Who is this New Generation Z and Why are They Special?

​Generation Z Profile
Recent college graduates are the first of Generation Z entering the workplace.  The way they socialize is through texting and social media, as they are attached to their phones. Gen Z do not have a reference of what the world was like before the internet and social media. They are valuable to employers because they have the knowledge to adapt to different technologies and usually would not require much training.  What makes them even more valuable as an employee is this is the first generation ever to grow up in a truly Global Society.  Because of Social Media Gen Z grew up with limitless avenues for learning and interaction with people their own age around the World.  This is going to go a long way in developing their skills to be "Major Players" in a truly Global Economy world.

What Motivates Generation Z
What most people are not aware of about this generation is what motivates them, their personal goals they have and what many of them value in a career.  This may come as a shock to many, but Generation Z from a career standpoint are focused on being entrepreneurs through their own self-directed inventions.  A lot of them will be going to College with purpose.  
Because of growing up witnessing student debt and economic uncertainty they are determined in making post high school education an investment.  The purpose is to learn skills that can make an immediate impact in generating a salary, as opposed to their prior Generation Predecessors who went to College with a more abstract purpose for general learning and social interaction.  Instead of a more General Business Degree, a lot of Gen Z's will major in newer Business Curriculums that has been developed such as running an entrepreneurial business.  In fact a lot of Gen Z's are trading Four Year University Education for Apprenticeships.  This way they can learn on the job while earning a salary and then combine the skills they are learning with their "Tech Savy" creative skills to advance the "Trade Professions".  

So what is driving this intense ambition from a group of teenagers and college aged kids never seen before from any prior generation?  One very interesting theory presented by professionals out there that could make a lot of sense is that they are a product of their parents.  Where many Millennials were offspring of the late "Baby Boom" Generation, Generation Z are a product of "Generation X" Parents.  What difference does that make you ask?  This is where analyzing this particular theory gets very intriguing!  

Generation X which is the post "Baby Boom" Generation grew up in a world where the majority went to college and graduated with a four year degree in four years no matter what the major.  There was not a lot of strategy for the most part in choice of curriculum.  The end goal was to just graduate with a degree and then figure out your profession from that point.  The byproduct of that was, an entire generation of over saturated educated graduates entering the workforce all at once without any differentiating skills or meaningful internships "under their belt".  This caused a lot of new graduates to stay unemployed for many months going into years.  Finally a lot of these Gen X's had to settle for just any job that paid the bills and just settled into doing that for their career.  So when they had their Generation X children, they instilled in them the reality that not everybody unfortunately can win at the same time and the "sense of urgency" in "cutting your own career path".

Summary
This new up and coming Generation with a "deadly combination" of technology and a fierce ambition  is where the organizations who want to stay ahead of the competition need to invest their future recruiting.  This is going to require a lot of companies to restructure their jobs to quench that "individualistic thirst" that Generation Z is going to want out of their career.  This will not be an easy task for most organizations, which is why the "balance of power" in the recruitment of talent for the first time could be shifting.  Now it might be the Startups that soon could have the major talent acquisition edge over the more traditional Fortune 500 Conglomerates for acquiring "Grade A Superstar Talent"!  
Career Compass Group has a strong interest in promoting the growth of the Future Generation Z Workforce! I would love to invite current and future Entrepreneurs to share their ideas and innovations with us and our audience through the platform of a Feature Story.  Email me at Srosen.ccg@gmail.com with your idea.
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Written By:
Steve Rosen-Talent Acquisition Consultant

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