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Jennifer Williamson is a twenty-something 
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When I was in high school, I was completely consumed and obsessed with theatre. My high school put on exactly one musical per year — it was my life. I planned and schemed all summer about my audition in the fall. I took voice lessons from the sister of the musical director (a little networking there) and paid for them by working all summer at JCPenney’s. When the musical was over, I was depressed for weeks–until I started thinking about next year.
The way the casting at my school worked was this: the seniors always got the lead roles. Every so often, a talented junior would get a lead, but this was the only exception. So when I was a freshman in the chorus, I didn’t mind — I knew I had to pay my dues. When I was a sophomore in the chorus, I didn’t mind that either — there was always next year. And when I was a junior with three lines, well…my time would come.
Senior year rolled around, and I took stock of my situation before auditioning. I knew who all the other players were: the competing seniors who would be going for the lead roles. And I knew I was a likely candidate. I was talented, passionate, and driven. Not to mention, I’d paid my dues. The director knew me—I had been in the musical for three years now. I had never missed a rehearsal, never goofed off during practice time, and always knew the songs weeks in advance.
But that year—the beginning of my senior year—the old musical director quit. And the new one came from the nearby middle school. He knew a lot of kids in the incoming freshman class. And guess what? He casted the people he knew. I didn’t get a lead, and nobody else in the senior class did, either.
I know this mini-tragedy is not important in the grand scheme of my life. But it did teach me one thing that I haven’t forgotten — to be extremely skeptical of people who tell you to pay your dues. You can do everything right, and still get passed by.
I’m always interested in conversations about the clash of generations. And when older employees talk about younger ones, someone eventually brings it up — we all need to pay our dues. We’re not supposed to want more—not before our time. And from the perspective of those who’ve been there longer, I can understand how frustrating it must be to see new employees with no experience come into their company demanding things like more vacation time and more responsibility—things they themselves had to work for years to get.
But the problem from the younger employee’s perspective is that the world doesn’t always reward the due-payers. A lot of people my age have seen parents laid off multiple times. Employer loyalty is more difficult to come by, and the company man is a dying breed. We didn’t grow up watching dues-payers cash in. We watched them lose out.
This is one reason Gen-Y employees have a reputation for being impatient and entitled. We see that paying dues and waiting patiently might not get us anywhere. A new boss can still come in and change the rules at the last minute. Our company can still decide to outsource our jobs to the Philippines. Life isn’t fair or predictable. So we want to grab what we can as soon as we can get it.
I’m not advocating that Gen-Y employees should all be given high-level jobs, months of vacation time and great salaries the moment they set foot in the door. Experience matters, and most entry-level hires don’t feel ready for a huge amount of responsibility from the get-go. But I think we do need to feel like we’re in an environment where we can learn, achieve our goals and be happy. And we need to feel that soon, or we’ll start looking for other options. Not because we’re impatient or entitled, but because life is short—and no matter how long you pay your dues, there are no guarantees.
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It depends.
If ‘paying your dues’ is really just a training process, then it’s OK. In that case the question to ask is “Do we train Gen-Y differently than other generations?” I don’t know the answer to this one, but I think “probably not”.
The problem arises when it’s not just a training process. Too often “paying your dues” is just part of the seniority pecking order. The newbies get the boring, repetitive, dirty tasks ‘just because’.
Just because they are new.
Just because everyone else got them when they were new.
Just because it’s always been done that way.
And this is bad, no matter what generation you are in. But I can see where it would really tick-off Gen-Y.
Then again, if a company has this kind of culture, it deserves to feel the wrath of your generation.
I think the term “paying dues” is outdated.
I like to think of it as building up your personal brand and tend to equate it to your first day on a new job; you don’t automatically go in there like you own the place. You develop relationships, learn the culture and make a name for yourself.
I also used to think I had to pay “dues” and almost started resenting people who didn’t play by the rules I was told to play by. Then I realized that everyone has their own speciality and age doesn’t dictate who’s good at what.
What does tend to earn folks — regardless of generation — a bad reputation is when they feel like they should just sidestep everyone, not develop relationships or a personal brand and just demand a high ranking title.
