Nobody Likes You When You’re A Millennial

Photo credit: nanigans.com

This post was written by Dolly, a UCSB graduate and an aspiring lawyer: 

Some days, I wake up feeling like a barista-designed agave latte, ready to awaken the senses and release my potential. And some days, it’s gas station coffee. Welcome to my rarely lavish, mostly ludicrous, twenty-something life.

The other day, I thought about the weird urge I felt to have every part of my life planned out and why I was feeling so anxious to get all my ducks in line. I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of being behind. It was like waiting for the light to turn green and I was at a yellow. And that got me thinking about the little things in my life that were shaping how I expected the big things to occur in turn.

Framing youth and inexperience as an advantage

Photo credit: meetadrianacasanova.com

Last week, I wrote a piece on Chelsea Krost’s blog about ways that millennials could gain professional experience for their first full-time job. This piece by Brian Hart, president of the PR firm Flackable, discusses how millennials could actually use their age and lack of experience to their advantage when they’re searching for jobs:

3 Ways Millennials Can Frame Youth And Inexperience As A Professional Advantage (chelseakrost.com)

One advantage that millennials have over older generations is their knowledge of technology and social media.

Gradberry teaches recent grads career skills

Photo credit: Gradberry

Do you feel that your college education hasn’t adequately prepared you for today’s job market? Then you might want to check out Gradberry, an online startup with a mission to train recent graduates in a variety of career skills, thereby making them more appealing to employers who are hiring:

Gradberry Aims To Bridge The College Grad Skills Gap (techcrunch.com)

Gradberry offers courses to recent graduates who need to learn a new skill for the jobs that they’re applying to. And Gradberry also assists recent graduates who’ve already been hired, as their employers can sponsor them to take courses through Gradberry if they need a new skill for their job:

How to clean up your social media

Photo credit: Social Sweepster

Social media can be a great tool in your job search, but it can also damage your career if not used responsibly. In an earlier post, I discussed how a reporter got fired for writing a blog post that mocked her job. But even something as simple as a picture or a comment could cost you your job or prevent you from getting a job.

Even if you’re careful about what you place on social media, it’s possible that your friends could post photos that make you appear irresponsible or unprofessional. It’s also possible that you might’ve posted some vulgar or offensive comment a while ago that you forgot about but is still lingering somewhere on your page.

How Generation Y will transform the workplace

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Our generation has only begun entering the workforce, but as older generations retire, we will eventually become the dominant generation in the workplace.

This interesting article describes how the traditions and values of Generation Y will transform the workplace in Canada:

The six ways Generation Y will transform the workplace  (globeandmail.com)

20something profile: Bridget

This post was written by Bridget, who works for a startup tech company:

We grow up in a world where everybody puts so much emphasis on getting a good education. When we were younger, we thought of education as something we needed to get through so we can finally “live” our lives. As young adults we are taught that college prepares you for life. Why? I have no idea. I never understood this way of thinking — maybe because I have a little bit more of an unconventional story. Truth is, education doesn’t prepare you for life; education is life.

Build yourself a great story

Jeff Bezos (Photo credit: niallkennedy)

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “You are the author of your own life story.”

Well, this excerpt of a commencement speech that Jeff Bezos (founder and CEO of Amazon.com) gave to Princeton University demonstrates that we “write” our life stories through the choices we make:

“I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story. Thank you and good luck!”

Click here for a video of Bezos’ commencement speech.

And click here for more great excerpts of commencement speeches.

Stress in college students

There’s no denying that college is stressful. Academics alone is enough to give students an ulcer, but especially in this economy, there’s the added worry of paying for college as well as what your plans will be post-graduation.

CollegeDegreeSearch.net has provided an infographic to demonstrate how stress affects college students. This infographic displays statistics of students that are stressed, causes of student stress, and tips on reducing stress.

What interested me most about this infographic was the question of whether technology contributes to student stress. There’s no doubt that technology makes many things easier, especially when it comes to connecting with people.

20something profile: Nick

This profile was written by Nick, who works as a Business Intelligence Developer:

I started college as a fresh-faced 18 year old in the fall of 2003. I had a scholarship to a local private college, and I was ready to make my mark on the world. Unfortunately, my grand plans ultimately failed when I failed 3 classes and lost my scholarship. It took me a long time to get the motivation to go back to school, but when I did, I achieved much better results.

I started college for the second time in the spring of 2009. Initially I decided that I wanted to get a degree in Economics, but that didn’t last long. Next I switched my major to Finance, Computer Science, and finally Information Systems; along with my Information Systems degree, I specialized in Business Intelligence.