Indeed provides jobs and hope for people!

Indeed provides jobs and hope for people!

I have been using Indeed.com for 5 years and have told thousands of people about it from all over the world. My clients are successful in their job search and one of the reasons is because they use Indeed.com. I have been a career coach for 14 years. I am committed to getting people back to work within 6 weeks to 2.5 months no matter what!  Indeed helps me meet my goals. I have been using the tool for 5 years.

 

Rebecca Martin

Dear jane Inc.

 

Indeed.com – provides jobs, finds the hidden job market and gets you back to work.

Best Job Search Site: Indeed

Below is an excerpt from an article Adam Pash, editor of Lifehacker.com wrote about Indeed.com

 

The web has changed the way you search when you find yourself in need of a new gig. Last week we asked you to share your favorite job search site, then we rounded up the most popular responses for a vote. Now we’re back with the winner.

Job search site Indeed, considered by many to be the “Google of job search”, led the pack with a commanding 47% of the vote. The rest of the competition was pretty tight, with LinkedIn at 19%, Craigslist at 14%, Monster at 12%, and Dice at 8%.

 

I couldn’t wait to blog about my favorite search engine Indeed. I love indeed. I can’t tell you how much I love indeed. It has truly revolutionized the way job seekers, recruiters, career coaches, hiring managers, human resource professionals, and the public relate to getting a job or posting jobs online. It’s easy, informative, fast, and definitely a one stop solution for finding jobs and candidates online. I can get salary information, learn about the good, bad and ugly on a company when I am engaging in the forums, I can find out about what’s really going on in a company because of how many job openings they have. Employers get hundreds of candidate resumes per hour coming right to their desktops. Job seekers find the hidden job market.

Job seekers can survey their professional environment without having to pay for Hoovers or Dunn and Bradstreet. In job search we call it “surveying your professional environment.” What does this mean? Well it means that you need to know what’s going on in your profession and in your local market. What’s happening with local companies.  Indeed will tell you everything. They will let you know who is hiring and what they are hiring for and how much they are paying.

Indeed will list where the job description came from, the salaries the company is paying and then you can go into the forum section and learn so much about the company from all the discussions. You can post questions and people who have worked or work for the company past and present will answer your questions. You can get a lot of information for free. You can also tell if the company is in a growth mode or going through major changes by the number of postings on indeed.com.

Job seekers learn so much from Indeed.com. Most people that have been employed for so long don’t even know how to write a resume or how to even get started. I tell them go to indeed.com and use the posted job descriptions as the cliff note version to build their first draft resume. Find job descriptions that match their backgrounds to get some ideas.

Also, there are so many job boards and internet resources for certain industries and professions. For example Indeed pulls from higheredjobs.com and idealist.org for the higher education field and the nonprofit field. So this helps job seekers who are focused in their job search. There are so many reasons to use Indeed.com. I could go on and on. I could spend my life on Indeed.com and never ever get bored of it.

Now of course I eat sleep and breathe job searching and career coaching. I am a former recruiter and headhunter and now a career coach. I am overly committed to helping my clients find jobs and get hired. I don’t promise it but I do make sure it happens. I guess you could say it’s in the DNA. Once a recruiter always a recruiter. That’s what makes me and dear jane unique. All of our career coaches and trainers are either former recruiters or human resource professionals that have been recruiters. Indeed makes our job so easy.

The information below was taken from Indeed.com’s website:

Indeed is the #1 job site worldwide, with over 50 million unique visitors and 1 billion job searches per month. Indeed is available in more than 50 countries and 26

Since 2004, Indeed has given job seekers free access to millions of jobs from thousands of company websites and job boards. As the leading pay-for-performance recruitment advertising network, Indeed drives millions of targeted applicants to jobs in every field and is the most cost-effective source of candidates for thousands of companies.

Indeed is a privately held company founded by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan, with investors including The New York Times Company, Allen & Company, and Union Square Ventures. Indeed have offices in Austin, TX, Mountain View, CA, and Stamford, CT. For more information about Indeed, see our blog and media coverage or contact.

