Careers: The Goods on Generation Y

Young people entering the workforce are changing the rules of the employment game. To them, fulfillment and time—welcome back, 40-hour workweek—matter

by Karyn McCormack

After graduating from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in business last year, Ryan Healy got a job at a Fortune 500 company. "I like the job, but it's not my dream job and not my ultimate end goal," says the 23-year-old. "It's to be an entrepreneur." So, like many tech-savvy twentysomethings that want to be heard and build a community, he and Ryan Paugh, a friend from college, started a blog. Since February, Employee Evolution has been a forum for them and their peers to share advice and experiences as they make the challenging shift from college to the workplace.

In one recent post, Healy sums up the advice given by his parents: "Find something you love and pursue that passion." This mantra has been passed down to many members of Generation Y, or so-called Millennials—the 79.8 million-strong force born between 1977 and 1995. Trouble is, the world is full of too many choices (even the cereal aisle can "turn into a painful decision process") and many of Healy's friends move home when they can't decide on a career. But that's not a bad thing: "If you make a bad decision and enter a new career that doesn't align with your strengths, wants, or desires, then you can simply pick up and make another career change with very little consequence," Healy wrote.

Banking on Self-Fulfillment

Indeed, twentysomethings don't view work as merely a way to make a living, says Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, author of Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties (Oxford University Press, 2004) and research professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "They expect work to be a form of self-fulfillment—they don't want to take a job that pays well but is boring or annoying," he says. Money is important to twentysomethings, he says, but it's not as important to them if the work's not enjoyable and exciting. This notion comes from their baby boomer parents, who invented the idea that work should be fun, he says.

Boomer parents have also taught their kids that they're wonderful, so they enter the workforce thinking they should be showered with things that they want, Arnett says. With strong self-esteem, they've also grown up in an information tidal wave, as technology has become much easier to use and widespread, notes Bruce Tulgan, founder of New Haven (Conn.)-based generational research firm RainmakerThinking and author of Managing Generation Y (HRD Press, 2001). "This group is always connected, always accessible, and creative," Tulgan says. He's fond of saying that Generation Y is the highest-maintenance generation that will also be the highest-performing workforce.

And as Healy describes, they also have a lot more choices. This generation has the luxury of living with their parents until they get on their feet, can start their own company, and can take time to travel, notes Penelope Trunk, columnist, blogger, and author of Brazen Careerist (Warner Business Books, 2007). "This gives them a lot more negotiating power," she says, adding that many in this group don't accept jobs that won't allow them to grow. In fact, the bar is set so low for entrepreneurship, it's become a safety net, she says. "Even if you start a company and it fails quickly, that's a great learning experience," she says.

Building Skills and Relationships

When it comes to building a career, Tulgan (who is about to turn 40) says twentysomethings should first realize that they're "free agents" and that there's no such thing as job security in an uncertain economy. He recommends focusing on learning transferable skills that will make you valuable anywhere. Evaluate a job's tasks and responsibilities, and figure out which ones will be grunt work and the ones that will provide a learning experience, he says.