1. What time he comes to work
Sometimes I come to work at 7 AM. Sometimes I come to work at 11 AM. Sometimes I’ll find myself all alone at the office for the better part of a day because my Gen Y co-workers are somewhere else. Lucky for us, we work at a start up where we only care about face time if there is an important meeting. I don’t mind if no one is at the office because I know that sometimes when I come in at 7 AM, I have a hard time concentrating and get no work done. And sometimes when I come in at 11 AM, I spent the entire morning in front of my laptop at home, getting a ton of work done.

If you’re managing a Gen Yer, and there are no important meetings on the schedule, don’t worry about what time he comes to work. Because, as we all know, results matter. Hours don’t.

2. What time he leaves work
Yesterday I left work at 3 pm to take a nap. Today, I’ll be working well past dinner. Maybe you got the point already, but I’ll say it again, hours don’t matter. Older folks can use the “I need to pick my kids up at school” excuse and walk out of work guilt free. We twentysomethings aren’t quite so lucky. You can only come up with so many doctor, dentist and family emergency excuses before they are worn out.

Create an environment where people don’t judge ANYONE who decides to leave early on a sunny Friday afternoon to meet up with some friends, because everyone trusts that the work will be done come Monday morning.

3. What’s on his computer screen
Don’t be surprised to see Facebook, Twitter, Brazen Careerist, ESPN, Gmail, Word, Excel and Powerpoint all open at the same time on your Gen Yers screen. In fact, only having those tabs open would be a fairly focused afternoon for me.

But it’s OK. We can still get our work done. All that stuff is open because, quite frankly, we’re all a little ADD. Sending out a tweet or leaving a comment on a blog is a necessary distraction every 20 minutes or so. Honestly, lots of Gen Yers wonder how anyone can sit at a desk and do nothing but work for 8 straight hours without going insane?

4. His ultimately meaningless fashion statements
When I worked for IBM, I was on a project at the Pentagon. As you might guess, this required a full suit every single day . As if this wasn’t painful enough, I swear my military co-workers shaved every hour on the hour. So when I walked in with my day old stubble, I felt a little out of place.

But you know what? I actually look better with a little stubble, and I would trade shaving for 10 extra minutes of sleep any day of the week. At one point I decided to grow a goatee. I wanted to see when my boss would tell me to shave it. He told me to shave it after a week. I told him it was in style and kept it for another week.

The message is: you’ve got to look past a little facial hair, or a pair of open toed sandals, and just worry about your employees’ work ethic and production if you want to get the most out of them.

5. Anything he does at happy hour
Everyone loves happy hour. It’s the time to kick back, relax and unwind from a long day of work….with the people you just worked with. Things happen. Drinks happen. We’re all young, we’re in our prime partying years and some of us handle our liquor better than others. So whatever you do, don’t judge your Gen Y employees based on what happens toward the tail end of happy hour.

The truth is, the managers should be long gone by the time things get a little crazy. And if they’re not, they should be getting a little crazy too. The worst thing I ever did at a happy hour (well, 2 hours after it officially ended) was engage in a little too much PDA with a co-worker. Not sure what came over us (hint: alcohol), and luckily no one saw it, but I can’t imagine what would have happened if anyone did. My advice: ignore what happens at happy hours, if you can’t, then I’d advise you stay away from the party.

6. His lack of “experience”
It’s OK if your Gen Y employee doesn’t know how to punch a time clock and can’t relate to your high school summer job experience. It has nothing to do with whether he will work hard for you. There is definite truth to the claim that you need to work hard as a child to learn the value of a dollar and the value of hard work, but what summer jobs can offer us is different now.

Your Gen Y overachiever couldn’t have settled for a summer job at McDonald’s if she’d wanted to, because a summer spent flipping burgers is not going to get you into Harvard. And it probably wouldn’t get you into a lot of less competitive schools. But a summer spent volunteering in Africa will go a long way toward getting you into a good college, and it betters the world, too. Look past her lack of traditional experience, teach your Gen Yer how to do the little things that she’s missed (even if you think it’s stupid), and figure out how to capitalize on the knowledge and experience she gained from leading her business organization or studying abroad.