About Indeed
Indeed is the #1 job site worldwide, with over 50 million unique visitors and 1 billion job searches per month. Indeed is available in more than 50 countries and 24 languages, covering 94% of global GDP. Since 2004, Indeed has given job seekers free access to millions of jobs from thousands of company websites and job boards. As the leading pay-for-performance recruitment advertising network, Indeed drives millions of targeted applicants to jobs in every field and is the most cost-effective source of candidates for thousands of companies. Indeed is a privately held company founded by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan, with investors including The New York Times Company, Allen & Company, and Union Square Ventures. Indeed have offices in Austin, TX, Mountain View, CA, and Stamford, CT.

Starting today, veterans and military spouses can upload their resumes at www.indeed.com/military. Employers can sign up to be notified when employer services launch.

Joining Forces is a national initiative led by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to support military families in the areas of employment, education, and wellness. The initiative is a public/private partnership combining the efforts of government agencies with commitments from private companies to improve the lives of military families.

To learn more about Joining Forces, please visitwww.joiningforces.gov. For more information on Indeed Military, please visit www.indeed.com/military.

Below is the type of report dear jane Inc. receives monthly from the marketing department at Indeed.com. It is so inspiring and it’s very very different than what you are reading about in the newspapers and hearing on television.

Now you know why I don’t watch the news or read the paper. J As a career coach for the past 14 years and having been through the two of the worst economic downturns in the history of our nation since the great depression of 1929.  I would not be able to provide hope for people who feel hopeless during their career transitions.

I like to stay positive and read reports like this. I am not a Pollyanna I just choose to read the facts. I coach people into jobs everyday and utilizing a tool like Indeed.com allows me to be successful at getting people back to work quickly and we always have fun through what seems to most clients at the time to be a very painful process.

Indeed’s May Industry Employment Trends show job postings increased in twelve of thirteen industries last month.

Highlights:

• Job postings increased in all but one industry – real estate
• Transportation and manufacturing job postings increased the most over the last quarter
• Job seeker demand for construction jobs rose 21% over the year

Real estate job postings slump

Job postings continued to climb in May; the industries tracked by Indeed’s Industry Employment Trends increased by a combined average of 4% since April.

Job postings increased over the month in all but one industry, real estate.  Job postings in this underperforming industry declined 3% since April, 16% over the last quarter, and 11% in the last year.

Despite recent declines in real estate, construction job postings increased 5% in May – the industry’s fourth consecutive month-over-month gain.  The most popular keywords used to search for jobs in the construction industry last month were construction, welder, and electrician.

Job seeker clicks – a measure of labor interest – on construction jobs reached 5,826,5126 in May.  This represents a 21% increase in clicks compared to a year ago and a 2% increase over the prior month.  The three job titles that received the most job seeker clicks were project manager, project coordinator, and laborer.

Quarterly growth

Transportation and manufacturing had the largest percentage increase in job postings over the prior quarter at 33% and 20% respectively.

Hospitality job postings increased 15% quarter-over-quarter as the industry entered the summer travel season.  Summer job trends and search ideas are highlighted in our recent summer job search post.

May 2011 Industry Employment Trends

Industry	Job Postings	Quarterly Change
Transportation	154,748	33%
Manufacturing	149,270	20%
Healthcare	862,890	16%
Hospitality	114,958	15%
Retail	431,614	11%
Construction	131,847	10%
Education	128,812	8%
Information Technology	416,702	6%
Human Resources	66,482	6%
Accounting	168,203	5%
Media	52,781	5%
Financial Services and Banking	268,274	-1%
Real Estate	26,590	-16%

 

 

 

 

 

Authentic Cover Letters – It’s ok to be you!

I wanted to share one of our dear jane client’s cover letter with you and feel free to forward this sample to your friends and colleagues.  I have changed the names to protect the innocent and received permission from this client to share her cover letter with you.

What is amazing about this cover letter is that our client communicates her passion, dedication to her hobby/sports interests, and professionalism within this letter.

