(1888PressRelease)
January 16, 2009 - Following on from reports that many students may end up graduating and going straight onto the dole queue due to a lack of available jobs, Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain is urging graduates to wake up to the fact that they need to radically revise their approach to job applications and interviews if they are to stand a chance of gaining employment in the current economic climate.
“Graduates need to be realistic in the jobs that they seek, as they already face scepticism in their ability to achieve by employers who believe that they only have academic knowledge and little experience. There is also a long standing belief that graduates academic knowledge is inferior to previous years and that graduates are lazy, under skilled and difficult to manage”, explains Germain.
Germain, a specialist in the differences between Generation X and Generation Y workers, believes that new graduates will fall victim to the negative connotations associated with Generation Y employees, which is why they need to work harder to prove their worth and their value to the business.
“There is a distinct clash of culture between the X & Y generations. At the moment ‘Y’ are generally ‘the workforce’, with ‘X’ or ‘Baby Boomers’ being ‘the managers’. Managers, especially ‘Baby Boomers’ think employees should do long hours at work and put the needs of the business above all else. Generation Y employees believe that their work can be done without spending hours at work and at a time that is convenient to them. Generation Y are used to studying whilst accessing digital or social media technology like IPods, Facebook, Instant Messaging and multiple ‘windows’ on their computers in the name of multi tasking. This leads them to believe that it’s essential to do many things at once in order to concentrate and therefore complete tasks. For example, Generation Y employees cannot understand why they can’t sit at their desk listening to their Ipod whilst they work, but to attempt to do this will lead to disciplinary action by the typical Baby Boomer or Generation X manager”, explains Germain.
“Things are moving faster and more dynamically than in the past and the cycle of change in business is nearer two years than the ten years that it used to be. Graduates need to show future employers that they are flexible, willing to work their way up and are good potential employees. They need to show employers that they are more interested in the business than they are in themselves”, adds Germain.
Judith Germain is founder of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in dealing with Mavericks in the workplace and Troublesome Talent®. For more information visit www.developing-leadership.com.
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