7. His personal phone calls
When you were an entry level worker, maybe you wouldn’t have dreamed of calling your girlfriend to say hello right after lunch or dialing up your mechanic to schedule a time to drop your car off for service. But work and life are no longer two distinct entities and this goes for both the office and at home.

Look past the fact that it’s not business for everyone all the time at the office. Because just as I have no problem making personal calls at the office, I also have no problem making a business call or sending an email during my “personal” hours in front of the TV. Life happens 24 hours a day and now, so does work. So look past the personal phone calls at the office and enjoy how your Gen Y worker will use the whole day to get those results you need for the business.

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It feels like everyone is saying the same stuff over and over. Boomers and X’ers complain about Generation Y, and then Generation Y complains about everybody else. But really, we should all just be complaining about ourselves together.

We all have a lot of similar traits that make the workplace really suck sometimes. But for some reason we’re so distracted by the minor differences between us that we forget how we’re all a pain in the ass sometimes.

Generations aside, here are three things that will always remain the same:

We all have unrealistic expectations of each other.

Does Generation Y have unrealistic expectations when it comes to our first jobs? Absolutely, but who can blame us?

When it comes to education, I can’t remember one professor who taught me the ins and outs of entry-level living. And parents, well, let’s face it. It was a much different world when then got out of school than it is today.

So while Gen Y needs to get a grip on what it means to be at the bottom of the food chain, managers need to re-evaluate what they expect their young workers to be in tune with. It seems pretty logical to me that we won’t know everything.

We’re all a little stubborn at first.

My first real project was facilitating groups of senior management on a new operating model being released to the company. Nobody wanted to change and there was a lot of resistance.

“Why do we need to change now?” they’d ask.

Everyone left grumbling about all the work they’d now have to do, explaining this system to their employees. I didn’t hear from any of them for weeks.

Then a couple weeks later people starting calling for materials to hand out to their employees. It started to make sense that no matter how much they fought, the company was still making a change.

I think the same is going to happen with the rift between Generation Y and the rest of the workforce. Only it will happen a lot slower. Change is a dirtier process when it occurs from the bottom up.

But just wait until you catch your boss texting and loving it. They’re already sending emails via Blackberry, which is really not that different.

We’re all whiners.

The older I get, the more I realize that we are all just a bunch of whiners. And by we I don’t mean Generation Y. I mean we as in everybody.

For over a year now I’ve listened to older generations hate on Generation Y, then Generation Y hate back. Even I threw my own two cents into the blogosphere, adding some fuel to the on-going fire of generational conflict.

The sooner we come to terms with the fact that we all have something worth complaining about, the sooner we can cooperate using the only method that’s ever kept the majority happy—give and take.

I’m hoping as more Gen Ys mature and become accustomed to the realities of the workplace, it’ll be easier for us all to grasp that we all have problems, regardless of our generation.

But even then, Gen Next will enter the working world, bringing more grief for the rest of us who are corporately over the hill. So let the cycle continue, I guess. Just don’t let me become the guy who calls all those young employees selfish and entitled. Let me be the cool boss, please.

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I was recently asked, “If the boomers motto was don’t trust anyone over 30, then what is Generation Y’s motto?”

Without much thought I blurted out, “Get as many people over 30 in your corner as you can. Learn from them. And do it better.”

Gen Y may not be driving around with bumper stickers or wearing pins with this slogan, but if you take a quick tour of the blogosphere you’ll find thousands of Gen Yers discussing things like how to negotiate a salary, how to be productive, how to find a mentor, and how to make work better in general.

We give each other advice and we learn from our peers, but everyone in their twenties is well aware that with age and experience comes wisdom. And if you want that wisdom now, you better embrace the “old folks.”

I genuinely trust people over 30. I trust that they’ve already been through the things that I’m going through. I trust that they’ve hated entry level jobs, they’ve backpacked across Europe, they’ve started companies, and they’ve dealt with the confusion of dating in your twenties. They’ve learned from their failures and successes. I trust that they have all that experience to share and I’m open to learning from them.