She is a stay at home mom re-entering the workforce and this job is 10 minutes from her home and she has never had any retail experience.

Based on her research of the company she realized that her personal and professional values are aligned with Patagonia’s values.

I love cover letters like this. Based on my former recruiting experience and now my coaching experience, I know that 50% of hiring managers and human resource professionals read cover letters and 50% of them don’t. It’s so important if you want your cover letter to be read to make it real, authentic and personable. It’s crucial to show the future hiring manager or hr representative that you have done your homework on the company you are applying for and that you have a real interest in working at the company you are targeting.

SAMPLE COVER LETTER BELOW

Jane Doe

1111 Doe Lane

Encinitas, Ca  92024

Patagonia                                                     August 2, 2010

2185 San Elijo Avenue

Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA  92007

John Does, Manager

Jane Doe, Assistant Manager

Dear Jane and John,

Patagonia in Cardiff first caught my eye because of my love of surfing and the store’s emphasis on surfing.  The special events, community enrichment and the inventory were of interest to me and I saw the benefits Patagonia was providing to our coastal area.

Now that my children are grown and I desire to reenter the work force, I looked for a company with a philosophy that matched mine.  I researched Patagonia and found a connection to the corporate values and operations, besides just the great products.  I appreciate the innovation and constant desire to improve products; the commitment to deal with factories that meet Patagonia standards; and the company’s choice to look for ways to be “green”.

In addition, I feel a connection to the people who make up Patagonia because I too am an active, environmentally conscious, outdoor loving person.  I wear Patagonia clothing and can personally attest to its durability, quality and style.

I would like to bring my current skills and past sales experience to the Patagonia Cardiff store as a part time employee.  I know I could add value to the team and look forward to the opportunity to work for Patagonia.  I am available immediately and have no schedule limitations. My completed application is attached. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe

cell: 000-555-9999   email: doe@gmail.com

Thoughts from the Bart Station

Thoughts from the Bart station!

By Rebecca Martin

Founder, dear jane…a career services company…

 

As I drove into the Bart station this past Tuesday morning I was amazed at how crowded the parking lot was. I was pleasantly surprised. In my world, people are either on the verge of losing their jobs or have recently lost their jobs. As I locked up my car, I felt the hurried and frenetic pace of people running and racing to catch the 7:30 am Bart train. Thank goodness I didn’t have to be one of those people that day. I was on my way to San Francisco to deliver career transition services packages to two individuals who were being notified that they were going to lose their jobs that day. (aka – getting their pink slips).

 

They were being notified at 9:30 am and I only had to visit with two of them which was a relief.  I wondered to myself what it was going to be like and having witnessed and been engaged in these situations before for the past five years, I thought to myself, will they cry? Get angry? Or have the deer in the headlight look? I have seen it so many times over the past 5 years since I have been a career coach. Sometimes I see terror, fear, shame, guilt, and embarrassment in their eyes. Their faces become flush and they become very quiet and detached. It’s awful and rarely do I see someone who is happy and when I do it’s a relief.  

 

I don’t know how people survive days like this. Especially when it comes as a complete and total shock. I think they are numb for the first 48 hours and maybe even a week. What I know today, is the panic and fear is more than just losing their job, it’s about CHANGE, about PRIDE, what their family and friends will think of them, what their spouses or children will think of them, what their grandparents and parents will think of them, especially if the individuals are from different cultures, they take it the hardest and feel the most shame.

 

It is so sad because they now have to worry about feeding their families, a lack of income, property, prestige, and it’s about feeling that they did something wrong, that they failed their companies, themselves and most of all their loved ones. How do people get through these tough times?

 

I wonder how they feel when they have to tell their loved ones, spouses, kids, parents, neighbors? Do some people even tell their loved ones? Some don’t. If you haven’t seen the movie the Full Monty you should rent it. J It really chronicles the life of several men who get laid off and how they all deal with it on an individual basis and at a group level.

