Basic Work Etiquette:What Do Millennials Know?

The October 21st Wall Street Journal had an excerpt from Ron Alsop’s book “The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace.” (Alsop defines the millennial generation as born between 1980 and 2001.)

I’m not a huge fan of grouping an entire generation into one catch-all description, and the excerpt in the Journal didn’t do much to change my mind on this score. Yet this one part of the excerpt did catch my attention:

It may seem obvious that employees should show up on time, limit lunchtime to an hour and turn off cellphones during meetings. But those basics aren’t necessarily apparent to many millennials.

Why do I find this hard to believe? Because most millennials did have to show up on time for school or college classes or a babysitting job or a shift at Starbucks. And in high school there was a specified length of time for lunch and at Starbucks there was a specified break time. And believe it or not, high schools and places where teens get part-time employment do have rules about cellphones.

This is why I am always leery of anecdotal evidence. You can find anecdotes to prove whatever point you’re trying to make.

But in case I’m wrong, and you are a millennial who truly doesn’t know to show up for work on time, take only an hour for lunchtime and turn off your cellphones at work (and especially during meetings), please learn these work etiquette rules right now. And then go out and prove to the world that millennials do know these things.

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Internships: What to Do With Conflicting Opportunities

A friend just told me about her college-age son and his dilemma with internships this past summer.

It seems that he was promised an internship for which he stayed in D.C. for. But the weeks dragged on with no word, and he got a call for a really good internship in New York. He wanted to accept this second internship, but he was worried that he had promised the first internship.

His parents explained to him that it was perfectly acceptable to take the bird in the hand rather than waiting for the bird in the bush.

He went to New York and had a great unpaid internship. Only, near the end of that internship, he got a call to work (paid this time) for the Obama campaign, although he would have to leave his New York internship early.

Again he was conflicted. Until his parents pointed out that this was a paid internship (as opposed to the NY unpaid internship) and was also a unique opportunity to work for a Presidential campaign. He took this unique opportunity.

Why have I recounted this one college student’s internship experience? Because I think there’s an important lesson here.

Yes, you want to be true to your word. But when someone keeps you hanging for weeks without making a decision, you have the perfect right to accept an internship that is ready right now. And when a paid internship for the whole fall semester presents itself, you have the right to leave your unpaid summer internship a week or two early. After all, it isn’t as if you’re leaving early to spend two weeks lying in the sun at a beach. You’re leaving two weeks early for a paid fall semester internship.

The moral of this story? While I think that your integrity is very important, you do have to do what is right for you. If someone keeps you dangling for weeks, you have the right to take an internship that is being offered right now. And if someone offers to pay you for the entire fall semester, you have the right to leave an unpaid internship a couple of weeks early.

Bottom line? Your integrity has to be combined with what makes good sense for you as you find your own path through high school, college and life.

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Volunteering: Using Your Passion to Find Unique Opportunities

Volunteering is one of those things that college admission officers are supposedly keen on seeing on applications. Yet I suspect these admission officers are rather good at spotting the less-than-wholehearted volunteering that many high school students do.

What do I mean by this? I mean the routine volunteering that obviously was done as part of a group (no initiative on the student’s part) or volunteering that is the same-old as everyone else, such as collecting food items for a food pantry. Yes, a food drive is a good thing to do, but it probably doesn’t count as much of a volunteer activity in the eyes of college admission officers.

What should you do to show wholehearted volunteering? Take your passion and see if you can use this interest as a basis for volunteering.

Here are some ideas:

You love playing the piano, but you take piano lessons like thousands of other high school students. To distinguish yourself from the pack, you volunteer every Saturday morning to perform show tunes at the retirement home near where you live. The retirement home residents are thrilled by the entertainment, and you’re thrilled to do a volunteer activity of something you love

Or you love knitting scarves and hats for your friends. You find out that a women’s group has a project of knitting scarves and hats for a local homeless shelter. You volunteer to attend the weekly “knitting meetings” where you knit these items and learn from the women in the group.

Or you spend all your free time with a basketball and a net. But your mother says you better find some volunteer activity. You go to the local youth center and volunteer to coach young children on basketball skills.

What ideas do you have for combining your passion and volunteering into a project that you initiate and that differentiates you from the pack in the eyes of college admission officers?

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Elevator Speech: Have a 30-Second Speech for Whoever You Are or Whatever You’re Looking For

The expression “elevator speech” doesn’t mean a speech in favor of taking an elevator rather than the stairs or vice versa. It refers to a “speech” you could make in a 30-second elevator ride to tell someone who you are or what you’re looking for.

And whether you’re in high school, college or beyond, you should have at least one of these speeches down cold (and maybe more if you have different interests). And by down cold I mean: you know the speech so well you can say it as if it’s spontaneous rather than memorized.

