Generation Y's Career Debut

by Jordan Starling

How you can get a leg up on the current crop of college students.

Today's college grads just aren't making the cut. This is the unfortunate truth from employers across the country in a survey from CIO.com about employees who are recent college graduates. According to these supervisors, recent staff additions from college ranks are lacking in skills and characteristics necessary to companies.

The biggest studied factor contributing to employers’ dissatisfaction is poor communication, which is indicated by bad spelling and grammar and an overall lacking performance in face-to-face communication and presentations.

Under-prepared

In an era where an accredited bachelor’s degree is no longer a bonus to a winning resume, but a necessity for one seeking a job in today’s business world, it may seem surprising that a four year degree is not enough to prepare students for the workforce. But in the past two decades as technology has replaced face-to-face communication in many aspects, those born roughly between 1977 and 1992, known as Generation Y, are more respondent to texting, IM, e-mail, and other digital communications, much to the chagrin of their older superiors.

NFI Research conducted a nationwide survey of senior executives and managers which tackled several issues in corporate communications. Many of those who responded expressed a common distaste for the quality of their employees’ communication skills.

“I noticed a marked decline in the structure, grammar, syntax, and overall impact of messages in written communications,” noted one of the managers who participated in the survey. “This applies to subordinates and, to a lesser degree, to the [entry-level] communicator.”

Communication Skills Are Key

In fact, some employers overlook a Gen-Y prospect's educational background when considering him or her for a position within a department or company.

“I don’t care about their skills or what they studied—it doesn’t matter if they’ve got straight A's. It’s all about getting a sense of who they are and if they’re a good person,” says Jo Nagle, the chief executive of the Australian-based marketing company Let’s Launch.

What Typical Colleges Are Missing

It’s not surprising that traditional four-year institutions are failing the test of preparing young adults for corporate America. While Generation Y brings many strengths to companies (such as a strong sense of new technology) along with that are also many weaknesses, which include a demanding attitude and a sense of entitlement. Many secular universities have helped feed this self-centric, 21st Century mindset and have done little to challenge Gen-Yers to get out of their comfort zones.

Another respondent said, “Unfortunately, we take the written communication too lightly today. Text messages, IM, and brief e-mails have diminished our ability to share our thoughts, plans, recommendations and goals effectively. This lack of professionalism ultimately slips into other areas, lessening our effectiveness as a company.”

Other managers agreed. “College students just have poorly developed writing skills,” said one. Still another noted, “Over the years I have seen an increase in bad grammar. Guess kids aren’t learning English like they used to.”

Who will step up?

Whether employers like it or not, with retirement approaching for Baby Boomers, they don’t have a choice as to what generation bracket from which they will select their employees. It would seem that in order to maintain the dedication of these young workers, there will need to be a change in the HR policies of companies. Such a change is already evidenced in recent statistics.

CIO.com, the business unit of the International Data Group, has noted that the outspokenness of Gen-Y about their career expectations has apparently caused companies to take heed. Among their new policies:

• 57% have introduced more flexible work schedules • 33% have implemented more recognition programs • 26% give employees more access to state-of-the-art technology • 26% have increased salaries and bonuses • 24% offer more ongoing training programs • 20% pay for cell phones and BlackBerrys • 18% offer more telecommuting options • 11% increased vacation time

What You Can Do

The employers in the survey outlined what they want to see from Generation Y's communication: be clear, simple, and concise. These skills take time to develop, but for supervisors, poor writing skills are a sign that the employee's quality of work may be substandard in other areas as well. According to the article at CIO.com, good writing stands out and shows an effective worker regardless of his or her office responsibilities.

Jordan Starling lives in Jefferson City, TN, with her parents, younger sister and two younger brothers. Aside from majoring in communications with CollegePlus!, Jordan is also studying drafting at a local trade school.

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