 

Most clients I work with and people that I know always worry that it’s their fault, that they did something wrong to cause themselves to be laid off.

 

I know from experience, since I have been a career coach that I can’t fix their problems and relieve their anxiety, but I can help ease their fear and share with them that they are not alone and that they have a lot of options when it comes to getting a new job. I can show true compassion and kindness instead of treating them like they are pariahs.

 

For me it’s about BASIC NEEDS, Food, Water and Shelter. My approach to coaching is all about helping the individual identify what their needs are in terms of salary, time frame, etc. People need to do what’s best for them and their families and they need to start taking care of themselves first.

 

People have so much shame and embarrassment around losing their jobs which is normal. Even in this market when everything around them is crumbling and everyone around them is getting laid off, they still take it personal. Well it’s so hard not to, but I am here to tell you that it might have been the best thing that could of ever happened to you. Most of us won’t make a change even if we are unhappy or even miserable. Change is so scary.

 

I was pushed out of my last corporate job because I didn’t fit the corporate culture. The manager inherited me because his company purchased the start up I was working for and I happened to be the Top Sales Producer at the start up during the acquisition. After six months from the sale of the company, and after my six figure guarantee ran out, I was kicked to the curb. My manager went cold and treated me like he didn’t know me or like me. It was so bizarre. He stripped me of my sales territory and at the time I was 41 years old. I had to train my 27 year old replacement. It was so tough and basically hideous.

At that time I was so tired and ended up quitting. I would have never started my company if that didn’t happen to me. So thank you to the old company. They did me a huge favor but at the time I didn’t see it that way. J So good things do come from being laid off, well ok sometimes.

 

One of the hardest parts of my job is helping people process unusual behavior right before they get laid off. For example, when I talk to clients and they tell me that there manager had just promoted them and given them a $10-20K raise one month before they were going to be laid off. Or when their managers told them “not to worry,” they wouldn’t be on the targeted list of people losing their jobs and then the next day or week they get laid off. It’s so confusing and it feels like a betrayal. I do know after talking to a lot of executives and managers that sometimes their direct managers really didn’t know.

 

Another hard situation to help people with is when they get laid off right after they increased revenues for their company which affected the top line growth and they still get laid off and sent packing! That always boggles people’s minds.

 

It’s never about anything personal. “Yeah that’s what they all say.” And what do we always hear, it’s business and the company had to RIFF people to remain profitable and to please wall street. Well I don’t agree necessarily, IT IS PERSONAL to the person losing their job. It may not be personal to the company or the management team and it’s easy for people to say these kinds of things but it is personal. So don’t feel bad about taking it personal. I just don’t want you to take it so personal that you go into a deep depression or isolate and stop focusing on your strengths and everything that is unique and great about you! Remember there are thousands of jobs and hiring managers that are just waiting for your resume to pop up in their inbox. So send your resumes and start cold calling into companies!

 

I survived 7 RIFF’s at my last company and the only reason I survived was because the executive management team trusted me, my work ethic and my ability to deliver. They liked me because I was low maintenance and I also got lucky!

 

So what it boils down to is that change is inevitable and half of us and maybe more didn’t even like our jobs or some of the people we worked with. We really wanted to change but didn’t know how to make CHANGE happen.

Please buy the book “Who Moved My Cheese.” It’s a great book and also while you are buying that book, I want you to buy the book “Brag, The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn.” You will love both of these books.

 

Let’s start working on the FEAR of Changing and Change in general when it comes to your job search and your career. I know, I know, this isn’t the best market to make changes in but REMEMBER THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF JOBS WAITING FOR EACH ONE OF YOU READING THIS BLOG ENTRY. JJ

 

So take some time to reflect on what CHANGE represents to you? Or what losing your job and getting laid off represents to you and makes you feel. Is it a lack of control, power, security, “You” decide. Work through this and make sure you feel the feelings and process the feelings.

 

Join a therapy group or a job search support group; start conducting informational interviews to find out about your next career move; join linkedin.com and start networking with people from your past or present.

