Noncommittal, entitled, and a bit narcissistic. No, I’m not describing your ex. I’m describing you, all of you.
The unique social, economic and technological environment we have grown up in has played significant roles in what makes Generation Y tick. Unfortunately, Generation Y has more than a few critics.
First, we were taught at a very early age that we can be whatever we want to be. This means that if the job we have today is not the job we want to have tomorrow, then we certainly won’t waste our time hanging around.
In fact, according to Rosetta Thurman, a woman who seeks to build new generations of leaders, 60 percent of Generation Y workers say that they will not stay with their current job their entire life. This is stark contract with Generation X, 62 percent of which say they will never leave their current job.
This shouldn’t translate as flaky, but rather that we seek to make ourselves happy first and foremost.
In addition to our noncommittal outlook on careers, our “you-can-be-anything” generation does not like to be criticized. We have been patted on our backs by our parents, our teachers, and our friends our entire lives for trying our best.
Unfortunately, our best effort isn’t always good enough so we might as well start peeling ourselves away from the notion that people will high-five us for the wrong answer.
On the other hand, we do believe that we can be anything, which makes us an extremely entrepreneurial generation. Mark Zuckerberg, one of the founders of Facebook, of course, leads this pack of idealistic and motivated Yers.
Another criticism of Generation Y is that a large majority of us have been spoiled since we learned how to say, “Can I have that?” We are used to winning the race, or at least getting a medal for the effort. This need for recognition translates to the workforce. We paid our dues in college and we want to see instant gratification.
According to a report by Scribd, Generation Y is characterized by their want to be at the top of the corporate ladder in an unmanageably short amount of time.
Personally, I don’t see the problem with being motivated and goal-oriented.
Finally, with the invention of the Internet, blogging, social networking and search engines, our generation is the easily the most tech-savvy generation that the world has seen. This has caused a significant majority of us to be unreserved in how we present ourselves.
We see no problem with hundreds, maybe thousands of people being able to see pictures of what we did last night.
This has also made our self-image, physical and virtual, very important.
Our generation has branded itself like none other before it. Just look at Lady Gaga, who has 15,229,512 followers on Twitter, and Kim Kardashian, who has a reality show for no apparent reason.
This individualist and unique sense of self is not a downfall, but something to be proud of. Why be a mirror image of the person next to you if you can be anybody you want to be?
Yes, Generation Y may come off as impulsive, deserving and self-idolizing, but these characteristics can also be seen as instinctive, motivated, and aware.
It just depends on which generation is twisting them.
You can reach the columnist at lweinick@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.00
