How to Narrow the Perception Gap Between Millennials and Human Resources Pros
On a job search, human resources pros learn how you see yourself through two things: your resume and interview.
Proficiency, knowledge, and capacity to do a job are not tied to any single generation. In an interview, the hiring managers or human resources pros hold all the cards. In fact, theirs are the only cards that truly matters.
They are the only thing between “thank you for coming” and “you’re hired.”
Perception over Millennials—the generation just now entering the workforce in earnest—is where these young workers need to pay particular attention.
Millennials see people skills (about 65 percent) by Facebook “friends,” or how the number of tags or tweets they receive. To human resources and hiring managers, Millennials fare much worse with only 14 percent.
The way an employee interacts with others, either face-to-face, in a group or team environment, is what truly matters. Millennials may think they are tech savvy, but HR pros recognize that as a lack of social people skills.
This perception gap is even wider when it comes to technological ability. Unexpectedly, Millennials don’t consider themselves too tech savvy (only 35 percent) but human resources pros see them considerably more adept (at 85 percent).
When reality and perceptions conflict in the workplace, a lack of training can come off as poor performance. This becomes an unfair disadvantage for Millennials, who suffer from the misconception that PC and iPhone “skills” are second nature to them.
However, the biggest perception gap is in company loyalty. Millennials consider themselves much more reliable than human resources pros see them. Baby boomers see commitment in terms of years or decades with an employer. Millennials have a much shorter definition of loyalty—closer to daily or weekly.
Like every generation, Millennials are motivated and eager to advance, so they have no fear of “job hopping,” since it is popular with their peers.
As far as “fun-loving,” Millennials aren’t ranked high by either generation. Is work fun? They don’t think so.
“Hard-working” also has a large perception gap. Baby boomers, influenced by the work ethic depression-era parents’ see Millennials as slackers. The suspect Millennials would rather surf the Web, or require regular time off, than putting in the long hours to succeed.
Boomers struggled to get what they have, and they see Millennials just want those rewards handed to them as if it was a reward for showing up for work.
Check out this infographic on how Millennials can change perceptions with human resources pros and hiring managers to get and keep jobs. Adopt the work styles and soft skills, and Millennials can stay true to their character while offering a complete package to win over human resources pros from the Baby Boomer generation.
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