This does not mean they did everything the right way. Everyone makes mistakes. But it’s a lot easier to make mistakes if you refuse to listen to anyone who’s been in your shoes. My plan is to listen to everyone and to trust everyone over 30, until they show why they shouldn’t be trusted.

Over the past year I’ve learned valuable life and career lessons from mentors and experienced co-workers, friends and acquaintances. In the past few weeks I’ve learned things like:

1. Patience is a virtue

2. A good manager never stops managing

3. Be yourself 24 hours a day

4. It’s OK if everyone doesn’t like you

5. Business to Business sales can all boil down to 2 things – solving a problem or creating an opportunity

I couldn’t have learned any of these things if my motto was don’t trust anyone over 30. Experience is invaluable. It’s something you just can’t get overnight. But you can learn from those who have it.

Don’t close the door before it’s open. Talk to older people with open ears. After you spend a few minutes talking, you’ll quickly know who to trust and who not to trust. If you start with the thought that you can trust everyone over 30, you can learn some pretty cool stuff in your 20’s.

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If your boss is any good, he is busier than you are. That’s just how work works. As you move up the chain, you’re responsible for more things and you have less time for details. I’ve seen this first hand as Brazen Careerist has moved from a 3 person start-up to a larger team with six full time employees and a whole handful of part timers.

Penelope does not have the time to check off on everything. It’s been a big switch for me, but I’ve learned to be selective about what I present to her. In the past, I would call her to give me the green light to draft a proposal to send to our lawyer or the investors. Now I make the call on what is important enough to get the final go ahead. What I’ve found is there aren’t too many things that are truly necessary for her to give the go ahead on before I get started.

Going around the boss is a little risky, you need to know what things must absolutely be approved before going through with, but in the end, getting the right things done, even without permission in advance will make you and your boss look good. And it will begin to turn the boss-employee relationship into a peer-to-peer relationship.

Save the details

Tiny details do not need to be shared with your boss. When you’re explaining a new product, service or opportunity, talk about the big picture. If your boss is high up on the food chain the chances are that she is always thinking five steps down the road. As an entry level employee or new manager, it’s your job to do the day to day work to keep the company moving in the right direction and it’s your boss’s job to be thinking 3 months down the line. Sharing too many details will open a big can of worms that should be avoided.

Tell your boss about the presentation, talk about the benefits and the potential risks, but don’t bother going through the PowerPoint slide by slide and don’t tell him how nervous you are. Then follow through, and things will work out great. You may think you’re holding back information that your boss wants to know, but in reality not discussing the minutia will save time and allow your boss to concentrate on the important things.

Notice the little things that help you make good choices about communication

It’s important that you learn how your boss operates in different situations. Penelope often quickly says no when I bring up a new idea, without giving it much thought. I’ve realized that when she is thinking about something else, she often makes snap decisions. I used to argue. We would scream at each other for a few minutes, I would be pissed the rest of the day and nothing would get done. Now, I just say OK and I walk away.

I’ve realized over the past few months that often she doesn’t shoot my ideas down because they’re bad, she’s just busy with something else. So I’ll approach her the next day, usually in the middle of a conversation that’s going well, and I present the idea in a new way. I explain the benefits and possible risks, and almost without fail, we go ahead and give the new idea a shot.

If you want to gain some authority in your company, no matter what size, it’s important that you take ownership of your role, and sometimes, do things without asking. When you’re the boss, there won’t be anyone to ask, so you may as well get some experience doing it now.

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Before you shed any tears (I know, no one is crying but let me have my moment), just know that I’m not leaving entirely, just migrating over to Brazen Careerist. You see, the focus of EE is changing, and us guest bloggers are being shuttled over to BC so we can add our thoughts to the rising chorus of young professionals who demand a difference. So think of this more as me heading to a new house in the neighborhood rather than moving to another country.

I’m not entirely sure what my new role over at BC is going to be as of yet, but I know I will be offering more than just stories and humor, and can hopefully couple what I’ve been doing here with some helpful tips in ways to get ahead despite our youth. You might see me pop up from time to time in the journalism or politics section of the community, and I hope that if you aren’t already checking out BC now that you’ll start doing so, there’s really a great community of bloggers over there who appreciate the readers.

