Millennial Job Interview

[MossRoad]

30 or 40 years ago most people knew how to work and had a reasonable sense of a work ethic; most.

Now the gap between the millenial hard workers with a brain and the completely lazy, only want to game and snapchat, is vast. I know some outstanding millenials and I know some I wouldn't have work for me if they paid me.

SC Basketball coach Frank Martin said that he doesn't blame the millenials, it is their parents. I agree with him. If you know a lazy millenial; look to the parents.

The baby boomers are the parents of the millennials. The baby boomers obviously didn't get any parenting skills passed down from their parents. So it's really the fault of anyone born before about 1946.

 

[MossRoad]

He may have been using "new math."


View attachment 530448

Steve

YIKES!

 

[dstig1]

And if you haven't seen this one, it is truly a stitch!

Like many others have said, there are great ones, and then there are the ones that make these stereotypes ring so true...

 

[ultrarunner]

As a side note...

Each year around the holidays we hire seasonal help on the Christmas Tree Farm... these are real jobs with W2 and withholding and time cards.

Every year the guys and gals continue to impress... not all, but most very much so... the ones that don't are not around long.

Almost all are enrolled in the local Community College or High School, work and live semi rural with jobs at the feed store or farm/ranching... many previous go on to the military or work towards getting on at the Park Service, Fire Dept etc...

Never been an issue with drugs, discipline or language... one of the guys liked to chew and when told it was turning off the customers he apologized... really gave me a different prospective compared to the kids where I live seeming to be always ready to mobilize for a protest...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Wait until one of those millennials is in charge of a project that you are a contractor on. Everything is expected to be done in 2 weeks. And dont bother testing......

 

[Botaskinner]

The baby boomers are the parents of the millennials. The baby boomers obviously didn't get any parenting skills passed down from their parents. So it's really the fault of anyone born before about 1946.

Not so fast, Moss Road. Generalizations like that can be offensive.

Both of my parents went thru the depression and WW2.
They taught me and my brother everything we could absorb. A strong work ethic was instilled in us at an early age.

My father saw a need to better his lifestyle and moved us to California in 1962 so he wouldn't have to work on Cat earthmovers in the snow.

By the time I was 12, I could drive a tractor, build fences, till and plant a garden, and take care of the yard on our lot. And by the time I was in high school, I could and did overhaul car engines, use an oxyactelyne torch and do framing and wiring.

They stressed the importance of a good education and reminded us that no one owed us a living.

They also taught by example to take care of family members that fell on hard times.

We have since passed these values to our son, born 1982, who is having many of the same issues with his age group now that he has been in the workforce for 10 years or so.

Let's keep it civil, ok?

 

[RichM752]

I recently hired a neighbors 25 yrs old who is a "professional kayak guide". He was home for a few weeks in need of funds, and wanted work as a laborer. Poor kid, could not use a shovel properly, didn't know how to use a paint brush, and was always using his smartphone. It was hard to tolerate for the 10 hrs I paid him. My goodness.

 

[MossRoad]

Not so fast, Moss Road. Generalizations like that can be offensive.

Both of my parents went thru the depression and WW2.
They taught me and my brother everything we could absorb. A strong work ethic was instilled in us at an early age.

My father saw a need to better his lifestyle and moved us to California in 1962 so he wouldn't have to work on Cat earthmovers in the snow.

By the time I was 12, I could drive a tractor, build fences, till and plant a garden, and take care of the yard on our lot. And by the time I was in high school, I could and did overhaul car engines, use an oxyactelyne torch and do framing and wiring.

They stressed the importance of a good education and reminded us that no one owed us a living.

They also taught by example to take care of family members that fell on hard times.

We have since passed these values to our son, born 1982, who is having many of the same issues with his age group now that he has been in the workforce for 10 years or so.

Let's keep it civil, ok?

It was tongue-in-cheek... Someone whitewashed the millennials' parents, so I whitewashed their grandparents. We could keep on blaming parents all the way back to Adam and Eve if we wanted to.

 

[4get gto]

The baby boomers are the parents of the millennials. The baby boomers obviously didn't get any parenting skills passed down from their parents. So it's really the fault of anyone born before about 1946.

That made me laugh! And think their parents complained about them too.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

You just have to remember that this type of calculation does not come easy for some people. I often think and do just what you did, but it often results in blank stares and confusion.

HAH!!! Now think like a carpenter, with a base 12 and 16th's, not a base 10... unless it's that ridiculous metric system...:confused3:

 

[ArlyA]

I've got a kick out of this thread. Every few years, I need to hire one of these "Millennial's" to work with me. No, I'm not a HR person and have no training at that whatsoever, nor I'm I any good at it.... . I work for a small municipality with less than 5000 residents so its to small to have a HR department. Hancock, Michigan - Wikipedia I do seasonal work for them which is very much a team effort and city manager "sorta" give me the right to find my own people. There are plenty of great 18 to 30yo out there, but most of them are already employed by someone who's sees there value, so they're not looking for work. I do struggle to find someone with there head attached, who can work for lows wages, no benefits, hard work with terrible hours. Nonetheless, I've learn how to filter them out and do find them.... I've got a WONDERFUL one working with me now!!