 

Don’t isolate and think you are the only one feeling the way you do. Trust me, I talked to hundreds of people per month that feel the same way you do!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Good luck!

Personal Assessments

Hello everyone, I just finished talking with Jennifer Tuma Young from inspirista.net and we talked about the personal assessment process and how it relates to job search. Below is some information that I know would be helpful for you during your search.

The websites for finding out about corporate culture or just companies in general are below.

www.ledova.com

www.jobvent.com

www.glassdoor.com

www.indeed.com – type in company name under the forum section

 Please go to the website (www.3smartcubes.com) and sign up with them for just you $9.95.  I have our dear jane clients take the Aptitude, IQ and Personality Tests.-IQ Tests (optional). These reports will give you a lot of objective feedback about yourself.

Please go to www.humanmetrics.com and take the Jung typology test (aka, Meyers Briggs personality test). Please score the test and print the results. Your printout should say you are an E S F P or something similar. This is a free site. Then when you receive your printout and get your type i.e.: ESFJ, you should then go to the public library and copy the chapter ESFJ from the book called “Do What You Are.”

Also have them check out this site. They can take some free skills tests, etc. They have a lot of resources here and can print out some good reports.

www.http://online.onetcenter.org.

Strength Finders and Now Discover Your Strengths are popular. These are books to help people with their career exploration as well and they have DVD’s included.

Check out the Johnson O’Connor Research foundation. Use google to find the website. It is the best aptitude testing center I know of for people looking to change careers and interested in career exploration. I tested with them 20 years ago and I have actually worked in 3 out of the 5 professions they suggested.

Are you bored? Are you interested in finding part-time work while you look for a full-time job?

Women in Technology Conference www.witi.com

Hi everyone, I know it’s been awhile since I have blogged and I have missed it. The good news is that dear jane…is getting a lot of exposure and we are trying to get the message of hope to the public and to those that really need to get back to work. Julie and I and the dear jane…team are working hard to get people back to work. We have been asked to speak at a lot of the local librarys and we were just interviewed by Cheryl Jennings at Channel 7 for a segment on “Beyond the Headlines.” Don’t miss it!

We are proud to announce that we are one of the sponsors at the Women in Technology Conference in Santa Clara, CA this weekend. check out their website at www.witi.com. So come by and say hello if you attend.

Before you take that job, examine the culture

HR Revealed

by Judith Marshall, President, Human Resources Consulting Services

 

Before you take that job, examine the culture

 

A big part of a successful match between you and a company is identifying cultural fit. Some cultural characteristics include how they value work/life issues, whether they are team-oriented or star-oriented, whether there’s a chain of command or an open-door policy.  It’s the way a company operates; the way people behave toward each other.  A good question to ask in an interview is, “What kind of person is successful in your company?”  This will give you some insight into their culture and help you decide if it fits with what you’re looking for.  Theoretically, if you’re working in a culture that fits, you’ll like going to work, enjoy co-workers and identify with the company’s mission.      

Some good news for those who have lost their jobs.

Below is the blog entry that my colleague Judith Marshall wrote. She will be a regular blogger and contributor to “dear jane dialogues” and is part of our executive team. She is a Human Resources Executive with over 20 years in the HR field and she is an expert on many topics. We are very happy to have her as a new member of the dear jane… executive team. Just wait, there is more to come from Judith. 

HR Revealed

by Judith Marshall, President, Human Resources Consulting Services

Some good news for those who have lost their jobs.

 The economic stimulus package signed into law by President Obama on February 17th includes a nine-month extension of a program that offers an additional seven weeks of unemployment benefits.  Benefits would be increased by $25 per week. In addition, the plan will appropriate nearly $20 billion to offer health insurance coverage to the unemployed under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).  In general, the coverage features a 65 percent subsidy of the health insurance premiums for up to nine months for laid-off workers who qualify for the program, and allows workers who became jobless as early as September 1, 2008, and rejected COBRA coverage to reconsider and receive COBRA benefits.  Employers are required to contact those former employees who qualify.