So as I go I first want to say thanks to all of you who have read and commented on my posts week in and week out. When I was suffering through my old job, it was such a release to be able to come and write about my experiences in such a way that I could get all the frustration out while finding a way to make things at least remotely interesting to you all. Your encouragement, advice, and well-wishes were always welcome, and while I may not have responded to every comment, I read each of them. Your thoughtfulness continued as I moved halfway across the country and started the search for my true meaning, and my only regret is that I will no longer be able to bring you along on my journey as I seek that “dream job” we’re all constantly chasing.

I also have to thank Healy and Paugh, who took a chance on me as just some random guy who wanted to write a weekly column. Jackie’s Millenial Muse works made me really want to be a part of EE, and I’m glad the guys were willing to give me that opportunity. I’m looking forward to continuing in partnership with them (and Penelope as well) over in the BC community.

So now I’ll wrap things up before I start getting choked up thinking of the good times we’ve shared. You have all been so good to me, and I thank you for letting me come into your life for a few minutes each week and share the joys, sorrows, dreams, and failures of the life of one simple twentysomething longing to be more than just another anonymous paper-pusher.

And now, since I’m told to always leave them laughing, and since I am an avid Indianapolis Colts football fan, a joke.

A Bears fan, a Colts fan, an Eagles fan, and a Patriots fan are all climbing a mountain. Seeing as it is the nature of sports enthusiasts, they all begin arguing about who is the most devoted fan of them all.

Suddenly, the Eagles fan says, “Oh yeah? Watch this! This is for the Eagles!” he shouts, and then proceeds to throw himself off the side of the cliff.

As the remaining three continue climbing, the Bears fans says, “That was nothing, this is for the Bears!” and casts himself off from an even higher altitude.

As the Colts fan and Patriots fan sally onward, still arguing, the Colts fan suddenly proclaims, “This is for everyone!” and promptly pushes the Patriots fan off the cliff.

Thanks again everyone, I’ll see you around.

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Events in our lives have a way of shifting our attitudes about certain things. Sometimes that’s bad, but then sometimes that’s really good. In my case, let’s just say that I’m a more seasoned millennial than I used to be.

And I think that’s a good thing. Because while I inherently see the world through the eyes of my generation, I’m starting to understand what Gen-Xers and Boomers are talking about.

No, I don’t think we’re a bunch of narcissistic brats all of a sudden. But I do understand why we’re sometimes misunderstood. Because as life takes its toll and we all grow up, I think we all find that our virtues mature.

Here are a few things that have matured with me during the past year.

I’m not as idealistic.

When I first read the cover of Strauss and Howe’s Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, I think I tricked myself into believing that we’re already just as stellar as my grandfather’s generation who kicked butt for all of us during World War II. But let’s face it, we haven’t proven anything yet.

I do still believe our generation has the potential to be great. But I’m pretty sure now that it’s going to take a lot more work than I originally thought.

A year ago I would’ve said that Generation Y is going to change the world and social media is going to be the vessel. Today, while I still believe that social media is a powerful ally, I’m not as naïve.

It’s going to take a lot more than tech savvy for Gen Y to make change the way we talk about changing things. We need hands-on action. And while a few critics pointed me to some great examples of millennial leadership, I still haven’t seen enough.

But maybe I’m demanding too much. Maybe we’re on the right track and just too young to take the reigns of leadership. That would be just fine with me. But in the meantime, I’d rather demand more than be satisfied with less.

I’m more skeptical.

When I first heard Barack Obama speak, I said to myself, “Wow, there’s the guy who’s going to save this country.” I was completely blown away. And looking back on it all, I kind of get mad at myself. I want to be smarter than that.

I no longer believe in the hype, I believe in results. Words like hope and change, used to give me goose bumps. Now when someone tells me they’re going to do something all I can say is “We’ll see.”

And that may sound like I’m lacking in hope, but I’m not. I’m very hopeful. In fact, I voted for Obama in the primaries, and probably will vote for him in November too. But I realize that actions speak louder than words, and I’ll definitely give the guy a hard time if he makes it into the Oval Office but doesn’t live up to all he promised.

