Your career intel website has listed a few elements to define the Gen Z at work, which has raised a question to myself whether I am deemed a part of this newest generation or not in terms of working. If you are a Hotel Institute Montreux (HIM) student or HIM-to-be student that is curious about your “generation identity”, then follow me until the end of this article.
First of all, the basic foundation of the meaning of Gen Z is ones born after 1995 who have grown up with smartphones and the Internet. That you were born after 1995 means you are now at the right place. It is reported that Gen Zers are raised and encouraged to be independent and be responsible for their decisions. In my case, since 15, every big decision of my life has been made by me, not my parents. My parents are the ones that I ask for opinions and advice; however, they are not involved completely in my choices. Choosing university is one of the momentous decisions of my entire life. I had been doing research about what field I wanted to embark on and the school I would feel good to attend since 11th grade. Hotel Institute Montreux was my final decision as I believed I have done enough research about it and I knew I would gain a lot of knowledge and experience there. After that, I talked to my parents about what I had been researching and they both agreed on my choice and supported me in many ways.
As being said that Gen Zers were born with supercomputers in their pockets, the world news is available every second. They are always being aware of what is happening around them and in the world. Their choices have been significantly affected by their friends or “influencers” on social media. In that way, at work, Gen Zers are global thinkers with full responsibility for themselves, the company and the world. Now let’s get back to ourselves who are still wavering about if we are in this generation. Did you ever want to buy a product after watching a video on YouTube? Me, I did, many times. Did you ever stop using a product as you are aware that it may do harm to the environment? Me, I did, several times. Looking back on the time deciding on attending Hotel Institute Montreux, thanks to social media, I was able to chat with the students in the school and ask about their own experience. I did make friends with them before I met them in real life. Along with my own research, my choice was to relatively influenced by the observation and idea of the students that I got to know via social media. These two points are seen as the most fundamental characteristics of Gen Z, if you see yourself up to this point, you are half way to the full definition of your “generation identity”.
Even though 4 hours represent the average amount of time Gen Zers spend a day online going through all social media platforms, 74% accounts for the number of respondents that agreed face-to-face interaction is their first choice of communication . It proves that Gen Z is not crucially dependent on smart device. They have used social media as a source of information as well as communication yet still preferred traditional way which is to see and talk to their friends in person. This feature is the one that makes me a little bit unsure about my “generation identity”. I am kind of in between of the two ways of interaction. For example, I go out with my friend for coffee, I would still take pictures of our drinks, take selfies with friends and post them on social media. On the other hand, when all of those “duties” are done, I would put my phone away and focus on the conversation with my friends. Fairly speaking, this component does not interpret the adequate definition of Gen Z.
In addition, Gen Z is both ambitious and realistic. They have their dream jobs and aim to reach them 10 years from now on. On the other hand, they also have the idea of challenges and obstacles they need to go through in order to fulfil their dreams. At this point, I started seeing myself as a Gen Zer since I can relate myself to this. One of my lifetime goals is to establish my own event company where I can maximize my imagination and creativity. So as to achieve that, I know that I need to work in other event companies to gain experience and to finalize if I am really into this industry. I partly realized that I desire to embark on this field thanks to the banquet project in Hotel Institute Montreux. Playing the role of the manager of the banquet at HIM generated my interest in event management to some extent. If your experience is similar to mine, I believe we are surely genuine Gen Zers.
In short, I believe the Generation Z is going to produce enormous change in working environment. As a Gen Zer, I will definitely bring my own identity to the workplace to stand out yet cooperate closely with other generations. We, the Gen Zers, fully understand our limits to be able to go beyond limits and do great things.
If you are following me until this point, please let me express my heartfelt gratitude for your time reading my small article. If you find something in common among us, please do not hesitate to express your thoughts with me by commenting below this post. Let your friends be able to find out their “generation identity” by sharing this post so that we can make some more friends. If you would like to stay tuned for my future posts, do not forget to give the thumbs up to my blog page. See you real soon!
Author: Ms Lucy Le, Hospitality Bachelor student at Hotel Institute Montreux (Vietnam)