CNBC recently published an article entitled “Millennials, the job market wants you.” This title is fantastic! All millennials should want to read it solely from these six words. These are the words that we’ve been waiting to hear for years. We’re wanted! There are jobs for us! We’re so close to becoming employed! They even refer to the twenties as the “sweet spot for job hunting!”
We’ve become so accustomed to hearing that employers don’t want us. We hear how they want to hire candidates with more experience. They want candidates who have already been in the work force. They want workers who know what they’re doing, have done similar tasks previously, and know the office life. This article seems to be a breath of fresh air, finally offering a different, positive perspective.
Or not.
The article quickly proceeds to explain “the downside to Gen Y.” Why would they play with our hearts like that? We’ve been made to think by the beginning of this article that we’re finally wanted. This is quickly torn apart. Is it that impossible for employers to want millennials? Is it so impossible that we can’t even have an entire article written about millennials in the job market in a positive light? Why must we mention “the downside” in the same article that’s supposed to be encouraging us to apply, and showing us that employers want us? If we can’t even get an entire article about the job market wanting millennials, how are we supposed to get employers to target us? According to these employers, here are the main reasons millennials aren’t being targeted in the job market:
They don’t expect us to stay.
We don’t settle. We’re not afraid of the unknown. If we’re not happy with the job we’re currently at, we’ll leave it, even if we don’t have another one lined up. We refuse to waste our time being unhappy in a job. We’re passion-oriented, and will follow this passion until we find a job that sustains this passion.
We want more money.
It’s a known fact that millennials come at a cheaper cost than our more experienced colleagues. Companies not wanting to spend money will offer us a position at a lower rate than if someone older with more experience were to apply. However, companies also know that we will happily leave our job for another job offering more money. They should really just offer us more money to begin with, and this whole thing can be avoided.
We like doing things on our own.
We don’t need to rely on any one, or any company. With everything at our fingertips, why can’t we just start our own business venture? We have more entrepreneurial spirit than other generations, and we’re not scared to pursue it. In fact, many start their entrepreneurial career at the young age of 29. This is significantly younger than the older generation, which started entrepreneurial ventures at the age of 39.
Skill mismatch.
Companies don’t think we have the correct skills needed to further them. Our lack of experience, according to them, correlates into not having the proper skill set necessary for their jobs. They are convinced that the skills we learned in college will not help in the work force. To them, this means that we are unable to do the job, and therefore we would not benefit the company.
We waste their time.
Yes, you read that correctly. Millennials waste executives’ time. Spending time training and teaching new employees is time that could have been used otherwise. It’s thought of as money lost in a sense; using time to teach instead of making money is simply a waste. Companies don’t want to spend time training new employees.