The problem I’ve seen in myself and in my generation thus far is that we’re a lot of talk. And sometimes we believe in things without asking for proof.

But maybe that’s all we can do until we gain more momentum. I’m sure anxious to see how we turn out, but until then, we’ll see…

I’m not as bold.

When I started blogging, I used to run my mouth too much. I’d take something preposterous that someone said about my generation and respond with something equally, if not more preposterous. While shock and awe is typically a lot of fun, it’s better to be taken seriously.

Today I think things through. When I get a nasty comment from someone who calls me an amateur, sometimes I don’t say anything at all. It’s not always worth it to stoop to their level.

Why does this matter?

It matters because I refuse to give Gen-Y dissenters exactly what they want — proof that I’m a hack. Some people feed on their ability to fire people up. And as soon as we lose our cool, they get exactly what they want.

My new motto: Stay cool. Backlash is always going to suck, but as soon as I give into the hate I lose my leverage as a reputable voice.

I’m more myself than I’ve ever been.

For about a year after graduating college, I was depressed. Between leaving long-time friend behind and searching for a new meaning for my life, it was a rough spot in my life. Then things started to fall into place.

Over the past year I’ve experienced the ups and downs of a first job, endured startup stress, and learned a lot about myself. And I don’t want to toot my horn too much, but it feels awesome.

And at the same time, while all this awesomeness surrounds me, I wonder if I’m staying aligned with the values of my generation. Do I need a reality check? I’m really not sure.

Maybe I’m just opening up a new chapter. Maybe other members of my generation are starting to feel this way too. With all the garbage channeled our way via media campaigns, politicians and marketers there’s no doubt that we’re all getting a little nauseous.

So maybe I’m not alone. Are others breaking the stereotypes too? I’d really love to know, because either I’m losing touch or just headed down a different track.

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Today, I’m a co-founder of a small company. And I’m quickly learning that management is no easy task. It’s an art that probably takes years to master. Every manager, no matter how great, still runs into challenges that question what they think they know, every single day. So for your reference (and mine), here is a list of nine management mistakes that new managers can hopefully avoid.

1. Doing too much work
Going from employee to manager is a promotion. It means more responsibility, and the responsibility is making sure everyone else gets their work done. Then you get yours done.

If you’re at the office (virtual or not) for 10 hours, a majority of that time should be devoted to talking with employees, figuring out how to improve your team—their assignments, their self-management skills, and your relationship with them. The funny thing is that when you become a manager, and your personal task list shrinks, I guarantee your time at the office will grow. Since you’re not spending all day in front of a computer checking off your to-do list, you’ve got to get the actual work done somehow. And often, it will be early in the morning or late at night, when everyone else is still sleeping or celebrating the end of another work day.

2. Failing to realize what “work” is, now
In high school and college, work consists of papers, studying and calculus problems. When you graduate to the real world, typical entry-level work means sitting in a cubicle, staring at a computer and putting together PowerPoint presentations or creating Excel documents. Then, all of a sudden, you’re promoted to manager and everything changes.

High School, college and entry level life are all about hands on, check off my to-do list type of work. Management work is completely different. It’s talking, it’s thinking, it’s planning, but it’s still work and it’s more vital to the bottom line. If you don’t turn that corner and come to grips with the fact that when you’re just chatting with someone about their weekend, you’re actually doing work, then you will fail as a manager, because this means you think it’s about you, when in reality it’s about everyone else.

3. Delegating the grunt work
You have a lot of authority as a manager; you can delegate all of your work if you really want to. But be careful. Before you delegate anything, ask yourself the question, “Am I delegating this because it’s boring and tedious, or am I delegating this because it truly makes more sense for someone else to do it?”

Obviously, you have to delegate grunt work sometimes. But when you do, be sure to explain why you’re delegating, how its helping the company, and be sure to delegate some interesting work the next time around.

4. Failing to ask for advice
Ask for advice. All the time. There is no secret to getting the most out of your employees. The best thing you can do is ask the people who have been there before. If you’re a first time manager, someone must be managing you as well. Pick the one or two people who you believe are great managers and ask them what they would do in your position.

