The millennial generation isn’t all about spoiled and privileged young people. It’s the generation that is currently in the work force and in college. It’s the generation that everyone misjudges and degrades.
“Oh, you’re just a millennial,” or “these millennials nowadays,” have become common insults to my generation. We aren’t as bad as older generations put us out to be.
Every generation has its differences. Just because I am in the millennial generation doesn’t mean I’m a completely different person from someone older or younger than me. There are five major stereotypes about the millennial generation that are completely false.
The first stereotype about my generation is that we are entitled. I’m not sure about you, but I know a lot of people who aren’t millennials who feel like they are entitled to something they want.
I know that sometimes we do come off as wanting to be in a higher position because we feel like we deserve it, but we just want to prove to others that we are better than you think. It should be taken as a great thing that we want to show you our skills and demonstrate how eager we are to earn greater responsibilities.
A second stereotype of millennials is that we want to be praised for everything we do.
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I completely disagree with this, and I’m sure my peers do as well. Personally, I would rather praise myself than have someone praise me. I’d rather be praised by people for a major milestone like graduation or a new job than getting an A on my midterm paper.
A third common stereotype I hear is that we are way too distracted by technology. As we all know, social media is the hype of everything right now. The older generations aren’t as interested in the latest apps, probably because they can’t grasp the concept of a Snapchat filter or what it means to make an Instagram theme. Just because they’re unsure of what the trends are nowadays, they shouldn’t take it out on us.
Every day technology changes and we are adapting to a more futuristic lifestyle. It’s a part of our everyday lives. Jobs nowadays require people to have an understanding of how to use social media and what to expect from the use of social media.
The fourth stereotype is that we tend to be “job-hoppers;” we can’t pick a career so we’re reduced to modern-day nomads wandering from job to job. I’m not seeing this as a bad thing. Journeying through different career paths, we are building a healthy and desired versatility as well as a variety of new experiences and skills to add to our resume.
Change isn’t a bad thing. My generation should be supported for taking different job opportunities. Some of us aren’t sure what we want to do as a career so we are going to taste test different fields in order to find what is most fulfilling of our skills and talents.
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The last stereotype is that we want special privileges. We want our bosses to be flexible with our requests. Who doesn’t want some flexibility? As long as we work hard and prove to our bosses that we are capable and responsible enough to have their trust, these “special privileges” will help us work through the tougher scenes in life and raise job satisfaction.
These stereotypes of what millennials are like don’t add up. The world is evolving daily and we are simply adapting.
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