What Younger Workers Know About Finding a Job

Over the past few years, there's been a great deal of debate about how likely young workers and recent college grads are to find full-time, paid work. There seems to be this enduring stereotype that most of the millennial generation have returned home to live with their parents and that the only jobs they are able to find are in service or retail.

Although there are many young people in that situation, on the whole, millennial workers are having a much easier time finding full-time work than the Gen-X'ers or Baby Boomers. According to a great infographic put together by Notre Dame College Online, it seems that while these younger workers are finding it easier to get hired, they aren't especially willing to stay at any job for very long. In fact, when asked, 91% of people under 30 said that they don't expect to stay with their current company for longer than 3 years. One of the most common reasons they give for wanting to change jobs is because they don't feel that their current employer adequately values their contributions. For them, being valued and treated as special and important is the driving factor in their overall job satisfaction. It might seem odd to older workers who were raised to be grateful for their job and not to over value themselves, but according to an MTV survey, 90 percent of millennials feel that a company is lucky to have them and a whopping 80 percent want more recognition for the work they do.

So, are millennials simply spoiled and due for a wake up call? Maybe not. It's projected that by 2020, they will make up over 50 percent of the country's workforce and 75 percent of the global workforce by 2030. This means that, for the most part, employers will be the ones that will have to change in order to attract and retain the best talent.

Another thing that makes the millennials different from any other generation is that one-third of them can find a new job in less than a month, which is higher than it has been for any other group. On paper, the statistic looks shocking, but when you take a look around, you'll see that employers are much more likely to hire a 25 year old than a 35 or 45 year old. Some blame age discrimination, and while there may be some truth to that, there are a very good reasons why younger job seekers are better applicants. It's that they know what it takes to find a job in today's hyper-connected business world, and they aren't afraid to brand and market themselves.

Since they were in middle school, this group has been familiar with social media, the importance of networking and how to stand out. They have been creating a cohesive brand identity and marketing strategy since the MySpace days, and they are shameless at self-promotion. As a group, they possess an innate understanding of search engine optimization and they aren't shy about asking other people to promote their blog, website or signal boost their resume.

Because they have grown up with computers, high-speed Internet and smart phones, millennials are much better connected than even their only slightly older Gen-X counterparts. When it comes to their resumes, younger job seekers are 2-3 times more likely to list their fluency with standard office software, they are more likely to maintain an industry-specific blog that reflects their personal aesthetic and approach to the field and they are considerably more likely to optimize their resumes for search engines and applicant screening software. In addition, because they aren't shy about promoting themselves, they often send out press releases to update people in their professional networks about any new accomplishment, award or achievement. In short, they make themselves easy for an employer to find and they know what it takes to get and stay connected with other professionals.

There are so many things that these younger workers do right, and it's humbling to admit that even a Gen-X'er, like myself, can learn a lot from their approach. However, work life isn't all roses for them. In spite of their ease in finding work, millennials still earn considerably less money than any other generation. When it comes to average annual income, it's the early Baby Boomers, who were born in the late 40's to early 50's, that lead the pack. In second place are the late Boomers, born in the late 50's to early 60's. As for the children of the 70's, we're still working hard and stuck in the middle.

Why do you think that younger workers have such an easier time finding work? Do you think it's simply discrimination or do you think it's about networking and marketing? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Image source: MorgueFile