Searching for a great photo is the first thing I do when beginning every post. That photo must slightly hint to my reader each posts’ topic, while at the same time mirror the tone and suggestions of my writing. To explain my response to this week’s Linky Love post on Generation Y then, I immediately typed Generation Y into Google, clicked on images, and began searching for two opposing images: the sluggish, lazy, early-twenty something, and her same-aged young professional counterpart. I did settle on two satisfying images, but what I came across in the search was much, much less satisfactory. Many of the Generation Y images were on pages written about Generation Y-ers, of course—newspaper and magazine articles, blogs and others. And, most dishearteningly, a quick scan at each story just to see the images was more than enough for me to blaze across words like self-centered, self-promotion, self-motivated and self Self SELF! Oh, and quite possibly the worst title, that of the story belonging to the ever-intrigued girl to your upper-right, holding the magazine and just waiting to roll her eyes: The Graduate Diva. Being female myself, The Graduate Diva title was just all too much for me. Come on! I began this post in response to the Business Week Article “Getting to Know Gen Why,” but now feel much more compelled to write a response to well, the greater blogosphere on all topics related to my millennial peers.

Born in 1986, I am grade-A Generation Y. I look to the computer to answer almost every question, I text at a shockingly comparable speed at which I type (god bless T9), and I have grown accustomed to immediate information and even faster change. In his Business Week article, writer Marshall Goldsmith sits down with President Eric Chester of Generation Why, a consulting firm that analyzes generational differences. The first highlight from the interview asks for the most common complaint employers have of their new Generation Y hires. Eric answers: “They don’t want to pay their dues, play by the rules, or give their best to any project unless they are sure it will get them a promotion, a raise, or some kind of recognition. And then if they aren’t totally happy, or if you look at them wrong, they’ll bolt for the next job!”

Two things. First, I am extremely taken back at even the possibility of this being the most common “rant” from everyone from a “shift manager at a burger joint, [to] an exec at a Wall Street investment firm.” More than harsh, this complaint is over-the-top and a generalization of all Gen Y workers in one statement (I won’t even go into my response to Eric’s insulting “weird looking” description of the “impossible-to-understand 16- to 24-year-olds” on the front page of his company website). And second, should I be ashamed that my peers and I are being smeared across many articles and web pages under such description as this? The answer to this question is, well, I don’t know. A soon-to-be college graduate followed by a most likely miserable (yet, excited) 1L in law school, I fit the mold of Generation Y yet see no resemblance between myself and the new employee described by Eric. I go through most days surrounded by intellectual peers in both my Journalism and Economics classes—different types of strengths and qualities from two very different groups of people; both equally brilliant and creative. I’ve also seen my share of the lesser brilliant portion of my peers, usually out at parties on weekends. The majority of my interactions on campus, though, and a large part of conversations held with classmates in these months nearing graduation, focus on career-savvy tips, discussion of a PR plan, or help on a regression analysis for econometrics. While I have fallen in love with school, I would like to emphasize—for full comprehension of my position purposes—that I like to have fun, meet new people and spend my time out on the weekends. Work hard, play hard—you’ve heard it before. I find it difficult then, to believe that the hundreds of college campuses around the country filled with students who succeed at their undergraduate schools under this same mantra can evoke such feelings from employers—enough so that a generational analyst comments on it. How can I be spending so much time with so many hardworking, sharp, soon-to-be graduates, when the supposedly most common complaint heard by employers describes a fickle, self-serving newbie??

The article continues on to have Eric answer why Generation Y seems to be this way—pop culture, increased parent time in the workforce, “raised with change as a constant”. What we haven’t learned, Eric says, is how to put our nose to the grindstone, show up for work on time and dress in appropriate attire. While I may not be a typical 21-year-old, I do believe I am a near-typical college graduate seeking a professional career. What is disappointing about this article is it paints all Generation Y-ers the same nauseating color: unmotivated, undedicated and unappreciative. Admittedly, I do know there are twenty-somethings out there like this, and yes, many are also college graduates. But, also admittedly, I am banking on those specific twenty-somethings to show up to the same interview I’m at, looking unkempt and unshaven. I am counting on those specific twenty-somethings to be too lazy to research the company, prepare questions to ask the interviewer, and perfect their portfolio. In my defense to this article, there are a number of Generation Y graduates out there looking for a professional career and are absolutely expecting that career to come at the price of hard work, time and sacrifice.

Yes, I do agree we are keen to change and quick to speak up. A story my step-dad recently shared with me—he is an engineer in Portland, and has been loyal to his company for many, many years—made me beam so widely and nod my head so eagerly that I couldn’t be prouder of my millennial counterparts. Chris explained how they had just recently hired a handful of new graduates, slightly older than me and enthusiastic to work. Chris then described how, following a meeting, one of the new hires walked into the boss’ office on his “open door policy,” and voiced her opinion that the meeting seemed to have no clear objective, and it was difficult for her to see the need to take time out of the day for such an event. “Gawking,” as Chris explained, my step-dad and his own peers were more than shocked she so confidently strolled into the boss’s office and gave such an honest recount of her opinion about meetings that had been carried long before she’d arrived. Well, I asked, does your boss say it’s O.K. to walk into his office when the door is open? “Well, yes,” Chris answered hesitantly. “Then why not??” I burst out. What I can confidently say we have been taught is, if invited to talk and share our opinions, we will talk and share our opinions. As it turns out, the boss agreed. There didn’t seem to be a clear objective to the meeting and this one Generation Y-er’s opinion revved up a new process for planning and implementing team meetings with visible objectives and structures for time.

Now, I am not saying this glory moment will always be the case, but I am saying we are more likely than our older co-workers to speak up when we see necessary, even when in a new environment. What I don’t see, however, is evidence to Eric’s statement that my generation “hasn’t been taught the rules”—rules like hard work and necessary time commitments. Yes there are the slackers of my generation, but working hard, pulling all-nighters and stretching myself thin with 20hrs a week at work and four 400 level college courses is not only the norm for hopeful professionals, but it is also expected of myself in order to reach the successful career I dream of. Different than Eric points out, I absolutely value hard work and admire my peers for notable persistence, as well as my professors and mentors who can just seem to “do it all”. Rather than Graduate Divas, myself and many of my female peers are fiercely competitive, eager to learn, and excited to put in the hours to first break into the industry, and then succeed in it. As indicated in my About page, I will speak up when I feel the need, but I will also know my place as both a beginner and a learner. As I’ve said before, learning is absolutely what I do best. As a Generation Y-er I value hard work, I recognize integrity’s importance, and I am humbled by experience and education. As a Generation Y-er I will not fall into Eric’s common complaint from employers: Instead, I will defy it.

Graduate Diva courtesy of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=511379&in_page_id=1770.

Young Professional courtesy of http://www.salaryexpert.com/images/job-salary.gif.