 

In this Economy, What challenges and resources are out there for the Mature and Older Workers

I just recently responded to a request on www.helpareporterout.com regarding the challenges and resources that mature and older workers face and what they can look forward to as far as resources available. Below is my response.

I have had my own business as a Career Coach and Advisor for the past 4.5 years. Prior to that I was a recruiter and headhunter for 8.5 years, and I coached thousands of people into jobs throughout the United States and several in Europe.

I work with clients that are between the ages of 20 and 70 years old.

My clients are in different stages of their careers and have all been employed at one time or another. I work with people that have been terminated, reentering the job market, laid off and/or just want to make a career change. I work with all types of individuals who have different educational backgrounds and salary levels (8^th graders to Ph.D.’s from Harvard). I work with people who make $40K and up to $3M and even though this is a tough job market there are so many jobs available and I coach people into jobs everyday.

Mature and older workers who are between the ages of 45 to 70 are so worried and anxious about their age and lack of technology skills. They are also gripped with fear about their spouses leaving them and losing their homes.

They don’t feel knowledgeable about the job market, and the interviewing, resume writing and salary and negotiating processes. They haven’t had to look for a job in 10-30 years so having to go out and get a job and pound the pavements (while competing with the 20 and 30 years old job seekers) terrifies them.  

They are faced with age discrimination by the 20 and 30 year old hiring managers, because most hiring managers in that age category will not hire mature (ages between 45-58 years of age) and older workers (ages between 58-70 years of age) because they prefer to work with people who have their same values, like to communicate openly and collaborate on work projects, etc. We are dealing with a multigenerational workforce like never before. There are many challenges job seekers are facing because of it.

Another challenge older workers (ages between 58-70 years of age) have is that they just don’t know how to get a job because they haven’t had to look for one in a long time. Their other challenge is that their “Networking Contacts” have dried up and cease to exist because they never thought they would need to network because they were employed and already had a job.

Older workers (ages between 58-70 years of age) are also challenged by their own attitudes that they have towards younger and middle-aged workers. For example, mature and older workers have grown up in a different generation and their working experiences are very different. They worked in a hierarchical structure with authoritative leadership and management styles and with closed communication. The younger, middle age and some of the mature workers are committed and used to working with open communication, technology and collaborating with their peers. They work in a highly diverse culture where the older workers worked in a very homogeneous culture and they lack technology expertise.

I coach mature and older workers and the same questions come up over and over They say, “I’m too old and no one is going to hire me.” They are afraid that they won’t be able to hit the ground running because of their lack of technology experience and because they aren’t up-to-date on what other companies, organizations, institutions want from them and/or how they operate.  They feel that they won’t be able to compete with younger and middle age workers (22-38) and that they will lose their homes and spouses.  They are tired and never dreamed of being laid off at the age of 52-70 years. They feel devastated and traumatized because they really don’t want to have to go out and get another job at their age.

There are a lot of resources for them today and some of the most important things they need to know are THEY CAN GET HIRED AND WILL GET HIRED, they are valued and respected by hiring managers because of their loyalty and intellectual capital.

They should hire a career coach, attend the local job search support groups in their area, and definitely attend professional associations within their industry. They need to hire a resume writer or coach because they have no idea of what is expected of them and how they should write a resume. They need to be trained on computers and the rest of the job search process like, how to negotiate, interview and get a job today.

Some of them want to do something totally different like change industries and professions. Some want to pursue opening their own businesses and consult for a living. They also need to know the value of working with recruiters.

I would suggest getting a personal image consultant to help them update their image if they are worried about it. I would suggest they start networking right away and join www.linkedin.com. They need to get real familiar with how the internet works relating to their job search, for example they need to post their resumes on www.craigslist.com, careerbuilder.com and monster.com. Most of them don’t know what the function of job boards are. Most people get hired off of the internet today. And I would suggest some counseling or grief support during this time.

Most large corporations will contract with companies that provide outplacement services. If they are so lucky to go through outplacement services, they will be given the opportunity to work with a company that will help them through their job search process and be assigned a coach to help them find employment.

