Recession isn't only thing holding millennials back; basic skill sets missing

[NRSKarenRN]

Recession isn't only thing holding millennials back

Pittsburgh Business Times by Jordan Markley, Editorial Intern

Date: Friday, June 29, 2012

..."I'm hearing that a lot of the millennials that are entering into the workforce are struggling with some basic skill sets," she said. "The basics of grammar and writing have been taken over by texting."

She said the millennial generation's penchant for electronic communication has also created a more relaxed, short-form style of communication that doesn't always sit well with older managers.

"Because of the relaxed nature of shortened communication like texting and the casual nature of email, the biggest complaint about millennials today is that they've taken (a) casual demeanor into the work environment instead of graduating to a professional level," Dietrich said....

..."They have to understand their audience. The millennial needs to understand things like wearing a suit and tie, turning off your cellphone, not texting in the lobby while waiting for the interview," Bender said. "Focusing on face-to-face interaction and doing that well will really make them stand out from the crowd."...

[Inkynurse]

You really can't do anything but sit demurely with your ankles crossed while waiting to be interviewed? What if you are fifth in line and its going to be an hour? Can you read a magazine or something, or does that too say you are too unprofessional?

[Tragically Hip]

In 20 years the folks who get wrapped around the axle by someone deigning to read a text message on their phone while waiting for an interview will all be retired. It will not mean gloom and doom and the end of civilization.

Now, why would an applicant be cooling her heels in the waiting room for any length of time? Might it be because the interviewer was running late, or was backed up, or didn't plan well, and did not have the technological fortitude to alert the applicant to that fact, so she had to wait in the waiting room and demurely stare at the wall, with her hands in her lap, ankles crossed, as you did when you were a little girl?

When there are a hundred applicants, a good number of whom are qualified for a particular job, a hiring manager can use any criteria he wants to shrink the pool. Some day, if the nursing glut ends, things will be different.

I've worked in high tech for a long time. I've seen the cycles. If you've had experience in other industries, though, nursing has a peculiar culture indeed.

[DoGoodThenGo]

You really can't do anything but sit demurely with your ankles crossed while waiting to be interviewed? What if you are fifth in line and its going to be an hour? Can you read a magazine or something, or does that too say you are too unprofessional?

That depends on if they are clean magazines or not as I wouldn't want to get my gloves dirty.

[DoGoodThenGo]

I agree. It amazes me people can't write basic sentences. Also amazes me proofreading cover letters for some people, is only hitting the spellcheck button. It's one thing to pass nursing school, but another to be able to go in for an interview and hold a conversation.

Problem is Microsoft Word and other spell/grammer checks aren't perfect and many simply accept what the program says, after the computer must be smarter/correct. This leads to many of the same and predictable "corrections" that in turn produce grammer and style errors of their own.

Three of the best books one was given in freshman year of college and have kept since were:

Roget's College Thesaurus

Folwer's Modern English Usage

Elements of Style by Strunk & White

[Tragically Hip]

"grammer"?

Kelsey Grammer?

[nursel56]

You really can't do anything but sit demurely with your ankles crossed while waiting to be interviewed? What if you are fifth in line and its going to be an hour? Can you read a magazine or something, or does that too say you are too unprofessional?

That would depend on whether you delicately turn the pages or lean over the magazine area munching on a bag of Doritos and loudly exclaim, "oh my God Jennifer Aniston got dumped again!" A surprising number of people don't know the difference.

People don't seem to get the manners concept, so blanket edicts are stated to account for that. If you understand what people are actually talking about, you know they aren't talking about you.

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

didn't read the whole article but the quote above about not texting in the lobby while WAITING for the interview sounds like just some touchy fruit cake who doesn't care for texting taking it out on interviewees. Would she feel better if they stared at the walls the whole time?

That said, this 34 year old will keep her phone to herself if ever waiting for an interview again just for the more sensitive among us. geez

1. Don't reply to threads that you haven't even READ. And NEVER admit that you're

going it. That would be participating in the idiocracy.

2. I've reread this short thread several times and I believe that the complaint against

texting was related to texting in class as well as using text-speak unskills in formal

academic writing.

[DoGoodThenGo]

"grammer"?

Kelsey Grammer?

You got me. *LOL*

Gotta stop posting whist nipping a glass of wine!

But then again one needs something to keep going when doing an all night baking marathon

[Inkynurse]

Subee - The article actually mentions not texting in the lobby while waiting for the interview.

The article reeks of "oh the youth of today. " It's a never ending cycle - older generations are always going to complain about the shortcomings of the younger set and wax poetic about the "good ole days". Society evolves whether you like it or not as does technology. I mentioned reading magazines in an earlier post because before there were iPhones to entertain you while waiting in a lobby, that's what you did. I never thought that was a big issue so I don't see how looking at your phone (whether it be text or actually reading a magazine on it) would be such a turnoff to employers.

Sorry for any errors. I'm posting from my iPhone. Laugh out loud.

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

This article and others like it really make me angry. I am 24 years old. I know how to write well and proofread. I also know that the courses I took in high school were much more difficult and required a greater variety of assignments than those of my parents. It used to be that a project consisted of a poster and a speech. Now it is standard for a teacher to expect a paper, PowerPoint presentation, and a verbal recitation of the summarized contents. Let's not forget that the standards for plagiarism have also expanded, and students are expected to cite any fact with a source. You want students to have more original thought? Ask them to write a 5-page paper without 5 sources and quit threatening them with expulsion if they happen to make a smart conclusion without quoting someone else.

I am bitter about this subject. In an intermediate Spanish course in college, I was accused of plagiarism because my writing was "too polished" and my vocabulary was "too advanced" to come from a student. Without proof, she could do nothing extreme, but that did not stop her from giving me a B on my project.

Please stop stereotyping my generation and look for those of us that don't fit into your preconceptions. It's as silly as my generation talking about how our parents and grandparents look like idiots using social media. If we can have patience with your shortcomings, it's only fair to reciprocate.

[Jennie.K]

I'm in an online sociology class. It is terrible because not even the PROFESSOR can write in complete sentences. Then, I can barely decipher what the other students are trying to say in the discussions...

[leenak]

This article and others like it really make me angry. I am 24 years old. I know how to write well and proofread. I also know that the courses I took in high school were much more difficult and required a greater variety of assignments than those of my parents. It used to be that a project consisted of a poster and a speech. Now it is standard for a teacher to expect a paper, PowerPoint presentation, and a verbal recitation of the summarized contents. Let's not forget that the standards for plagiarism have also expanded, and students are expected to cite any fact with a source. You want students to have more original thought? Ask them to write a 5-page paper without 5 sources and quit threatening them with expulsion if they happen to make a smart conclusion without quoting someone else.

Just because you know how to write well and proof read doesn't mean that there isn't a change that is very noticeable. I'm not quite old enough to be your parent (biologically yes but...), but I remember writing a 60 page paper in high school that included 10-20 references? I never remember having to have a poster and a speech be a project in high school and definitely not in college. And plagiarism has always been a big deal. It was something emphasized in high school and college for myself.

I've also noticed a change in the college courses and I keep trying to figure out if I have changed so much or if college has changed so much. I think it is a mix of both. I've had a few classes where teachers have provided outlines for things to study for tests. This was unheard of when I was first in college. Teachers offering regrades on papers, again unheard of when I was first in college. Classes just seem a lot easier than when I took them nearly 20 years ago.