Should you compete with college kids for job?

Are you one of the over-anxious parents worried about your child’s career? Will s/he heed your advice and work hard to get ahead in life as you’ve anticipated?

Well, maybe not. It’s easy to say to keep these fears aside but there is really not much to fret about. Your young child (yes, a young adult now), will approach his career in a different way from you and may not work 12 hours a day when he becomes an intern.

This is one area where the employers also think like most parents, perhaps due to the age factor.

Most employers believe the younger lot will work harder and longer to deliver results.

It’s presumed these young candidates are charged up with energy as they are ready to join the workforce and they are more than eager to put in extra sweat and long hours to build their career in the first few years.

This may be a misconception that has been the norm for a long time. New research shows that these young candidates or employees (called the millennials) would rather spend the evening with family and friends over working late for the next promotion and even take their own decisions rather being influenced by people close to them.

According to a new survey by Insead Emerging Markets Institute (EMI), the Head Foundation and Universum, these young people in the workforce value personal development and work-life balance over money and status. However, they are still ambitious and believe in their own ability to steer their career.

The project focuses on those born between 1984 and 1996 and soon to be the bulk of the future workforce.

Of the 16,000 plus global respondents who participated in the survey, 73 per cent chose work-life balance over a higher salary and 82 per cent value work-life balance over their position in a company.

Although they value work-life balance, millennials also want to lead. Becoming a leader or manager is a key career driver with 41 per cent confirming it's very important to them.

The primary drivers for becoming a leader are money (35 per cent), influence (31 per cent) and the opportunity to have a strategic role (31 per cent).

This demonstrates, as the research says, that for millennials, the driver to become a leader is inward-focused, not related to the traditional leadership role of managing and coaching other employees.

“While leadership is a key goal, the importance of titles varies greatly around the world.  Although important in Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America, titles are unimportant in Central & Eastern Europe and irrelevant in North America and Western Europe. Younger Millennials care even less about titles than those born nearer to 1984.”

The survey also highlights the need for passion when it comes to work. You may have been stuck up in a job to pay for your child’s fee but s/he may think differently.

A big percentage of the new generation of candidates (42 per cent) would rather have no job than one they hate.

Unlike those in their 30s or 40s, millennials are not looking with a promotion every six months or yearly to get up the career ladder. The survey states only 24 per cent strongly want a fast-track career with constant promotions. 

On the other hand, most millennials focus in their career life is to grow and learn new things (45 per cent) – the second most important goal in their life after work-life balance. The biggest fear for 40 per cent of respondents globally is to get stuck in a job with no development opportunities.

Contrary to popular belief, millennials also make their own choices. Family and friends are not key career influencers for millennials.

Only 5 per cent said their friends strongly influence their choices. The only exception is in Asia Pacific where they value the opinions of their friends.

For millennials born closer to 1996, their friends' opinions are less important than for older millennials.

For only 10 per cent of respondents the opinions of their parents are important. This highlights a disconnect between the notion of ‘helicopter parents’, who hover over their children guiding their choices, and the impact they actually have on their children's career decisions.

Millennials view the world through rose tinted glasses; quite different to Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. The friendliness of the people is the most important criterion of a future employers' culture, chosen by 64 per cent of respondents, reads the research.

And their definition of diversity is cultural diversity (85 per cent). Finally, only 8 per cent fear they will not get the chances they deserve because of their gender. This is even less of a concern for younger millennials, it adds further.

[Image: Shutterstock]

 

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