leave for new ones that provided more excitement, flexibility and hopefully fulfillment. After beating around the bush, they both told me the new job offers were more than a 20 percent salary increase over their old salaries.
On Thursday, I found out that a friend from college is moving from a boring, underpaid sales job to a new high-paying job in Manhattan. On Saturday, my mother told me that a good family friend is going to a new company and basically performing the same role for at least a 25 percent salary increase. Money was probably not the driving force behind any of these people switching jobs, but a huge salary jump reeled them in.
Boredom was probably the key contributor. Going to the same building, performing the same tasks and talking to the same people day after day for a year or more will just not fly with people my age. To keep us around for more than a year, the only constant should be change itself.
Right now, the job market is unbelievable. It’s a strange phenomenon that finding another job that will pay up to 40% more than my current job is easier, more practical and more enjoyable then sticking around and asking for a raise. I guess that’s just the way the economy works right now. I recently discussed the job search process with a girl who just graduated from Virginia Tech. She told me about a salary offer that was “way too low.” The funny thing is, that same offer would have been considered more than acceptable for a new college grad just last year!
All of this is great. Moving from one corporation to the next for a good deal more money is exciting, but it’s certainly not fulfilling. Corporations apparently really need top, young talent, so they do what they have always done – throw money at the situation. The problem is, the girl from Va. Tech who balked at the “low” salary will inevitably dislike her job after a year and go looking for something better. And my buddies who just inked new contracts will begin looking for new jobs that pay more money after a few boring months.
What everyone will really be looking for is something more; something meaningful; something exciting. The problem is, very few of us can even define what something meaningful and exciting really is, so we settle for more money. Obviously, everyone must define these questions on their own terms, but for now, instead of job hopping for more money, we need to start switching jobs for the right reasons. Rather than looking for high salaries, we need to look for the real difference makers like a great company culture, remote working arrangements, flexibility, autonomy and limited bureaucratic nonsense.
This is how young workers can make a difference in the work place. We have the upper hand. If we don’t start demanding the right things instead of falling for the traps our parents fell for, then nothing will change and our generation will continue to make great money, but hate our jobs more than any generation in history.
Although the future is bright and the market should stay hot for a while, history tells us that this will not be the case forever. There is more to a job then a paycheck and we all know this. We just need to get it through our heads that happiness comes from so many other places. Milk the corporations for all you can while discovering what will really make you happy. Then demand the truly important things from your employer or use the money you save to pursue whatever it is you truly love.
Leave your thoughts here. (7 responses)
- 1 Trackback on Jun 5th, 2007 at 9:28 am
- 2 Pingback on Jun 5th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
- 3 Pingback on Jun 6th, 2007 at 11:08 am
You can add one more to your list of people who have drawn the line with bad corporate culture and inflexibility. I was spoiled by meaningful, flexibile jobs very early in my career, so I don’t really feel like I have to settle.
After whining for several months, I’ve decided to start applying for other positions this week. The fact that I’ll probably make more money just about anywhere but here is just icing on the cake.
This seems to be a reocurring theme. Good luck with the job search, Jacqui!
Ryan,
This was one of your best posts to date. You’re right on. I would take a 30% pay cut tomorrow if I could have more meaningful, exciting work with flexible hours.
I completely agree that more money is not always the benefit that Generation Y is looking for in our “job hopping� actions. Employers need to understand that we aren’t our parents and we aren’t working for their company for the same reasons. Workplace values that were revered back then, such as job security, familiarity and pensions, have been replaced by the need for flexibility, creativity and opportunity.
I am currently finishing up a few final requirements for graduation and found myself tirelessly job hunting. Sifting through a haystack of pyramid schemes, lousy commissioned sales jobs, and cubicle prisons, I was literally lost in a sea of unfulfilling potential work, looking for that needle that would become my dream job.
In the end I accepted a campaign fundraising position at a local non-profit. By no means was I immediately attracted to this position by money, because there isn’t much of it. Instead, I was intrigued by the opportunities that would come out of it. The relationships that I will have the potential to build through networking with the various corporations and community organizations that I will be dealing with on a daily basis provides me with a valuable resource in sifting through that haystack and finding the job that really suits my needs as a Millenial.
Don’t get me wrong, making a lot of money is nice, but it isn’t a priority for me at the moment. It’s an ancient cliché, but all the money in the world can’t buy you happiness. My ultimate career goal is to completely enjoy my job. I want to be so intrigued by my work that I don’t mind making a few calls on weekends, traveling to all ends of the world, or making it a late night at the office.
Instead of finding a job out of college and then doing the same thing for the next 40 years, I am using this position as a stepping stone. I have no intention on staying with this organization beyond the term of this position. Sure, I will be fulfilling the requirements of the job to the best of my ability, but I will always be keeping my eyes open for that big opportunity. Instead of sitting back and hoping it finds me, I’m going out and searching for it using the tools I have at my disposal.
The world has simply opened up with so much opportunity for our generation that we are not forced to stay in situations that do not suit us. I will be doing exactly what Ryan says to do in his post, “milk corporations for all you can while discovering what will really make you happy�.