Do you still remember what you often be asked when you were young - “what do you want to do when you grow up?” This question should be the most important one facing our Z
generation at this stage. You, yes, that is you, I hope that you can now adjust the brightness of your screen to the minimum, look at yourself in front of you, and then think about your future plans. I totally understand if you were still very confused. Maybe you don't have a definite career direction, but you must have a similar idea: I want to work for myself. I hope that my future career is not just for survival, but also because it worth me paying time, energy and enthusiasm.
As a person who born in 1996 so just caught up with the Z generation, I often find myself very much affected by both two generations, Y and Z. Even if I am more willing to make myself looks mature, but still, there are a lot of typical characteristics of the Z generation that I have. It is particularly worth mentioning that our generation's expectations for
the workplace are very different from those of the predecessors. They are eager for economic stability, while our greatest desire is to be able to work for our dreams. Start a business? Well, should be a good idea, pourquoi pas. It's really under consideration of many Gen Z, I believe. Maybe you will think, hey,
they are so unrealistic, thinking about starting a business as soon as they graduate, the status quo of society will let them admit their defeat. Actually,
however, we never mean that we think work is a very easy task, especially looking for a job, in the very beginning.
For us, we pay more attention to growth
opportunities of a job, instead of wages. In order to recruit talent, many companies are promoting a friendly workplace culture, flexible time schedules and transparent wages, but they may need to
provide more career-focused benefits for
Generation Z. Today's university students rank career development opportunities as the most important consideration for their first job, followed by satisfactory work and stability. For me, a friendly working environment, flexible schedules and higher wages are not the priority when I so the job research. To attract excellent talent, companies must demonstrate that they can help employees achieve their most important career goals and let them know that they are going to have a good development prospects. Stability is relatively minor.
Furthermore, from a company perspective, the hardest part of facing our generation is how to retain talent. Once employees find themselves are unable to perform well at their work, it is very much possible for companies to lose them. At least for me, unless I have a special and
deep sense of belong towards the company I am working for, I will not hesitate to quit if there is a better chance in front of me. I would always think more about my personal development.Stability is relatively minor, and there are challenges to be motivated.
Our school account internships as part of our credits, this is the thing I really like, and I am very honored to get a job in the sales and marketing department during my first internship. As a rookie who was absolutely new to the workplace, I am unskilled, but also brave. Just because I don't understand anything, I am willing to put forward my own ideas, whether it is feasible or not. "Do you mind me... I think... my advice is... do you think it's possible... our ideas really fit together..." Our generation always love to express ourselves.
Fortunately, I met all nice people. Whatever personality my colleagues have, they were all
willing to guide me and get along with me. Even if some of them had a large age gap with me, it did not affect our communion.
However, even with such a pleasant half-year working experience, I still hesitated when my
boss asking if I would like to stay in the company for my second internship. Not because I have any bad experience during this half-year, but I always want to pursue better opportunities. Why do you have to frame yourself so early, what if I have a better chance in half year? Who knows the future? We pay more attention to growth opportunities of a job. Of course if it is my mother's company, then it is another story. This is why I mentioned above, by considering Z generation, the biggest problem facing by company today is how to retain talent.
There is no doubt that our generation has great ambitions for the future. We have enough selfmotivation and the courage to climb the career ladder. We know that career development and growth opportunities are critical to our success, so it will be our first choice of companies that can motivate us and encourage us to grow. If employers can meet the desire of Generation Z of learning and provide opportunities for continued growth, they can successfully attract and retain the next generation of talents who will soon be on the scene. So remember, we pay more attention to growth opportunities of a job.
I am very much inspired by Callisa who mentioned in her blog post with the statement of that the one who are successful is the one who try himself/herself best instead of because he or she is from one specific generation.
There are always many stereotypes in the society for our generation. We are addicted to the
Internet. We are free and unconventional. We are dreamer that always talking about things
that are unrealistic. What they see is always that we don't fit a part of the big stream. The dependence on the Internet is due to our growth background, and we are born in the stage of extensive Internet development. Freedom and flexibility are our ultimate expectations for the profession. Stability is relatively minor. Just paying for physical and mental effort is not
necessarily the best working condition. The outlook for the profession is our higher demand
for ourselves, instead of that we are not willing to obey the arrangement.
Let me know if you have any others opinions whatever support my idea or not. Why not leave a like and comment or share this to your friends ;)
Author: Ms. Mia YU, Hospitality Bachelor Student at Hotel Institute Montreux, from China