Many parents lament the inability of their recent college graduates to land good jobs. Here is a piece on possible causes by Molly Mahoney Matthew, author of “Unsinkable: Find a Job, Create a Career, Build a Business.”
Credit: Maureen Downey
Credit: Maureen Downey
By Molly Mahoney Matthew
Johnny figures he’ll spend his evening with a beer, watching a game while he texts on his smart phone. Lethargic and depressed, he’ll settle on his parents’ sofa and wonder what happened. Just a year ago he was a popular senior in college, getting good grades, hanging out with his girlfriend, and playing sports.
Now, back home with a college degree, the only job he can find is working the desk at a gym, for 40 disheartening hours a week. He has no time for a social life and little in common with his old high school friends. He can’t afford an apartment of his own. Worst of all, the resumes he sends out seem to get lost in the black hole of computerized automated screening. Johnny might be connected online, but he is disconnected from job success.
Educators have taught Johnny how to read, but failed to teach effective workplace communication. (Janey, Johnny’s female counterpart, faces similar challenges, but not to the same degree.) Most young people raised on social media don’t understand that business communication is a complex system of interpersonal exchanges, based on a strict hierarchy.
I teach career development workshops to college students. I'm entranced by how much facility these millennials have, and how smart, motivated and hardworking they are. But the noise of social media has drowned out what other generations learned about effective communication, especially in the work world.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the labor market for all young graduates remains grim, and a tough entry-level job market and the high cost of education keep young people in dead-end jobs. Deficits in “soft skills” make it even more difficult for young employees to find better job opportunities.
While there is no doubt computer expertise is an asset in the workplace, the virtual world of digital media is creating skill deficits among millennials, limiting their ability to demonstrate value once they land a job.
What millennials experience in the flat-screen world of social media is often the polar opposite of business communication, which requires a high level of focus. Millennials have the cards stacked against them. Let’s help them out, and fill them in on what they missed while they were glued to their devices.
- Excellent Communication Requires Expertise
Oral and written communication skills require mastery of the basic rules of (grammar and spelling) and the ability to develop a concise message. Rhetorical skills should emphasize and enhance the message.
- Improving Communications Requires Work
The old adage, “If I’d had time, I would have made it shorter” still applies: re-writing and editing for the purpose of concise communication are necessary and time-consuming tools of the craft.
- Effective Communication Is Precise
Thoughtful communication also requires a facility with the vocabulary and jargon of the discipline (and, obviously, the elimination of OMGs and LOLs). Law, engineering, medical care, and STEM professions require exactness, as do all businesses.
- Texting and Communicating Are Different
Social media and texting encourage short, pithy announcements. Millennials need practice developing substantive arguments to support a thesis.
- It's Not Enough to Be the Fly (or Little Bluebird) on the Wall
Participating in social media, you're part of a crowd of people contributing opinions. Posting a comment is totally optional. There's only a vague expectation, not a requirement, for involvement. In the workplace contributions to the conversation are expected, and silent observers get ignored, not promoted.
- Too Many Media Channels Cut the Cord
Multiple means of communication (email, phone, text, and social media messages) can lead to conversations unfolding on multiple platforms. Nobody knows where the next message will come from, making it easy for the ball to get dropped.
- RSVPs Are Expected at Work
In the good old days of voicemail messages, workplace etiquette dictated a returned call. That has now extended to email. Texting millennials don’t place the same importance on replies, and we have all come to believe it’s impolite to pick up the phone and interrupt someone’s day.
- People Are Quirky
Young people expect that managers will be as consistent and reasonable as the crowd-sourced consensus that they trust in social media. Unfortunately the work world isn’t always “fair” or even understandable– bosses and corporations can be irrational, incorrect, and unreasonable.
- Social Media Is Not Always Accurate, Private, or Helpful
Much of what is out there on social media is inaccurate, sensationalized, and only part of the story. Social media is spin at its finest, and what you post can come back to haunt you.
There’s also a wide range of levels of privacy/public-ness in the workplace: everything from highly confidential email alerts to the imperative to invite everyone to the holiday party.
- Soft Skills and Good Judgment Prevent Career Disasters
Choices about what to share or when to copy someone on an email require a sophisticated understanding of workplace etiquette. Millennials grew up accustomed to loose conventions, emotional expressiveness, banality, and gruesome details of Facebook and Twitter. As a result, these young people are often dumbfounded when they casually share too much information and sparks fly.
Conclusion
Two-dimensional screens are not social settings. The business world is a social and political microenvironment with its own set of atmospheric conditions. Communication is a two-way street. It requires the ability to listen, process, and respond. Employers want employees with emotional intelligence, and an awareness of nonverbal and behavioral clues. Millennials need communication education to comprehend and appreciate the unspoken rules of workplace communication.
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