 

It’s important that they sign up with their local EDD office. The Employment Development Department will train them at no charge and introduce them to local employers and provide free computer training. Our country also has 1781 One Stop Career Centers that also offer free career coaching services.

Attending professional associations like the American Marketing Association is a great thing to do so you can get up-to-date on their profession and industry.

So I hope this information is helpful. Please contact me if you need anything else.

 

 

What the Economist says about the “Net Geners” and Multigenerational Workforce

Managing the Facebookers

Dec 30th 2008
From The Economist print edition

The balance of power between old-school managers and young talent is changing—a bit

THEIR defenders say they are motivated, versatile workers who are just what companies need in these difficult times. To others, however, the members of “Generation Y”—those born in the 1980s and 1990s, otherwise known as Millennials or the Net Generation—are spoiled, narcissistic layabouts who cannot spell and waste too much time on instant messaging and Facebook. Ah, reply the Net Geners, but all that messing around online proves that we are computer-literate multitaskers who are adept users of online collaborative tools, and natural team players. And, while you are on the subject of me, I need a month’s sabbatical to recalibrate my personal goals.

This culture clash has been going on in many organisations and has lately seeped into management books. The Net Geners have grown up with computers; they are brimming with self-confidence; and they have been encouraged to challenge received wisdom, to find their own solutions to problems and to treat work as a route to personal fulfilment rather than merely a way of putting food on the table. Not all of this makes them easy to manage. Bosses complain that after a childhood of being coddled and praised, Net Geners demand far more frequent feedback and an over-precise set of objectives on the path to promotion (rather like the missions that must be completed in a video game). In a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consultancy, 61% of chief executives say they have trouble recruiting and integrating younger employees.

For the more curmudgeonly sort of older manager, the current recession is the joyful equivalent of hiding an alarm clock in a sleeping teenager’s bedroom (see article below). Once again, the touchy-feely management fads that always spring up in years of plenty (remember the guff about “the search for meaning” and “the importance of brand me”) are being ditched in favour of more brutal command-and-control methods. Having grown up in good times, Net Geners have laboured under the illusion that the world owed them a living. But hopping between jobs to find one that meets your inner spiritual needs is not so easy when there are no jobs to hop to. And as for that sabbatical: here’s a permanent one, sunshine.

Today’s narcissistic layabout is tomorrow’s talent

In fact, compromise will be necessary on both sides. Net Geners will certainly have to temper some of their expectations and take the world as it is, not as they would like it to be. But their older bosses should also be prepared to make concessions. The economy will eventually recover—and demographic trends in most rich countries will make clever young workers even more valuable. Besides, many of the things that keep Net Geners happy—such as providing more coaching to young employees or embracing cheaper online ways to communicate—are worth doing anyway. But for the moment at least, the Facebookers are under the cosh.

Generation Y goes to work

Dec 30th 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO
From The Economist print edition

Reality bites for young workers

 JESSICA BUCHSBAUM first noticed that something had changed in May 2008. The head of recruitment for a law firm in Florida, Ms Buchsbaum was used to interviewing young candidates for summer internships who seemed to think that the world owed them a living. Many applicants expected the firm to promote itself to them rather than the other way around. However, last May’s crop were far more humble. “The tone had changed from ‘What can you do for me?’ to ‘Here’s what I can do for you’,” she says.

The global downturn has been a brutal awakening for the youngest members of the workforce—variously dubbed “the Millennials”, “Generation Y” or “the Net Generation” by social researchers. “Net Geners” are, roughly, people born in the 1980s and 1990s. Those old enough to have passed from school and university into work had got used to a world in which jobs were plentiful and firms fell over one another to recruit them. Now their prospects are grimmer. According to America’s Bureau of Labour Statistics, the unemployment rate among people in their 20s increased significantly in the two most recent recessions in the United States. It is likely to do so again as industries such as finance and technology, which employ lots of young people, axe thousands of jobs.

