Non Sequitur – So relevant it hurts!

The September 17th Non Sequitur comic was so on-the-mark that it hurt. A stuffed animal asks a child, "Shouldn't you be studying for tomorrow's math test?"

"Of course not," the child says. "Cuz it's the teacher's job to teach us, so if I haven't learned enough to pass, then it's the teacher who actually fails the test, not me." The final frame says, "Hey, I'm just trying to act like an adult".

Ouch…

As a recruiter I hear many people talk about "Generation Why"…"the millennials"…or whatever other term that is being used to decribe those born between 1978 and 2000. I hear some people say they aren't sure this generation has the focus or the commitment to spend the hours necessary to succeed. Of course, this is usually said by someone in my generation – the Baby Boomers. We know how to work! We don't know how to stop working, however, and for some inane reason, we think the world should be like us.

Hold on here – let's look at who we are.

We are those born from 1946 – 1964. Many of us went to Vietnam or did college protests AGAINST the war. We had race riots in the street of L A and Detroit. We went to Woodstock, wore love beads, got married at 21 and frustrated the hell out of our parents.

We worked. We achieved. We were results driven.

Then something happened. Something I'll call personal RESPONSIBILITY. Somehow many of us found reasons to avoid "taking the blame". We loved "taking the credit", however.

You just saw it with that Senator from Idaho. You saw it with Mark Foley, the Congressman from Florida, who was once known as a crusader against child abuse and exploitation. Foley resigned from Congress on September 29, 2006 after allegations surfaced that he had sent suggestive emails and sexually explicit instant messages to teenage boys who formerly or currently served as Congressional pages. You saw it with our former President who tried to confuse us by trying to learn what the meaning of the word "is" is.

You've seen it with Baby Boomers who are lawyers. They file suit against McDonald's for serving hot coffee. They file suit against tobacco companies because although the cigarette package says that they CAN cause cancer, they actually DID and people were surprised (duh). They protect the guilty and abuse the innocent. They make "logic" a four-letter word.

So here you are, the new generation, getting ready to find a career. Please do us Baby Boomers a favor. Show us how to take responsibility. Remind us that people who make mistakes can actually admit they made them without checking themselves into a rehab center, making up lies or simply embarassing the rest of my generation. Tell us in your interview that you want a mentor who will guide you, support you and be honest with you. Tell us that you will probably make mistakes — but you will own up to them and try not to repeat them.

When I look at what the experts say about your generation this is what I read:

Positive, future-oriented
Flexible
Want meaningful work
Want ongoing feedback – not just annual reviews
Technical
Quick learners
Ambitions, demanding

Hey, I think this is EXACTLY who most of us are looking for as we look to hire.

I'm glad your generation is here. We Baby Boomers need a break from ourselves.

Etiquette – This will help you get a job!

I'm writing today as I call potential hires. We're bringing them to Florida for interviews. The grads that I am calling are not expecting a phone call from me. As I'm doing this, a few things came to mind that I'll post in the hopes of helping you avoid the same mistakes.

Cell Phones

As I tried to call someone they had the song "Call Me" by Blondie (released in 1980 – several years before this person was even born!) playing before the answering machine message came on. I thought it was cute, for about four seconds. In fact, I found my self singing along, for about two seconds. After 10 seconds I started to get irritated. It seemed like 15 minutes before this: "Hi, this is Mindy. I can't come to the phone right now, etc."

Another person I tried to call had a voicemail message of, "Hi guy, I can't take your call right now, etc."

Gang, you are trying to get jobs. You are going to be competing against someone who has opted to have a boring message like, "Hi, this is Mark, I can't come to the phone right now. If you would please leave a message I will call you back the moment that I can. Thank you for your patience."

As an employer I am thinking about when one of my customers calls Mindy or the "guy lady" and gets a cutesy message that makes them want to do biz with someone else.

I realize it is more fun to have a cute message – but it is even better getting a paycheck every week.

Facebook & MySpace

Of course, I am a member of both. My best friend's son, Joe, invited me to be his "friend" once he knew I was on Facebook. That was cool…until I read his blog last Friday. I'm sure Joe had a beer or nine before he wrote it. I love this kid like he is my own. However, I learned A LOT about him that night!

My point? Don't leave stuff – THAT YOU WRITE – on Facebook or MySpace where a potential employer can read it. I've done more dumb things than most people I know over the past 25 years, but I really don't want any potential employer to see them – at least until I've been dead for a couple decades. I know you can't control what your friends write. But you can control the pics that you put on your space, the blogs, etc.

One job that I got years ago was because the employer's parents were best friends with my parents in 1946 in a city 100 miles away. HONESTLY! As your network friends invite other friends to the network you have no idea who is going to read what you write. I'm sure Joe has no idea that I read what I did.