As someone who is from the Philippines, I must say that I understand how worried some people may be at losing their jobs to our outsourcing centers. In fact, our outsourcing industry of call centers is one of the fastest growing in the country and is helping improve our economy. But even in such an environment, where the economy and industry is growing, paying your dues is not necessarily a bad thing. And though I do agree that paying your dues does not always pay off, I would rather try and pay the dues than not to. Imagine the consequences if you dont pay your dues, or if an entire job culture refuses to pay dues. You would have people undercutting each other and demanding salaries and perks beefore they even deserve them. You would have people being given responsibilities before they are entirely prepared for them.
Paying your dues isn’t a bad thing. It isn’t the perfect way of moving your career forward, but it does have its positives. Just my two cents.
I think the new mantra is more … What have you done for me lately? and less about the investment that has been made.
I think the problem here is the definition of “paying your dues.� It’s sort of used interchangeably, and whether or not it’s a useful thing is entirely dependent on the definition.
Half the time “paying your dues� are referring to menial tasks that are entirely below what not only you are capable of, but what is expected. A minimal amount of this is to be expected, for awhile while I was going through training, I had some free time now and then, so my manager would have me do things like go buy food for team luncheons, stuff like that. Someone’s got to do it, I wasn’t hired for it, but the new guy is usually the one who does it. Not too bad, I’d gladly do my part. However, some people get hired into roles and these things progress far beyond any reasonable period while you’re trying to transition to a useful team member, and are completely unnecessary. If “paying your dues� includes doing the tedious things that someone else on your team should be doing, just because you’re new, count me out. Completely pointless, and does nothing to further your knowledge.
The other half, “paying your dues� is simply referring to having less responsibility than peers. No surprise here, completely justified. You have to prove that you can handle it. Could I have come into my role, having gone through training and acquired necessary knowledge to complete small tasks, taken on the biggest revenue projects with the highest tiered clients? Probably. No reason that I couldn’t, but should I expect that? Absolutely not. And management would be foolish to give me that responsibility. The point isn’t whether or not I could handle it, the point is whether or not I have demonstrated through specific actions in my current role that I can handle the next step. Is this “paying your dues� or is it just common sense. Unfortunately for Gen-Y there are some who would say it’s the former, and they’re giving the rest of us a bad rep.
“You can do everything right, and still get passed by.”
That’s right, life isn’t fair. It never was and never will be.
Once you understand that,
believe it or not, you’ll be much better prepared to
succeed in life and work. Seriously, once you face that reality
you can do wonders–it empowers you take control of your own life.
Don’t worry about the term “Paying your dues”.
Think of it as an opportunity to prove yourself. Build your
skills and experience, be the go-to person, be the one
who delivers.
If your present company doesn’t get it, other companies will.
Believe me when I say this: Good help IS hard to find.
I think poster Erin put it best:
“I like to think of it as building up your personal brand and tend to equate it to your first day on a new job; you don’t automatically go in there like you own the place. You develop relationships, learn the culture and make a name for yourself.”
Nathan,
Have the Ryans’ ever asked you to write for EE?
Seriously, your point of view is refreshing and
really adds to the discussion.
You should think about pitching some ideas their way.
Tim
@ Nathan: Tim’s right. And you don’t need to pitch us any ideas to do it. Just write what you feel passionate about and submit. It’s a piece of cake and great way to expand your horizons.
Tim, you have an interesting perspective too. Don’t discount yourself.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Jennifer, I had a very similar story in high school with my soccer team. I was bitter about it for a long time, but like you I found it to be an important growth experience in the long run.
I think in general young workers today are attuned to the fact that the working world is not a perfect meritocracy. Therefore we’re aware that “paying dues” doesn’t always reward us as we’d like to. This cynicism is at times a hindrance, and at times a blessing. I think the skill that young workers should develop is the ability to recognize the environments where paying dues does pay off and gravitate towards those places.
I’ve been in the work force for many years now (a baby boomer), small and large, corporate and non…I can tall you first hand that “paying your dues” has different meanings. Its answer is between the ears of those hearing the phrase; it’s different for everyone. It boils down to what you want as an individual and what the culture of the company is. My father’s generation was the beginning of the workforce that didn’t experience the gold watch at retirement or the high dollar pension plan. My generation is the first to not give a crap about title (in general – there are always exceptions)…it’s about satisfying a need within. We are all capable of doing many different things. What you like to do today can easily bore you tomorrow. On the other hand, there are many things we don’t like to do, but must do them. Part of why we get paid. That is not only a challenge for every company, but also for every individual. Individuals have more flexibility than the company, so if there is no room to wiggle within a company, it’s time for the individual to move on….and continue to pay your dues.