ARE SA MILLENNIALS RUINING THEIR CHANCES OF FINDING WORK?

While millennials are still looked at as the now generation and we expect great things from them, they are, most of them at least, finding it tough to find jobs.

Are they looking in the right places?

Are they being too fussy?

Are they not as talented as they make out to be?

Why are these young guns struggling to find work?

We explore the millennials dilemma and how they can change their ways in order to get into the workforce of SA.

Beggars can’t be choosers.

Well, most millennials will turn around and tell you that they are, by no means, beggars. And, so they may not be, but when you are starting out, everyone is a beggar.

The millennials are being picky and choosy, from where they will work to what they will do. We are taking nothing away from the thought that one must stick to ones goal and focus. And if your goal and focus is to be a self-sufficient graphic designer, with many minions reporting in, then so be it. We get it! But, to get there, you have to start at the bottom, and the bottom could mean working as the filing clerk in a graphic designers office. Not pretty, we understand, but its a stepping stone in the right direction.

Millennials need to change their view a little and the bigger picture will become clearer.

It really isn’t all about you. No, really, it isn’t. Unfortunately, most millennials are very focused on themselves, their background, their history, their skill set, their future. It is not necessarily wrong, but most employers want to know more about what value the candidate can bring to their business, where they see themselves within that company structure, and what return on investment they will be for the business in the long run.

Again, having high ideals and goals is great, in fact, if you don’t have them, you’re in a bad space. But, often, millennials will aim just a wee bit too high. There is that joke doing its run about the mother who says proudly that her daughter is looking for a summer job. She is hoping to find part-time work as a CEO.

Funny but what is scary is that this is how millennials think. They think big. They think broad. They think the impossible is possible. Wonderful! Now, how will you pay the rent while you sit on your pedestal trying to be that CEO?

In a nutshell, we love our millennials, and we do see the merit in what they are trying to do, but at the end of the day, you guys need to work. You need to pay the bills, and you need to do this by starting somewhere. And, somewhere is not on the 20th floor. Somewhere is in the basement. And, if you keep your head to the ground, and keep focusing on that big picture, that leather chair where you will sit one day as the CEO of your own company, you will get there.

It may take a wee bit longer than you were hoping for, but you know what, you will have a job, which is a means to an end. And, the end is your perfect goal.