On the other side of the spectrum is Generation X. The young minds are inquisitive, radical in mindset and often believe that they have the market cornered on knowledge.
So young people often believe that they are clued in to everything that has happened in the world by the time they reach that ripe age of 17. Watching MTV or listening to hippity hop rappers is the final word in news dissemination. What could a veteran of 17 years on earth possible need to know about the past?
Business owners often will employ young college age types to work on a full or part-time basis. And these are usually bright, energetic young people that will work given direction and opportunity. Be fair warned though that while these walking bundles of hormones may feign confidence and worldliness they are truly green saplings without a clue about the past.
Recently I was looking at the web site for Benoit College in Wisconsin. One part of the web site dealt with preparation for the school year. It pointed out that each year the staff at Beloit College puts together a list to try to give their faculty a sense of the mindset of each year's incoming freshmen who will graduate in 2010.
Here are some examples of this year's list:
· Smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines.
· They have grown up getting lost in "big box stores."
· There has always been one Germany.
· The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
· "Google" has always been a verb.
· They grew up in mini-vans and have no clue as to what a station wagon is.
· They have always been searching for Waldo.
· They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
· There has never been a "sky hook" in the NBA.
· Young women's fashions have never been concerned with where the waist is.
So, if you are the owner of a business and are planning on employing college freshmen keep in mind these are the cards you have been dealt. Is this necessarily a bad situation for an employer? Not by any stretch of the imagination is it negative.
What this means is that you as a business owner must be flexible in your thinking. Remain flexible for not only the people that you hire, but customers that you wish to sell to as well.
J.C. Smith is a Business Consultant with the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center in Gainesville. You can reach J.C. at (770)531-5681.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/8/86855