This is creating new problems for managers. Because of the downturn, Net Geners are finding it harder to hop to new jobs. At the same time, their dissatisfaction is growing as crisis-hit firms adopt more of a command-and-control approach to management—the antithesis of the open, collaborative style that young workers prefer. Less autonomy and more directives have sparked complaints among Net Geners that offices and factories have become “pressure cookers” and “boiler rooms”. “The recession is creating lower turnover, but also higher frustration among young people stuck in jobs,” warns Cam Marston, a consultant who advises companies on inter-generational matters.

Such griping may reinforce the stereotype of young workers as being afraid of hard work—more American Idle than American Idol. Yet a survey of 4,200 young graduates from 44 countries published in December by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consultancy, found that they want many of the same things from work as previous generations, including long tenure with a small number of employers. And they are willing to put in the hours to get them, if they are treated well.

Indeed, Net Geners may be just the kind of employees that companies need to help them deal with the recession’s hazards. For one thing, they are accomplished at juggling many tasks at once. For another, they are often eager to move to new roles or countries at the drop of a hat—which older workers with families and other commitments may find harder to do. Such flexibility can be a boon in difficult times. “In the economic downturn what we are really looking for is hungry 25- to 35-year-olds who are willing to travel,” says Frank Meehan, the boss of a fast-growing mobile-phone applications business that is part of Hutchison Whampoa, a conglomerate based in Hong Kong.

Net Geners’ knowledge of internet technology can also help companies save money. Consider the case of Best Buy, a big American consumer-electronics retailer. Keen to create a new employee portal, the firm contacted an external consultancy that quoted it a price of several million dollars. Shocked by this, a group of young Best Buy employees put together a small team of developers from their own networks who produced a new portal for about $250,000. Another Net Gener at the company cobbled together a mobile-phone version of Best Buy’s website for fun in seven days in his spare time.

Best Buy, which announced in December that its third-quarter profit had fallen by 77% compared with the same period a year earlier, is also betting that its Net Geners can come up with new ways of boosting sales using the web and other means. “We’ll weather the storm and be stronger because of the Net Generation,” says Michele Azar, Best Buy’s head of internet strategy. Estée Lauder, a cosmetics firm, is also encouraging Net Geners to help it innovate. It has launched an initiative called iForce which brings together young staff to dream up ways of marketing products using emerging technologies.

Programmes such as iForce are based on the notion that Net Geners are well placed to encourage their peers to dip into their pockets. According to a recent survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, Net Geners place more emphasis on personal recommendations than on brands when deciding which products and services to buy. Hence the importance of hanging on to clever youngsters who have grown up with Facebook, MySpace and so forth, and who know how best to create buzz among their peers.

Net Geners who find themselves out of a job are likely to use the same know-how to create a buzz about themselves so they can find another one. Charlotte Gardner, a 25-year-old Californian who was made redundant by a financial-services firm in November, has since been using online job and social-networking sites, as well as micro-blogging services such as Twitter, to promote her skills to potential employers. Ms Gardner, who is optimistic she will find another job soon, describes herself as “a glue kid”—someone who can get different kinds of people to work well together.

Firms battling through the recession will need plenty of “glue managers” who can persuade Net Geners to stick around and work with their colleagues on important projects. They will need to provide regular feedback to young staff on what is happening in the workplace and why—as well as plenty of coaching on their performance (see article). Companies that keep Net Geners in the dark will find themselves the targets of unflattering criticism both inside the firm and online. “These kids will scrutinise companies like never before,” explains Don Tapscott, the author of several books on the Net Generation.

In the end, compromises will have to be made on both sides. Younger workers will have to accept that in difficult times decisions will be taken more crisply and workloads will increase. Their managers, meanwhile, will have to make an extra effort to keep Net Geners engaged and motivated. Firms that cannot pull off this balancing act could see an exodus of young talent once the economy improves. That, to borrow from Net Geners’ text-message shorthand, would be a huge WOMBAT: a waste of money, brains and time.

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