While Millennials (generally within the 18-32 age range) get a bad rap sometimes, they bring their own unique skills, characteristics, and passion to any job. If you identify as a Millennial, our tips will help you harness your uniqueness to provide value to your company, impress your boss, and advance in your career.
1. Start a volunteer program in your company. Millennial work culture is driven by philanthropy and working for a cause bigger than themselves. You’re the perfect person to get your company involved in charity work. Plus, your presence at an event or volunteer opportunity serves as free marketing for your company. Win-win!
2. Practice your soft skills. If things like eye contact, body language, and small talk go over your head or make you anxious, it’s time to get a little more comfortable with them. Honing these skills will make you much more successful in customer interactions and collaborating on projects with colleagues–two things that you will have to do in any job.
3. Demonstrate your ability to be productive at home. As a Millennial, work-life balance is probably very important to you. Many employers are taking the hint and often allow employees to work remotely on a regular basis. If you work from home all or some of the time, make sure your boss can see that you’re getting things done. We recommend sending your boss a bulleted summary of all of the tasks you accomplished at the end of your day or week of remote work. This will encourage your boss continue to let you work that way.
4. Ask to be put on in-depth projects. If receiving regular feedback from your boss is important to you, ask to work on assignments separate from your day-to-day tasks. These longer assignments are often accompanied by an evaluation upon completion. And if your boss doesn’t say anything about an evaluation, the end of a long assignment is the perfect time to ask for one.
5. Make your passions and hobbies known. If your supervisors are smart, they know that Millennials respond to non-traditional incentives, as well as raises and cash bonuses. Non-traditional incentives may include tickets to an event, a gift card to your favorite restaurant, free passes to a museum, etc. Help your supervisors customize incentives to you. On casual Friday, wear your favorite team’s jersey. Carry your Starbucks cup with you. In casual conversation with coworkers and supervisors, mention how much you like a certain attraction or restaurant. That way, if cash is tight in the company, but your supervisors still want to incentivize or reward you, they’ll know exactly what to do for you.
6. Offer your help with recruiting. You may be one of the youngest employees at your company, so you may have fresher contacts at your university than your older coworkers. If your boss is ready to hire another employee like you, offer to ask your professors, advisors, and school friends if they can recommend possible candidates. Your boss will most likely jump at this opportunity because hiring is one of the biggest challenges for business owners and operators. And you’ll look like an ever better employee–someone who goes above and beyond her regular duties and responsibilities. Another win-win! Reminder: You can also refer your boss to our end-to-end recruiting services. We can handle every aspect of the hiring process and present your boss with top candidates–without taking him/her away from the business.