On another note as others have a eluded to, for the past 200,000 years, people have been said "this younger generation is worthless". Can you tell us who was right?

 

[3930dave]

I've come across useless people in all the generations I've known..... often older people are better at disguising that trait though.

"Normal" attitudes within a generation will change from one to another; that's some of what we have been having fun with here.....

Getting to be an old dog myself, but I can sometimes learn something from the "kids"; not talking about tech though.....

Youngster's take on the standard corporate policy of "No References will be given for Employees" seems to be "OK, then I don't see any point in me having to give any Notice if I decide to leave."

Food for thought, esp. in a tight job market.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Creamer]

I think there is problem that employers do not want to train anybody, this has undercut community college programs, as they have no apprentice students going thru. Companies simply refuse to train anybody, then complain about no suitable employees. Additionally, the pay still lags in manufacturing, a welder averages $19 per hour, manufacturing, about 21. I think those are probably skewed higher by union factories that pay quite a bit more. Non union companies around here are at least $5 per hour less, and usually nada for benefits. Manufacturing is one area of the economy that is exposed to foreign competition. Service jobs aren稚, so the pay for those jobs keeps getting better, especially medical.

Many companies are happy to train once they know somebody is committed to work. The key is that they want someone who is ready to go to work.

 

[Creamer]

An interesting story my Dad told: It seems one of his friends who owned a grocery store married and brought his new wife into the store, but she could not make change. Keep in mind this was probably 70 or 80 years ago. My dad was enlisted to help teach this woman how to count out change. In those days in a small country store there wasn't any machine to tell you how much change to give back. People counted out change to the nearest dollar and went from there. He said it took him a long time to get this technique pounded into her head, but he was finally successful. I remember her when I was a small child and going to that same store to buy candy and bubble gum. So there have been "challenged" people all along. And there has always been those of us trying to help them.

Counting change is a useless skill when you pay with a debit or credit card. Kind of like not needing to know how to harness or saddle a horse. My daughter's Hyundai came with a 200,000 mile roadside assistance warranty and no spare tire - why does she need to know how to change a tire?

 

[MossRoad]

I've come across useless people in all the generations I've known..... often older people are better at disguising that trait though.

"Normal" attitudes within a generation will change from one to another; that's some of what we have been having fun with here.....

Getting to be an old dog myself, but I can sometimes learn something from the "kids"; not talking about tech though.....

Youngster's take on the standard corporate policy of "No References will be given for Employees" seems to be "OK, then I don't see any point in me having to give any Notice if I decide to leave."

Food for thought, esp. in a tight job market.....

Rgds, D.

Indiana is right to work state. An employer can fire you at will. And you can quit at will. Neither one is optimal for good relations, but that's the way it is.

 

[Oaktree]

Many companies are happy to train once they know somebody is committed to work. The key is that they want someone who is ready to go to work.

Maybe in some industries, but not others. The tech field is one of those "others" where employers seem to be looking for very specific backgrounds/skills and if you don't have exactly what they're looking for then you're outta luck. Then they wonder why these jobs can't be filled.

Sadly, the days when a willingness to learn and work hard will get you a job are pretty much gone.

 

[Creamer]

Maybe in some industries, but not others. The tech field is one of those "others" where employers seem to be looking for very specific backgrounds/skills and if you don't have exactly what they're looking for then you're outta luck. Then they wonder why these jobs can't be filled.

Sadly, the days when a willingness to learn and work hard will get you a job are pretty much gone.

Not in our state. Almost any company will train you if you show them you are committed. Of course there are limitations - they only train for their needs. One company I consulted with set up their own journeyman tool and die program with the help of a community college and are doing the same for maintenance and controls people. This is a paid program where the company funds the schooling and and you work half day and are in a lab half a day for six months and then go to the site as an apprentice and put through a formal apprenticeship program. The employee is even paid for a 40 hour week while he/she is going to the class part.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Not sure how to put this. It seems typical now that people do one narrow field of work and have a very narrow set of skills to get that job done. It does provide for a lot of jobs since it takes more people to get something done. With this setup and it seems to me basic human behavior you get what we have today.
Many youngsters are raised pretty comfortably and are not informed or taught that it took mom and dad a while to get to the point fo providing that style of living. The attitude of “I do this, not that and I deserve a good living from it” seems to be common.
As a side note I am amazed at what seems to me to be the lack of interest in anything beyond the basic requirements needed to get some money and be able to be entertained. Increasing ones knowledge of the world, of how things work or function around you or ones work environment seems to be very l limited.
One of the neat things about these forums is the people in here with and interested in a variety of skills and experiences.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'd like to see that roadside assistance vehicle with all those makes and models of tires he must carry.

No, now the car gets towed because it had a flat tire. What progress!

I simply can't tell you how many young and older people I stop and ask for directions (I don't use a GPS as I like to know where I am) and I get the impression that the people don't have a clue about their environment or where on the earth they are!