Maybe you’ve noticed an adult asking a teen what she is doing and the teen says “applying to college.” What’s an example of what the answer should be when asked this question by an adult? “I’m applying to top Eastern colleges and I’m particularly hoping to be accepted by the University of Pennsylvania.” Now the adult has enough information to say, for example: “My sister is an alum. Would you like to be introduced to her?”

See the difference? The teen hasn’t asked for help, but she’s provided enough information for someone to offer to help. And if she were in an elevator and had only said “applying to college,” there wouldn’t be enough time for the adult to ask questions to elicit the same information and offer the same help.

At whatever point you are in your life, be prepared with this 30-second speech.

Someone on Facebook just wrote me that her 19-old-son is publishing a book and looking for information on book marketing. But she should have said: “My 19-year-old son is publishing a book on ………...” Although I did respond with advice for book marketing, I might have been more helpful if she’d mention fiction or non-fiction, the title of the book, and when it is coming out.

And if you’ve got different interests, have an elevator speech for each interest so that you’re prepared for any opportunity that comes your way.

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Tutoring Help for a Student: When Is It Time?

I answered a publicity query concerning when is it time to get a tutor for a student. After I responded to all the questions in the publicity query, I decided to share my responses here:

Several different ways a parent can know whether it's time for a tutor:

1. If the student asks for one.
2. If the student struggles with the material and doesn't seem to "get" it.
3. If the teacher tells the parent the student doesn't seem to "get" the material.

The age has no bearing on this. I've known students who needed a tutor in first grade to learn how to read because the student's learning style was different than the teaching method.

Teachers are usually NOT the best person to decide because a parent can see up close and personal when a student is struggling. On the other hand, when a teacher tells a parent that a child needs a tutor, the parent should listen and not shrug off the suggestion.

The best time of year is as soon as a student needs help (see above).

It would be better if the child is on board (and this can often be achieved in the way the tutor is presented to the student), but not necessary. Students should not be allowed to fail because they are afraid to admit they need help.

Definitely not wait until a student gets a F. (Sometimes short-term tutoring does the trick if the problem is caught soon enough.)

If regular tutoring doesn't seem to help and there are some underlying hints of learning disabilities, testing should be carried out as soon as possible and extensively as possible with a trained educational consultant.

Parents should also read the book MINDSET by Carol Dweck to help ensure that the student is not refusing to try because of a closed mindset. (I feature this book on my Flipping Burgers blog.)

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Resumes Revisited: Do You Put Your Twitter Username on Your Resume?

Resumes usually take a rather standard form when it comes to including your name, address, phone number, email, and maybe cell number and fax number.

Here's an interesting question to consider: Should you include your Twitter username, your Facebook profile page URL, your LinkedIn public profile URL or any other social media information on your resume?

Okay, obviously the answer is yes if you're applying for a job in social media. And obviously the answer is no if you've posted inappropriate information about yourself on MySpace or Facebook.

It's the middle ground that leads me to ask the question: Do you want to indicate by, for example, including your Twitter username that you are knowledgeable in one of the popular microblogging platforms? Or are you worried that a prospective employer might think you'll spend too much time on Twitter if the employer knows you're on that social media platform?

I'm not sure there's an easy answer for everyone. Anyone want to weigh in with an opinion?

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U.S. Economic Situation: Good Time for Internships?

Internships may actually be more available during this economic time. That’s because companies are being forced to lay off employees and this may cause those companies to be short-handed. If you offer yourself as an unpaid intern, you may be snapped up to fill in the gap.

And when a company is short-handed, there’s usually more of a chance for an intern to get to do real work tasks rather than just making coffee and delivering the in-house company mail.

What does this mean for you? If you’ve been wanting an internship to try out a specific career field or get credentials on your resume for a future job, now is the time to do this.

Brainstorm with friends or family about the companies in your area that may need the kind of intern you want to be. Read your local newspaper to see who is laying off large numbers of employees. Then contact those companies if they appear to be the kind of company at which you’d like to intern.

The company’s HR person may not be the best person to contact. He or she is dealing with layoffs and might not take kindly to an intern request when that intern might do the job of a previously paid employee. But a department manager, desperate for more helping hands, might be very open to meeting with you.

Therefore, chose carefully who you will approach. If you want a marketing internship, choose someone in the marketing department. If you want an accounting internship, choose someone in the accounting department.

If you’re good at pitching yourself in writing, then do so for the first approach. If you’re better pitching yourself in a phone call, do that for the first approach.

Remember that with all the issues on the minds of managers today, your request may get buried even though you could really be useful to the company. If you don’t get a response within a few days, do approach the person again. Just be sure to make your approaches in good taste and do not appear to be a nudge.

Be prepared to explain how you can help the manager/company. Then, if you get the internship, do a terrific job of helping out. This could even be your opportunity for a paying job at this company when the economy picks up, or at the very least the opportunity to get a terrific recommendation.

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