Millennials

Editor’s Note: The virtues of internships are well recognized by employers, universities and millennials alike. Bentley’s PreparedU research also probed the impact of parents on their children’s decision to pursue business, the importance of millennials’ knowing what to expect when they enter the workforce, and whether workplace relationships between millennials and other generations need improvement. Kevin Ma’s report on his summer internship offers further insight.

Bentley University’s Millennial Preparedness research study raised a number of issues about millennials in the workplace. In the coming weeks, PreparedU, in a series entitled Generational Voices, will present opinions from millennials and non-millennials alike on a wide variety of these issues. These views may contrast or coincide, but each will provide perspective designed to enhance insights resulting from the PreparedU data.

The Millennial Point of View
Abby Connors, Tour Consultant, Education First (EF)

At a convocation rich in pomp and tradition, Bentley University welcomed the Class of 2018 to campus August 28 with a words of wisdom from a digital age marketing strategist dubbed the “millennial master of the universe ” by Fast Company.

In a keynote video address to 980 freshmen from 36 states and 42 countries, Sharma Hyder, CEO of Marketing Zen Group and a participant in Bentley’s PreparedU Project, offered “10 tweetable tips” for students to make the most of their time at Bentley.

With more than 5,000 employees in 60 offices worldwide, marketing-services company Epsilon has a huge opportunity for impact with each of its policies and practices. When the company made the decision to introduce fast-paced raises and promotions in order to attract recent college graduates a few years ago, as recently reported by the Wall Street Journal, people took notice, especially millennials whom Epsilon hoped to recruit.

Editor’s note: In recent weeks, the PreparedU Project has invited successful and accomplished executives to share insights into how women can help themselves and each other achieve success in the workforce. PreparedU research gave young millennials high grades for their skills, and so now we turn to millennial women students for their perspectives on preparing for a career.

For me, it’s essential to have great mentors in order to get ready for a career while you’re still in college.

It seems like whenever older and younger generations try to understand each other, there’s a language barrier. If you’re a parent who has tried to reason with a teen, you understand all too well. It’s also true when it comes to millennials in the workplace, mostly because of the labels that come along with them: entitled, lazy, demanding.

When a cause goes viral, massively so in the case of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, there’s little doubt that millennial enthusiasm is behind much of it. Indeed, here at Bentley, President Gloria Larson rallied millennials and others by dousing a millennial staff member to support the cause.

Editor’s note: In recent weeks, the PreparedU Project has invited successful and accomplished executives to share insights into how women can help themselves and each other achieve success in the workforce. PreparedU research gave young millennials high grades for their skills, and so now we turn to female millennial students for their perspectives on preparing for a career.

Too often, millennials are condemned for their high expectations on the job, especially by the baby boomers who are doing the hiring. Younger workers want more family time, well-paying jobs, rapid promotions and raises, praise for their performance, respect from colleagues, and the chance to make a difference in the world. (I bet older workers want all that too!) Are millennials being realistic or are they reaching for the impossible dream?

They often get labeled by managers as self-centered, but if you really sit down and talk to millennials, you can begin to understand that they actually just want to get better at what they’re doing. This applies to their jobs, their families and their impact on the world. Simply put, this is an ambitious group of men and women.