Why Most People Hate Millennials
Posted 09-20-2016 at 12:28 PM by ColaClemsonFan11
Updated 09-20-2016 at 12:47 PM by ColaClemsonFan11
Updated 09-20-2016 at 12:47 PM by ColaClemsonFan11
Its not very often you hear a flattering review about the millennial generation. Outside of the BuzzFeed, Elite Daily, or any number of other millennial targeted sites, the consensus seems to be that millennials are self-centered and lazy.
While I do not completely agree with these stereotypes that older columnists tend to portray millennials with, I also won't say I completely disagree either. As a millennial (just turned 28), I find myself having such reservation for most things that (accurately) my peers and I.
No more do I feel this way than when I see any advice column for recent college grads just entering the working world. If nothing else about our generation screams disconnection to the real world , this would do it. Ironically, these articles are intended to offer advice to millennials trying to adjust to the real world.
After seeing countless articles on this subject, there are several things that are almost always mentioned but are not realistic. So I'll just go ahead and break them down for you (with a little humor added):
First off, most suggest you should try as many jobs as you can in your 20s.
Nothing screams loyalty in an interview with a company like 5 different jobs with three different companies in your whole two years into the working world. Unless the jobs you are trying out are all at the mall, this free spirit take on a career may prove problematic when trying to get said job you should try out. Plus, two years of solid experience in the same or similar position tends to be far more beneficial to your career than a mere basic understanding in several different areas.
Speaking of changing jobs, another bit of common advice they give is to keep moving to different cities that are new and unfamiliar to you.
This one makes a bit more sense than changing jobs, most jobs have a counterpart position in many other cities so it might be easier in regards to your career but I think the folks writing this either have a very strong college alumni network in most cities across the country or have never actually done this. Its okay to get out of your comfort zone and I can see the potential benefits of doing such, but as someone who is now living in the third city since graduating from college four years ago (all cities in which I am familiar with and have friends in), its a bit more difficult than just hoping on a plane in order to get a new experience, in fact its a complete reset of your life. Just take meeting new friends, which is one of the most difficult things to do after college. Just up and moving from city to city will make that so much worse. We all made such great friends in college because for the most part, we were all there together for four or more years. Same can be said for post-college unless you keep moving from city to city for "new experiences." If you move to a new city after graduation and stay there for at least a few years, you will likely have a solid group of good friends that mirrors what you had in college. Keep moving every year and a half, and you grow apart from your old college friends and have nothing but mere acquaintances to show for the new experiences from all of the different cities you lived in. Also lets take into account that the folks who write this are usually working for some millennial start-up website. My guess is their workplace is nothing but 20-somethings, who are all have similar interests, making it easy and quick to have friends in new cities. Good for them, but 99% of the offices in America are not like BuzzFeed.
The last one is perhaps the most realistic of the three and that is the advice to "travel the world."
So I guess if you're just too scared to get outside of your comfort zone and move to a new city every year, you need to at least travel right? Sure. Most companies give you two weeks of vacation time,( I mean unless you have been there for a few years) so unless you can make it to Europe and back on a long weekend, and tell your family to have fun at Christmas without you (because chances are you live in a new city nowhere near where your family lives meaning you'll have to take more time to travel home for the holidays), traveling the world might take a backseat. Aside from the logistics of juggling your vacation days, I think our friends at Elite Daily forgot that trips aren't free (welll, lets be honest, these are the same people who just up and moved to NYC and somehow can afford a Manhattan apartment on a blogger's salary...perhaps Mom and Dad make it free). As a millennial, I make a good salary but to travel the world "as often" as they are suggesting would mean I would have no money for anything other than rent and groceries to save enough for said trip and my cost of living is not ridiculously high. My guess is the Elite Daily staff is not having to skip Sunday Brunch to travel the world.
So to the other generations, I completely understand the stereotype of entitled millennials. Worst of all, most millennials actually do these things and get mad when their on a whim move to NYC to start a blog doesn't work out. Maybe as we grow older, we will finally get how the real world works but until then, keep the stereotypes coming!
While I do not completely agree with these stereotypes that older columnists tend to portray millennials with, I also won't say I completely disagree either. As a millennial (just turned 28), I find myself having such reservation for most things that (accurately) my peers and I.
No more do I feel this way than when I see any advice column for recent college grads just entering the working world. If nothing else about our generation screams disconnection to the real world , this would do it. Ironically, these articles are intended to offer advice to millennials trying to adjust to the real world.
After seeing countless articles on this subject, there are several things that are almost always mentioned but are not realistic. So I'll just go ahead and break them down for you (with a little humor added):
First off, most suggest you should try as many jobs as you can in your 20s.
Nothing screams loyalty in an interview with a company like 5 different jobs with three different companies in your whole two years into the working world. Unless the jobs you are trying out are all at the mall, this free spirit take on a career may prove problematic when trying to get said job you should try out. Plus, two years of solid experience in the same or similar position tends to be far more beneficial to your career than a mere basic understanding in several different areas.
Speaking of changing jobs, another bit of common advice they give is to keep moving to different cities that are new and unfamiliar to you.
This one makes a bit more sense than changing jobs, most jobs have a counterpart position in many other cities so it might be easier in regards to your career but I think the folks writing this either have a very strong college alumni network in most cities across the country or have never actually done this. Its okay to get out of your comfort zone and I can see the potential benefits of doing such, but as someone who is now living in the third city since graduating from college four years ago (all cities in which I am familiar with and have friends in), its a bit more difficult than just hoping on a plane in order to get a new experience, in fact its a complete reset of your life. Just take meeting new friends, which is one of the most difficult things to do after college. Just up and moving from city to city will make that so much worse. We all made such great friends in college because for the most part, we were all there together for four or more years. Same can be said for post-college unless you keep moving from city to city for "new experiences." If you move to a new city after graduation and stay there for at least a few years, you will likely have a solid group of good friends that mirrors what you had in college. Keep moving every year and a half, and you grow apart from your old college friends and have nothing but mere acquaintances to show for the new experiences from all of the different cities you lived in. Also lets take into account that the folks who write this are usually working for some millennial start-up website. My guess is their workplace is nothing but 20-somethings, who are all have similar interests, making it easy and quick to have friends in new cities. Good for them, but 99% of the offices in America are not like BuzzFeed.
The last one is perhaps the most realistic of the three and that is the advice to "travel the world."
So I guess if you're just too scared to get outside of your comfort zone and move to a new city every year, you need to at least travel right? Sure. Most companies give you two weeks of vacation time,( I mean unless you have been there for a few years) so unless you can make it to Europe and back on a long weekend, and tell your family to have fun at Christmas without you (because chances are you live in a new city nowhere near where your family lives meaning you'll have to take more time to travel home for the holidays), traveling the world might take a backseat. Aside from the logistics of juggling your vacation days, I think our friends at Elite Daily forgot that trips aren't free (welll, lets be honest, these are the same people who just up and moved to NYC and somehow can afford a Manhattan apartment on a blogger's salary...perhaps Mom and Dad make it free). As a millennial, I make a good salary but to travel the world "as often" as they are suggesting would mean I would have no money for anything other than rent and groceries to save enough for said trip and my cost of living is not ridiculously high. My guess is the Elite Daily staff is not having to skip Sunday Brunch to travel the world.
So to the other generations, I completely understand the stereotype of entitled millennials. Worst of all, most millennials actually do these things and get mad when their on a whim move to NYC to start a blog doesn't work out. Maybe as we grow older, we will finally get how the real world works but until then, keep the stereotypes coming!
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