You don’t have to take their advice. But you should consider their advice seriously and decide if it applies to your situation. Even CEOs need mentors. I bet there isn’t a single CEO out there who doesn’t have a handful of mentors. So find your managing mentor and ask for advice.

5. Keeping an “eye” on employees
You’re a manager. You’re not a supervisor. It’s not your job to keep an eye on your employees and to know what they are doing at every second of the day. Your job is to mentor, train and coach them so they can be successful in this job and the next.

We no longer work on an assembly line, so much of how people spend their time is up to them. The best you can do is trust that you work with good people and that they will get the work done when it needs to be done. It’s about results, and results can be independent of time.

6. Failing to prepare
Whether it’s a task, a project or a meeting, great managers are always prepared. What your employees produce is always a reflection on you as a manager, so the best thing you can do is prepare as much as you possibly can and give your team as much direction as they need.

Again, it’s all about results, and if you delegate a task to someone without clearly explaining what you are looking for, things will get lost in translation. Your employee may produce exactly what he thought you wanted, but it won’t be what you were looking for, and it WILL be your fault because you failed to properly prepare him for the project.

7. Being too Nice
Everyone is not going to love you. And if you want to be a manager you have to get beyond taking things personally. From my experiences, this is and will be a big problem for Generation Y, especially when we find ourselves managing someone older. We’ve been taught to be nice and respectful and courteous, but nice can be misconstrued as timid, and a timid manager is not someone who inspires trust and confidence.

It’s ok to demand things from people. It’s ok to tell people to do something rather than ask. And it’s ok if everyone doesn’t think you’re the greatest. There’s a fine line between being tough and being an asshole, but that’s what management is. It’s an art, and it’s that fine line that you must learn how to toe if you want to be a great one.

8. Pretending to have all the answers
Nobody has all the answers, so there is no need to pretend that you do. If someone asks a tough question and you don’t have a great response, just admit that you don’t know. Snap decisions and answers feel great. They can make you appear cool and in control, but remember that a quick response to a seemingly innocent question can lead to someone wasting days or weeks working on something that you didn’t properly think through.

It’s OK to go back to your office, talk to the right people, figure out what the best approach is, and then answer the question.

9. Taking a break
Unlike the tasks on your to-do list, management is never over. You may think you’re done for the day after you settle an issue, or after you meet with everyone on your team. But the truth is, it never ends. When you take a break from managing, that’s when things start to go south.

When you forget to go chat with your extroverted employees and you forget to check in with your newest hires to be sure they are ok, there’s a snowball effect. Not only is your work as a manager not being done, but because you’re not managing, your employees are not doing their work, and it’s your fault, not theirs. So whatever you do, don’t slack off. It’s all on you now.

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The only problem is that it seems like the rules of how to write out a list of your accomplishments and hand them to someone in the hopes of getting an interview are changing so often that I don’t know what to do, so I end up with a mash-up of half-baked ideas that likely make me as employable as the guy who stands out by the highway and insists to me that cheese is full of tiny spy satellites. And if I stare at one more online “how to” guide on writing résumés, I may just start to believe him.

The trouble all starts at the top, with the “Objective” section of the form. I was told back in college that this little blurb was critical, compressing everything important about who I am and what I do into one sentence. The whole thing seemed just as ridiculous then as it does now (I maintain that anyone who can condense their entire personality, hopes, dreams, and aspirations into one sentence is boring, droll, and as fake as Paris Hilton’s philanthropic endeavors), so I used some sort of canned phrase designed to make me look like a young go-getter who can’t wait to step all over his friends and climb over the corpses of his foes to get to the top. Now I’m told that whole thing needs to go, and instead it should be replaced with… well, that’s the thing, no one knows what to replace it with, so my résumé will now feature a tiny sketch of Bobba Fett playing a game of poker against Stephen King. It may be stupid, but it still makes about as much sense as the “objective” idea did in the first place.

