I’ve been doing this for a long time – since 2002 – and have discovered something interesting. As much as I think of myself as their teacher, I am also – in some respects – their student. That is to say, over the years, I’ve come to see that in some important ways, I have as much to learn from them as I hope they do from me. The students I teach are in their early 20’s, for the most part.
That puts them pretty squarely in
The much discussed millennial camp (although, apparently, not for that much longer). I spend a great deal of time coaching and mentoring them through the earliest stages of their career trajectories. As I’ve conducted my own job search over the past four or five years, I’ve been thinking more and more about how they go about it. And while I’m loath to generalize,
I do think they offer some helpful pointers
For example: Stay current. In today’s workplace, that means embracing all that is digital. Knowing your productivity suite (such as the software overseas chinese in australia you use to create and manage your documents) is a good start, not a goal in and of itself. Get with the diversity program. When I first started teaching, my course had a unit on diversity.
I quickly realized that many millennials,
Especially in larger communities, live the reality of diversity every single day. To them, it’s a fact of life. Real, meaningful diversity isn’t just about Make sure your subscription service counting heads or affirmative action outcomes (although those metrics are important); it’s about recognizing that voices that aren’t normally heard – whether it’s because they’re new, or they speak with a heavy accent, or they lack your experience and mine – might still have something valuable to say.
It’s about recognizing people as people,
Labeling them or allowing those labels to hinder rich data their value. That process can be messy. The alternative is worse. Manage your work-life balance. Some workplaces still restrict or outright ban access to social media. Leaving aside the ways that limits our effectiveness as employees, it represents an extra challenge for millennials, who are also known as digital natives for good reason.