The workforce isn't ready for me yet. And, to be honest, I'm not ready for it.
I'm a millennial, the generation of people born in the 1980s and early '90s, mostly to baby boomer parents. Millennials thrive on being connected to their social groups - through text messages, social networks and wireless Internet, among a very large number of other things. We rely on Google Reader, CNN text alerts and Stephen Colbert for our news.
The millennials are a demanding and somewhat needy bunch. Unlike our parents' generation, we're slow on the whole "growing up" thing. Millennials have been known to boomerang back home after graduating, something that might have to do with all our parents hovering over us as we transitioned from high school to college. When it comes to our professional lives, millennials look for freedom and leeway in our work but also need a lot of feedback.
Many local employers aren't willing to meet my generation's high demands - or they simply aren't able. So we're left to look to corporations that can woo us with large salaries, health benefits and stock options. Unfortunately, those jobs are hard to come by.
According to research by Business Week, millennials are concerned with the future of the economy, health care and education. But ultimately, we need jobs that can at least pay our bills. But instead of going into the booming job markets of years ago, we're watching our job prospects fall to the ground all around us. College graduates' earnings have dropped 8.5 percent since 2000, according to Business Week.
So, I'm convinced it's simply not time for me to enter the workforce. I think I'll give those employers a few more years to catch up.
Until then, I'm going to graduate school - an option millennials are more willing to pursue than past generations. Pursuing graduate school seems to be the best option. My generation is already known for our tendency to stay where we're comfortable, known as our failure to launch.
I'd like to say this isn't because we're lazy, though I'm sure some of us are. Millennials simply like knowing our surroundings. I've created a place for myself at Ball State University, and there's no way I'm giving it up unless I know I'm going somewhere I'll be equal parts challenged and coddled. So, when Ball State hands me my degree in May, it won't be goodbye. It'll be the end of part one of at least a two-part show.
I'm not the only one stuck in my comfort zone. Many millennials are having trouble finding a place in the workforce.
According to an Associated Press report, millennials make steep demands of their employers. We want access to the kind of technology we were used to in college. We want the kind of feedback we're getting from our professors and mentors. We want to feel as if we have the ability to develop our own projects and share all the ideas bubbling up in our ADD-ridden minds.
Few small employers are able to find ways to appease the millennials. However, corporate employers are starting to turn toward meeting the demands of my entitled and self-esteem-driven generation, according to Business Week. Our fresh ideas and Internet-based skills have companies like Disney, General Electric and JPMorgan trying to make room for millennials.
This is little help for me, as I'm hesitant to step in line with the corporate drones. So, for now, I'll sit and wait for the newspaper industry to fully catch on to this Internet thing, which some probably still think was started in Al Gore's basement.
Until then, I'm content to stick around Ball State for two more years and put another degree under my belt. Or, more literally, up on my wall.
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