The next thing I’ve learned is that now companies use all manner of software to sort résumés, and therefore you should include all sorts of keywords so the program is more likely to pick up on you and then forward your information on to a real person. The real person will then take a look at your information, realize you’ve simply jammed it full of buzzwords to try and get the job, and then promptly throw it into the trash while wondering while no “real” people are applying for the job. The thought will briefly cross this individual’s mind that perhaps it would be best to at least scan all the incoming résumés rather than letting a machine do it, but that soul will then remember the wonderful sales pitch delivered on goldenrod paper that got the HR department to spend thousands of dollars on the software in the first place.

At any rate, this state of review has left me cramming all manner of meaningless words into my life’s story, so much so that I feel like the folks playing “Buzzword Bingo” in the IBM commercial. In describing my work with Employee Evolution I found myself writing, “It is the intent of my articles to provoke a reaction which will allow me to differentiate myself from other bloggers in the realm of new media. Furthermore, the use of social networking has allowed me to better actualize my goals of extending my network and making important connections in the blogosphere.” Go ahead and count the number of useless buzzwords in those two sentences alone, and then extrapolate that into a couple pages. I think next time I’m going to do it in anagram form, something like:

Anyone

Can

Trick

Unsuspecting

A.I. through

Lying about

Inconsequential

Zeitgeist

Expectations

No wonder nobody in HR knows what they’re getting when they bring people in for interviews. The fact I have to write like that to even get through the screening means that in today’s job market, the ability to toss out technical sounding words is far more important than anything else.

I’ve also heard a million different other stories about this stuff. Bullet points are better than paragraphs; don’t go over a page, DEAR GOD DON’T GO OVER A PAGE!!! List your activities, no wait, don’t do that, nobody cares. Make sure when you are asked for salary requirements you don’t write “One hundred billion dollars Bwahahahahaha!”

I think I’m going to just ask to see the cheese guy’s résumé, he seems to have it all figured out.

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I have no intention of staying in Madison for more than a couple years. Just enough time to get our business going and hopefully move somewhere that suits my personality. But a couple years is a long time. If I just put things off because I’m waiting for the perfect place to take action, I’ll miss out on a lot I’ve looked forward to for years. Timing isn’t always everything. The other half is putting your dreams into action.

What I realized through my lack of action over the past year is that great things can happen in a juncture. We’re really just procrastinating when we deceive ourselves into thinking we should wait.

Have you ever told yourself these things in a juncture?

If I’m just patient, good things will happen to me.

Image Credit: jenvanw
The first time I probably told myself this was in high school. And it was probably over a girl. Because I was probably awkward and goofy.

But with confidence and a few more years under the belt, we should all learn that patience is only half a virtue. The second half is a willingness to put yourself out there, even if it might crush your ego.

If you’re in a new city and you’re social life sucks, it’s probably because you’re not taking enough risks. Being quiet and reserved can seem like the right move because it’s safe, but in fact, it’s killing your chances of meeting the right people.

Weekend homework assignment: Go to the bar and put yourself in a situation that runs the risk of making an ass out of you in front of the opposite of sex. Sound like an all-time backfire? Maybe.

But maybe not. Great relationships usually begin during awkward moments. Test the theory out for yourself. If you fail, miserably, I’ll owe you a drink.

I should just put in more hours working. I’ll enjoy myself later.

When we first came to Madison we lived via late-night meetings, skipping out on happy hours – it was a first-class ticket to depression.

And I really hate that I used to live like that. There’s a risk of having only weak relationships when you choose to live this way. Fall into this trap now, and who’s to say you’ll escape from it later?

My new approach: go out whenever you can reasonably afford to. As long as it doesn’t seriously affect your work, it’s as an important element on your path to success as climbing that ladder every day.

Everything I create here won’t matter once I leave. Why waste my time?

I once met a girl from Mexico who convinced me to study Spanish. I went home and bought Rosetta Stone. Granted, I’m susceptible to foreign girls, but it’s proof enough to me that short-term friendships can affect our lives.

Now that I’m finally settled in Madison, I’m embracing every new friendship I possibly can because I’ve learned to be okay with “temporary.” Change is going to happen and nothing is permanent.

People who can adapt quickly to change can find happiness almost anywhere. So learn to embrace where you are all the time, even if deep down you wonder if you will ever think anything but “this sucks.”

