Lessons Learned from Millennials

By Meagan Hardcastle, Social Media Specialist, Open Sky Communications

I’ve often made the joke about myself as being one of the oldest young people. In my opinion, I’m a terrible millennial. I hate being on my phone, social media is great for brands but I don’t post often enough, and I love to write everything down…on paper. With this, I’m usually spared the troubling millennial stereotypes: lazy, narcissistic and entitled. Yes admittedly, I LOVE avocado toast and cold brew lattes, but there’s more to my generation than that. We are influencing the workforce.

In my previous job, I was the youngest person in the office. I had a lot to learn in an industry I was unfamiliar with and it was also my first job out of college. I had done plenty of internships, where coincidentally, I was usually the youngest person in the office too. There was a separation of age and experience, but I was quick to make my contribution. Part of that was based on my age. Any project involving social media quickly fell into my lap and I was expected to know the latest trends.

I’ll reiterate, I’ve considered myself to be one of the worst millennials, but there are a few characteristics I’m proud to associate myself with that have led to the roles I’m in now. You remember my digital nomad blog. Millennials are influencing the way we do business and I think there’s something to be learned from my generation about how we live our lives.

Love technology. Of course, we have to mention technology as millennials are engrossed in it every day. It’s what the generation is probably best known for—loving, using and creating technology. We have more technology and more connectivity than the generations before us. It’s allowed us to keep in touch with people and be utilized as a resource. It’s not all bad.

Embracing change. Millennials live in a transformative time when new technology is surfacing every day. There’s a lot of change happening and we take on an “adapt or die” mentality. Maybe that’s overly dramatic, but all to say that we embrace change and, consequentially, learning something new and learning it quickly. We are able to dive into new roles or project requests and figure the how and why.

Challenge convention. Archaic ways of thinking are out the door. Millennials don’t settle for doing something because that’s the way it’s always been done. Innovative thinking and, more importantly, collaborative thinking are the newest trends. Introducing entrepreneurs galore. How we pay for things, handle our banking, purchase groceries, and get around the city is all different.

Work-life balance. Millennials love to travel and find new hobbies and try new things, but valuing a work-life balance doesn’t always mean separating work and life. It’s choosing to do something you love because there’s just life. Some of us grew up watching our parents work 40+ hours a week in jobs they hated. We’re looking for something more.

Crave meaning. In looking for something more, millennials want their work to mean something and to contribute to something bigger than themselves. They value their time beyond the buzzword of being “busy”, which can often lead to doing good, pursuing projects they are passionate about and making dreams happen.

Millennials aren’t all bad. And while I lack some of the stereotypical characteristics of being a millennial, I can confidently agree that much of this is true for me and its advice I’m still taking as well. While millennials have a surplus of information at our disposal, we’re still lacking wisdom. We need you Baby Boomers and Generation X. We’re still learning. Hopefully you pick up some tips from us as well.