“Millennials are lazy.” This is the comment I get most often when speaking with employers about internship and entry-level hiring programs. The employer sometimes goes on to say “they don’t want to work hard,” and “when I was their age I was grateful for any job I got, and I stayed until the job was done.” And while I understand employer concerns, there is a major miscommunication going on — Millennials are hard workers, but they understand the importance of loving the work they do, and spending time doing what they love. Here are three takeaways of millennial stereotypes in the workforce that older generations could use:
Love your job — If Millennials aren’t happy, they’ll just quit, knowing a better job is around the corner. Most of us buckle down, know we hate our jobs, and work on nights and weekends to find something new, thus leaving no time for enjoyable activities, which makes us hate our jobs even more! It’s a never-ending cycle that few get out of, thus leading to poor performance at work, and unhappiness in life.
Get That Workout In — Millennials grew up in an interconnected world — they realize that there is no “leaving work” since they always have access to email, and the idea of “face time” to them is so old school, considering that for this video game generation, success is measured in results, not how long you play. So, leave work on-time, or take your lunch hour and go to the gym — you’ll find you are more productive when you feel good about yourself.
Expect a Trophy — Ok, ok, maybe not ALL the time, but this idea of “no news is good news” and “no feedback means you did a good job” is BS. Instead, adopt the strategy of working as hard as you can on a project, go the extra mile, and then ask for feedback. If you get constructive feedback you’ll improve and learn, if you get positive feedback you’ll feel awesome, and if you get no feedback, then that’s a great indication you should move on.
Love your job, find balance, and expect positive outcomes for hard work. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
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Savvy Hires is a recruitment Consulting Firm that addresses Company and Candidate recruitment solutions. We work with companies to build out awesome campus recruitment/ intern programs, create nifty recruitment processes, and help candidates navigate the job search process.
Originally published at medium.com