It’s doubtful that anyone in their twenties is completely in tune with their environment. And even if you are, that will probably change as you grow older. What’s important to realize is, as long as you’re willing to embrace where you are today, you’re probably going to end up in the right place tomorrow.

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Image Credit: qtmcknight

The article says, “It’s as if the walls around our companies are vanishing and old org charts are lying on their sides.”

There is truth to that statement. Social media is changing how business works, so businesses better figure out how social media works. Here’s why every company needs to embrace social media, now.

Brand Awareness and Traffic

Brand awareness is crucial, it always was. But today you have to go beyond old media to market your message to the masses.

On Friday, my post about Gen Y changing the work place was picked up on Stumble Upon and Digg. On Sunday, 60 Minutes re-aired a segment featuring my blog. Guess what? Our site received 4 times more traffic and 10 times more comments on Friday then it did on Sunday. When prime time national media attention can’t compete with a couple of niche websites on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, you know that things just aren’t what they used to be. These days, if you want to create real brand awareness, you better start with the niche communities.

Passive Job Seekers

Job boards are dying, fast. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Lou Adler, a chief executive of the Adler Group, a company that trains corporate recruiters on hiring practices, says, “I certainly see many, many companies posting their jobs on job boards….and not getting any results and wondering why.”

The reason why is because people aren’t actively looking for jobs. They are, however, actively browsing social media sites and spending time on social networks, and even if they don’t know it, they’re passively looking for jobs. The smartest companies are taking advantage of this and creating a social media presence.

Someone may not be looking for a job, but if they stumble across an interesting blog post, Facebook page, or Twitter profile that mentions a great company, they will take the time to investigate further. So everyone is a passive job seeker. It’s up to every company to create a large enough online presence so the right people will stumble on them.

Credibility

Online credibility comes from the way you handle your brand and the links and references your blog or website receives. When people link to you, it’s like an unofficial endorsement from that person. Think of it like politics. When John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama, it made a big splash. A company can gain serious online street-cred when one of the big guns endorses them.

But again, like politics, the common folks matter too. You must first establish credibility with the masses, and then the big fish can provide you that final push. Even if it takes a while, online credibility will eventually lead to mainstream coolness.

The Coolness factor

The majority of social networks and social media sites are not “mainstream cool.” Outside of Silicon Valley and the 900,000 tech crunch readers, the majority of people don’t know what Friend Feed, Digg, or even Twitter is. But your company should, if you want to be cool. Why be cool?

If your company can adopt a bunch of these new technologies and figure out how to properly use them to leverage your brand, at some point it will pay off. Not only will your company immediately be considered cool in the tech world, but when one of these sites becomes a legitimate hit, like Twitter is about to become, your company will be mainstream-cool as well.

And when you’re mainstream cool, everything changes. You’ll have people knocking down your doors trying to get an interview with your company. Just ask Google.

Controlling the conversation

Social media is a constant conversation and because of this, business is now a constant conversation. It’s a comment string on Brazen Careerist, its someone’s Facebook wall, and it’s a Linked In recommendation. Someone, somewhere is out there talking about your company, and they can say whatever they want. All you can do is control the conversation.

Controlling the conversation does not mean telling people how to talk about your company or spamming a couple bloggers with job postings or company descriptions. It means creating a presence where you can initiate and continue a conversation.

What social media requires is authenticity, because even a newbie social media user can sniff out a phony quickly. But authentic conversation isn’t what most companies do naturally. So when corporations want to initiate a conversation, they have to find the right people, and they better empower those people to tell the truth, which isn’t always great news to deliver.

Starbucks is a great example. When things started going south, they publicly admitted to being at fault. They started a social networking site to ask for help from the customers. And we all remember when they shut down the stores across the country for an afternoon to address some fundamental problems. Smart decisions like that come when you take the time to start a conversation and then remember to listen, too.

It’s not easy. It takes a ton of time and it may even consist of a couple full time hires, but establishing a social media presence is worth it. Sooner or later every company will be actively using social media, but the trendsetters are the one’s who will get the most out of it. Don’t be left behind.

If you enjoyed this article, please vote for it on Digg, share it on StumbleUpon or bookmark it on del.icio.us. I appreciate your support.

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