Are millennials ready for the work place?

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2013 Bloomberg Business Summit panel on millennials in the workforce. 

2013 Bloomberg Business Summit panel on millennials in the workforce. 

I have been employing millennials since they entered the workforce. Since they spend most of their high school career in activities to support their college application, they lack an early work history common to GenXers. How is this lack of beginning jobs skills going to hurt them as they search for their post college job? This was discussed at the the “Millennials in the Workplace” panel discussion at the Bloomberg Business Summit in Chicago on Wednesday, November 20, 2013.

Bentley University President Gloria Larson said, "Businesses who find success with millennials have found ways to link workforce production with the passions of the individual. When millennials can align passions with businesses’ needs, they get it done every time, better than any generation.” 

All the millennials I have employed are hard workers, bright, quick to learn, and eager to make an impact. They need some coaching to turn their raw talent into strengths that can point in a chosen direction. As a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and long time employer of millennials, I am passionate about helping people hone their raw talents. It is a commitment I have to my workforce that takes extra time and patience. Businesses are not going to get ready-made workers like they did 20 years ago. 

The "Millennials in the Workplace” panel discussed a key insight from Bentley University’s Preparedness Study: the fact that the majority of business decision-makers, corporate recruiters and higher education influential give recent college graduates a “C’ or lower on preparedness. This means more work for employers once they are hired. For those employers who don't have the time or resources to provide this training, WorkStrengths has both in person and online training as well as ongoing professional development for your millennials recruits. 

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Jennifer Selke

Jennifer Selke is a UC Berkeley trained, Licensed Educational Psychologist and day camp director. Since 1991 Jennifer has been running day camps for UC Berkeley. Prior to that she ran after school and summer programs for the US Air Force. In her spare time she has a private practice assessing and teaching social skills to teens with Asperger’s, Autism, ADHD, and Learning Disabilities. She recently retired from a twelve year career as a school psychologist in the public schools. Jennifer’s specialization is in the area of managing and training the millennial workforce focusing on strengths and job satisfaction. Jennifer is on the faculty in the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Education & is affiliated with the Berkeley Center for New Media.