generation wtf
another year older and i'm starting to feel it. oddly, it has nothing to do with the image staring back at me in the mirror and everything to do with the shenanigans staring back at me on my computer screen.
as i've mentioned in previous blog entries, one of the many facets of my job includes the management of interns, and it's a task i've found to be both rewarding and enjoyable, at least for the most part. over the past three and a half years, i've not only imparted my knowledge and job experience to some 25 college students, but i've learned from them as well. they've kept me connected to the "next" generation (as hard as it is to say that), and they bring a youthful energy to the work place. of course...there have been a few bad apples, but more on that later.
this past year, i've noticed a disturbing trend pervading the resumes, cover letters, emails and interviews of several intern applicants that i've been asked to consider. in a nutshell, no one is teaching these kids how to approach the job market with professionalism and finesse anymore. they are being moved through this conveyor belt of a socio-educational system that teaches them that as long as they graduate high school with a decent average and a few extra curricular activities under their belts, they are guaranteed admission into an undergraduate college that will push them through four years of alleged "higher education," help them secure an internship, and leave them with a piece of paper guaranteeing them a free ride into middle class suburban euphoria. and best of all, the only thing they have to do to achieve this is show up and pay for it. it's all such bull.shit and it needs to stop.
fret not; this argument is rife with real-life examples for your reading pleasure: one candidate sent me a resume and cover letter that was so poorly formatted, it took me three tries to make it viewable in microsoft word. furthermore, calling the generic cut-and-paste paragraphs a "cover letter" would be a serious misnomer. the resume was equally laughable with a complete lack of parallel structure, not to mention the basics like a mailing address. another candidate came to me pre-screened by HR with a resume overflowing with greek life achievements and completely devoid of a single line of work experience. really? not one single job in high school or college? am i supposed to be impressed by that?
another candidate we actually interviewed had enough sense to send a thank you email to my coworker, but not enough sense to spell my coworkers' name correctly--twice--and oh yes, it was spelled out in both the email address and signature should the candidate have bothered to take note...gotta love that attention to detail. and in perhaps the best (albeit worst) example, a trusted colleague of mine went out on a limb to refer a relative stranger to me (friend of a friend of a relative type of thing), and when the candidate contacted me via email, he not only failed to spell the word "resume" correctly in the subject line, but he decided that drafting a friendly greeting (like "Hi") would be unnecessary, and instead, he would just launch into the fact that he was "reffered" by so and so. (yes, I know "referred" is spelled wrong...that's how he spelled it). once again, i can only ask: what.the.fuck?
all of this, and i haven't even had time to mention the parade of lackluster candidates who are frankly unable to muster up the smallest amount of enthusiasm for the opportunity in front of them. why? because they fucking expect it to be handed to them. after all, that's what they're "taught" that they deserve. and one more friendly note-to-self that these candidates might want to post on the wall of their plastic bubbles: if you are sending out resumes and conducting interviews, perhaps it would be a good idea to refrain from setting photographs of yourself doing keg stands as your profile picture on facebook and myspace. yes, employers.are.looking.
generation next. generation entitlement. generation me. i've been debating the most accurate way to define this new breed of college student. pampered, coddled, overindulged, and protected by the fear of a lawsuit or the omnipresent threat of an angry parent or a canceled check, today's generation of students is severely lacking the conditioning and foresight needed to succeed in the "real world." they're getting paula when they need simon. it's hard to believe these sentiments are coming from me when they are typically expressed by people two and three times my age, but this is happening--quickly--and it's only getting worse.
i considered "generation text" as a worthy runner up. half of the problem is clearly in the way that today's younger generation communicates: emails, instant messages, and most importantly, via text messages. hundreds a month, maybe thousands. we all know that there are no rules in texting. in fact, the shorter the message, the better. as a result, the dictionary of abbreviated text speak is becoming the norm and invading professional communication at alarming rates. it's not just in whether or not the word is spelled out or abbreviated, it's also in how the sentence reads and whether or not basic punctuation is there. i fear that today's students are having more and more difficulty remembering whether or not they are typing a term paper or a blog.
and back to my earlier note about those bad apples--trojan horses really--one has to wonder if they might be the worst of all. they're savvy enough to talk the talk, but they have zero intention of walking the walk. sure, their resumes are sparkling, their cover letters flattering, and their interview demeanor enthusiastic, but the minute they sit down to their computer on day one, it's all facebook and eye rolls for the next ten weeks. who needs to actually "work" when the ink is already dry on the updated resume?
