In a recent cover story in Business Week, Gen-Y was painted as a helpless group. A large
population that is settling for underpaying opportunities, moving into fields just to have a cube to call home or staying home with mom and dad while they wait out the Recovery Plan.
Only 46% of people aged 16-24 had jobs in September of this year. Where does Gen-Y go?
They can head back to school. This certainly seems like a viable option. Learn more stuff and in turn, look more experienced or fit for a job a few years down the road. The options range from Grad School to Tech and Trade Vocations. While this may only dig you deeper into debt, it does prolong the idea of going out into the workforce and not finding something you love to wake up to do everyday.
Gen-Y can opt to start their own business. This is something that Gen-Y is taking to heart and in record numbers. Donna Fenn, author of Upstarts interviewed over 150 Gen-Y entrepreneurs for her book and was amazed at the growth, maturity and leadership qualities found in these young business owners. When we talked a few weeks ago, she mentioned that many of these companies (and not all are Internet companies) had better visions, customer service and creativity than most big businesses.
A close friend of mine has had an awesome time in her 20's. Heading up organizations in college, landing internships with mega media companies and graduating at the top of her class was just the beginning. When she left UCF doors seemed to open for her.
She started at a magazine as an assistant and left as an assistant publisher. Next was freelance writing, a little time off and some brand building. Next was an opportunity at a large production company running their marketing department part-time. With Fridays off, she was free to frequent the coffee shops, browse through Guru.com or eLance and pick the jobs for her price.
Her latest opportunity brings her to a Fortune 500 as a contracted writer where she got to name her price and hours. This makes her an asset to the company, builds her portfolio and gives her the freedom to enjoy her 20's while focusing on her future.
The case of my friend is not an uncommon path. Take a look at the bloggers over at Brazen Careerist. I bet over half have links to freelance design, consulting or coaching. Those same people are working full time, looking for new opportunities and building huge personal brands that will enable them to work on their terms with companies they believe in.
The Gen-Y's in the Business Week article are depicted as the victims. The jobless in a nation faced with major unemployment problems. I like to call them the unmotivated. There are jobs. There are opportunities. You just need to lift the rocks before you can look under them.
Gen-Y gets a lot of press for a bevy of reasons. I just wanted to point out that the do'ers, not the say'ers are today's hit makers and there are plenty of do'ers within Gen-Y. I know Donna can introduce you to 150 of them. Brazen another 500 or so. Let's go say hi.
Photo by: billaday
population that is settling for underpaying opportunities, moving into fields just to have a cube to call home or staying home with mom and dad while they wait out the Recovery Plan.
Only 46% of people aged 16-24 had jobs in September of this year. Where does Gen-Y go?
School
They can head back to school. This certainly seems like a viable option. Learn more stuff and in turn, look more experienced or fit for a job a few years down the road. The options range from Grad School to Tech and Trade Vocations. While this may only dig you deeper into debt, it does prolong the idea of going out into the workforce and not finding something you love to wake up to do everyday.
Start a Business
Gen-Y can opt to start their own business. This is something that Gen-Y is taking to heart and in record numbers. Donna Fenn, author of Upstarts interviewed over 150 Gen-Y entrepreneurs for her book and was amazed at the growth, maturity and leadership qualities found in these young business owners. When we talked a few weeks ago, she mentioned that many of these companies (and not all are Internet companies) had better visions, customer service and creativity than most big businesses.
The Freelancing, Blogging, Career Hopper
A close friend of mine has had an awesome time in her 20's. Heading up organizations in college, landing internships with mega media companies and graduating at the top of her class was just the beginning. When she left UCF doors seemed to open for her.
She started at a magazine as an assistant and left as an assistant publisher. Next was freelance writing, a little time off and some brand building. Next was an opportunity at a large production company running their marketing department part-time. With Fridays off, she was free to frequent the coffee shops, browse through Guru.com or eLance and pick the jobs for her price.
Her latest opportunity brings her to a Fortune 500 as a contracted writer where she got to name her price and hours. This makes her an asset to the company, builds her portfolio and gives her the freedom to enjoy her 20's while focusing on her future.
Lifting Rocks
The case of my friend is not an uncommon path. Take a look at the bloggers over at Brazen Careerist. I bet over half have links to freelance design, consulting or coaching. Those same people are working full time, looking for new opportunities and building huge personal brands that will enable them to work on their terms with companies they believe in.
The Gen-Y's in the Business Week article are depicted as the victims. The jobless in a nation faced with major unemployment problems. I like to call them the unmotivated. There are jobs. There are opportunities. You just need to lift the rocks before you can look under them.
Gen-Y gets a lot of press for a bevy of reasons. I just wanted to point out that the do'ers, not the say'ers are today's hit makers and there are plenty of do'ers within Gen-Y. I know Donna can introduce you to 150 of them. Brazen another 500 or so. Let's go say hi.
Photo by: billaday
