Mind the generation gap
By James. March 4th, 2011. Posted in Your career No Comments »
Companies are now investing more in initiatives to attract the best graduates to join them – and not their competitors. In this quest, they are recognising the need to update and modernise their policies to suit the new “Gen X†candidates who are tech-savvy, time poor, uber-confident and bursting with ambition to climb the ladder as fast as they can. There is a stark difference in the mentality of graduates today versus graduates 20-30 years ago. The words ‘meritocracy’, ‘opportunity’ and ‘autonomy’ have replaced words like ‘experience’, ‘loyalty’ and ‘hierarchy’. Over recent years, consulting companies have accommodated for the Gen X mentality by having open plan offices, flattening lines of reporting, investing in new technologies, allowing for flexible working hours … the list goes on.
With the emergence of young CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook (26), Andrew Mason of Groupon (30) and Pete Cashmore of Mashable (25), Gen X graduates are leaving university powered by the thought that there is no limit to what they can achieve – and rightly so.
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