generation wtf is right.
as i've mentioned in previous blog entries, one of the many facets of my job includes the management of interns, and it's a task i've found to be both rewarding and enjoyable, at least for the most part. over the past three and a half years, i've not only imparted my knowledge and job experience to some 25 college students, but i've learned from them as well. they've kept me connected to the "next" generation (as hard as it is to say that), and they bring a youthful energy to the work place. of course...there have been a few bad apples, but more on that later.
this past year, i've noticed a disturbing trend pervading the resumes, cover letters, emails and interviews of several intern applicants that i've been asked to consider. in a nutshell, no one is teaching these kids how to approach the job market with professionalism and finesse anymore. they are being moved through this conveyor belt of a socio-educational system that teaches them that as long as they graduate high school with a decent average and a few extra curricular activities under their belts, they are guaranteed admission into an undergraduate college that will push them through four years of alleged "higher education," help them secure an internship, and leave them with a piece of paper guaranteeing them a free ride into middle class suburban euphoria. and best of all, the only thing they have to do to achieve this is show up and pay for it. it's all such bull.shit and it needs to stop.
fret not; this argument is rife with real-life examples for your reading pleasure: one candidate sent me a resume and cover letter that was so poorly formatted, it took me three tries to make it viewable in microsoft word. furthermore, calling the generic cut-and-paste paragraphs a "cover letter" would be a serious misnomer. the resume was equally laughable with a complete lack of parallel structure, not to mention the basics like a mailing address. another candidate came to me pre-screened by HR with a resume overflowing with greek life achievements and completely devoid of a single line of work experience. really? not one single job in high school or college? am i supposed to be impressed by that?
another candidate we actually interviewed had enough sense to send a thank you email to my coworker, but not enough sense to spell my coworkers' name correctly--twice--and oh yes, it was spelled out in both the email address and signature should the candidate have bothered to take note...gotta love that attention to detail. and in perhaps the best (albeit worst) example, a trusted colleague of mine went out on a limb to refer a relative stranger to me (friend of a friend of a relative type of thing), and when the candidate contacted me via email, he not only failed to spell the word "resume" correctly in the subject line, but he decided that drafting a friendly greeting (like "Hi") would be unnecessary, and instead, he would just launch into the fact that he was "reffered" by so and so. (yes, I know "referred" is spelled wrong...that's how he spelled it). once again, i can only ask: what.the.fuck?
all of this, and i haven't even had time to mention the parade of lackluster candidates who are frankly unable to muster up the smallest amount of enthusiasm for the opportunity in front of them. why? because they fucking expect it to be handed to them. after all, that's what they're "taught" that they deserve. and one more friendly note-to-self that these candidates might want to post on the wall of their plastic bubbles: if you are sending out resumes and conducting interviews, perhaps it would be a good idea to refrain from setting photographs of yourself doing keg stands as your profile picture on facebook and myspace. yes, employers.are.looking.
generation next. generation entitlement. generation me. i've been debating the most accurate way to define this new breed of college student. pampered, coddled, overindulged, and protected by the fear of a lawsuit or the omnipresent threat of an angry parent or a canceled check, today's generation of students is severely lacking the conditioning and foresight needed to succeed in the "real world." they're getting paula when they need simon. it's hard to believe these sentiments are coming from me when they are typically expressed by people two and three times my age, but this is happening--quickly--and it's only getting worse.
i considered "generation text" as a worthy runner up. half of the problem is clearly in the way that today's younger generation communicates: emails, instant messages, and most importantly, via text messages. hundreds a month, maybe thousands. we all know that there are no rules in texting. in fact, the shorter the message, the better. as a result, the dictionary of abbreviated text speak is becoming the norm and invading professional communication at alarming rates. it's not just in whether or not the word is spelled out or abbreviated, it's also in how the sentence reads and whether or not basic punctuation is there. i fear that today's students are having more and more difficulty remembering whether or not they are typing a term paper or a blog.
and back to my earlier note about those bad apples--trojan horses really--one has to wonder if they might be the worst of all. they're savvy enough to talk the talk, but they have zero intention of walking the walk. sure, their resumes are sparkling, their cover letters flattering, and their interview demeanor enthusiastic, but the minute they sit down to their computer on day one, it's all facebook and eye rolls for the next ten weeks. who needs to actually "work" when the ink is already dry on the updated resume?
generation wtf is right.
posted by mark at 12:37 PM
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