“Just because you’re not coming, doesn’t mean you’re not paying.”

My son said this when he was about 18 years old.

Much has been said about the attitudes, behaviors and work ethics of millennials.  I’d like to spend a moment thinking about the positives of the perspectives of our millennial generation.

I happen to know 2 in particular that have great work ethics.  They are my children. They have more energy than me, a far more elastic memory, greater exposure to young minds and activities.  Add all of that up and, when channeled properly, great results can happen.

5 Advantages of a Millennial Perspective

1. Sky’s the limit. Someone who is at an earlier stage of their career and their life often has a cleaner slate than not.  They haven’t yet failed as much. They haven’t been told, “You can’t”, as much. Simply stated, they have less baggage.
2. You don’t know what you don’t know. It can be humbling sometimes to have less knowledge. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But, unharnessed, it can sometimes be paralyzing. Those at an earlier stage can often be more likely to try something new – make a suggestion of change at work, leave an inspiring job, begin a new relationship.
3. No tech fear. This generation grew up with technology. They know that pressing a button won’t make the sky fall. They were raised to click and touch in order to learn.
4. Curiosity. While curiosity can be age agnostic, I’d wager it’s more prevalent among youth. The more things we’ve tried, the more pre-conceived notions we tend to own, generally speaking. Curiosity will drive more change, resourcefulness and innovation than not.
5. Appropriate entitlement. This one deserves a lengthier explanation, because it tends to be the most common single word associated with the negatives of the millennial generation.

I recently read a post from someone who was interviewing for a job, made it to the second interview and the hiring manager was talking about the comp package in too rushed of a way for the applicant to digest. Therefore, she asked for a written explanation of the comp package. Upon doing so, she noticed the body language of the hiring manager was not positive.  It was the last she heard from him, as well. Her reaction was that she’d been disrespected for having spent 3+ hours of her time over the course of 2 interviews, plus the amount of time she’d spent filling out some application forms.

When is it appropriate to ask for a written explanation of the compensation package – before or after receiving an offer? It is not desirable to ask for the comp package for a job you haven’t been offered.  You have zero leverage until receiving an offer.

Would you ask to see someone’s financials before they propose? You could, but I’d not respond well to that.

By the way, 3 hours is a very small time investment to make toward an association that could last for decades. Especially if that association could mean the difference between being independent or not.

Small investment indeed.