E-Mails

Two quick notes here. Do yourself a favor. Get a gmail, yahoo or other free service besides your college e-mail account. I am trying to recruit people who only listed their college e-mail address. Guess what? The college no longer lets them use that address and I have no way to quickly reach them. It's like having a cell phone, but never leaving it on.

Another quickie. Don't send sexually explicit stuff, nasty jokes, swear words, etc. in your WORK e-mail address – or to anyone else's work e-mail address. On my drive home last night I was listening to the Clark Howard show and he said that one-third of big companies now hire people to read their employees PERSONAL e-mails sent/received from work. Tell your friends to send their nasty stuff to gmail.

Finally!

If you have an employer call you – return the call as quickly as possible. Don't say, "Oh, yeah, I got your call last night." It happened today as I was calling someone. I don't think I want to send her a plane ticket to Tampa.

Even if you think the job is not for you, return the call. I have two openings – one she might really like, but will never learn about because my perception is that "my call wasn't important."

Happy job hunting. I hope this helps!

Back to the Future — A Recruiter's Thoughts

OK I admit it. I'm a baby-boomer looking to recruit Millennials. Or is it called Gen-Y now? Or the "Me" generation? Wait, am I talking about you guys coming out of school . . . or am I talking about those of us who graduated in the 60's and 70's? You know us. The workaholics. The crackberry users. We can't text message and we never learned how to get out of work on time to make it to our kids ballgames. Some of still can't set the VCR, we have old Beatles records in the garage, a turntable that doesn't work, and probably some 8-tracks somewhere in the house.

Now you are hearing some of the boomers say that "we are worried about the Millennials because they want balance in their lives" & they want "teamwork". Duh. THAT IS WHAT WE WANTED!

You guys are much better than we were. We had race riots in L.A. and in Detroit. We ducked bullets at Kent State. We went on Peace marches against the war. We went to Woodstock. Listened to the Who and the Rolling Stones. (My God, are those guys that old ") Our parents were so worried that we would be in charge some day.

When we finally got in charge we didn't know how to stop working. We really weren't friends with our parents because we learned to do things "because they said so". Phone cards. No reason besides "I'm the dad, that's why".

So here we are now wanting to hire you but are concerned about your "work ethic". The sad thing is that we are saying to you EXACTLY what was said to us when we were trying to find jobs. Many of you graduated in the top 5 percent of your class. 95 percent of you didn't though. That's ok. 95 percent of all doctors who graduated weren't in the top 5 percent of their class. Hey, Michael Dell and Bill Gates didn't even graduate from college. Last I know they did fine.

If you are stressed about finding a good job let me give you some thoughts that might make you feel better:

• The best class I ever took in school was typing. 9th grade. Mrs. Howard was my teacher. Roosevelt Junior High School in Rockford, IL. I've used what I learned in that class more than any other class. Ever.
• No one has asked to see my report cards at any job I had. No one cared.
• No one asked to see my college transcripts. No one cared.
• Don't worry about knowing what you want to do 20 years from now. All of us who knew what we wanted to do changed our minds 423 times. Some of us still are.
• Hiring managers who want to stereotype you based on your age, your education, your ethnicity and/or anything else create their own problems. Ignore them.
• Your biggest challenge is getting in the door. Not working once you get in the door. You will be fine. You ask questions. You know how to get along with adults. Remember, you get along with your parents. We didn't.

The best job you get in your life will probably be one that you find by networking. Not on CareerBuilder or Monster. Your parents, your parent's friends and your friend's parents will try and help you all they can. Ask.

Also pursue careers that you feel you can be passionate about. The only problem with relying on your parents advice is that they may not be aware of some emerging industries. They may also have a prejudice on a company or an industry based on their own experiences with that business 30 years ago. (Hey, can you tell that I REALLY didn't listen to my parent's advice on jobs!)

Book's like the "Princeton Review's Best Entry-Level Jobs" can give you great insight to companies.

Finally, let me give you a couple of tips on interviewing with some babyboomers.

• You only have one chance to make a first impression. It is easier to "overdress" than "underdress". Guys – ties. I don't think earrings on guys are cool. My sons have tatoos. I don't. I don't want to see them in the interview. Ladies – I want to hire you, not date you. Dress appropriately.
• Be early.
• The interviewer wants to know what you can do for them. Make sure they know that before you find out what they can do for you.
• Send a thank you e-mail.
• Send a thank you card, too. (Remember that first impression thing above )
• Relax.

Finally, things that are too good to be true usually are. For most of us we "didn't get rich quick". So, we believe that there aren't many jobs out there that are really that way.

Have fun. Looking for a job can be great – especially if you know that the perfect one for you is right around the corner.