From entitlement to job hopping, few employers around the country paint a positive picture of this generation’s work ethic.

Before you bash the newest crop of college grads to enter the workforce, consider this: By 2020, it’s predicted that nearly half (46 percent) of all U.S. workers will be Millennials, making them the single largest group to occupy the American workforce. In comparison, the Gen X population only makes up 16 percent of today’s workforce.

As more baby boomers retire, organizations will turn to Millennials to fill their leadership gaps. Given this pending reality, it’s important to understand what this generation is looking for in the workplace so you can develop and retain the right professionals for your teams. (Click here to tweet this list.)

1. Keep the feedback coming

Millennials grew up in the age of social media and smartphones. They’re accustomed to having continuous feedback from their extensive networks in the palms of their hands. It should be no surprise that they crave constant feedback in the workplace.

Don’t rely on annual reviews alone to let this group know how they’re doing on the job. Hold weekly team meetings and other more frequent, informal, individual check-ins to provide your Gen Y-ers with ample feedback in real time.

2. Team up

This generation is considered to have some of the best collaborators out there. Take advantage of this in the workplace by assigning your newest employees to team projects. Be sure to provide clear instructions and concrete deliverables.

Whenever possible, explain how the goals of the assignment fit into the bigger picture for the department or company. Millennials work best when they believe in (or at least understand) the goals behind their work.

3. Let them loose

Millennials value work-life balance and want flexibility in their work schedules to achieve it. Allow your employees to work from home or set more flexible hours so they feel more in control of their work days.

As long as your team members can meet their deadlines and produce great work, don’t feel obligated to have them in the office. Thanks to great technology, it’s easier than ever to work remotely and still be productive and collaborative.

4. Encourage learning

Gen Y-ers crave personal enrichment and are always looking for ways to build their skill sets. Provide professional development opportunities such as tuition reimbursement for related course and certifications, access to trade shows and other relevant conferences, as well as eLearning courses to develop softer skill sets.

Millennials are less likely to jump ship if they feel they’re still growing at the organization.

5. Provide mentors

Unlike previous generations, Millennials look to their managers for career coaching and mentorship. While you can provide some of this during your 1-on-1 sessions, there are other ways you can help these employees get the guidance they desire.

Try assigning each new employee to a “co-pilot” – someone who has been with the company for awhile and started out in similar role. It’s a great way to offer additional mentorship while demonstrating the potential growth opportunities at your company.

6. Offer faster advancement

Millennials value results over tenure and expect to climb the corporate ladder much faster than previous generations. Keep your high achievers engaged and motivated by fast-tracking those with the most potential.

This could be as easy as creating additional levels in your department or offering access to special professional development opportunities.

7. Allow them to BYOD

Millennials have a strong attachment to their devices. This, coupled with their need for work flexibility, makes BYOD — Bring Your Own Device — policies, incredibly attractive. These policies allow employees to bring their personally owned smartphones, tablets and laptops to the office for work.

Sure, you’ll need to set some ground rules, but allowing your employees to work with their own devices can also increase productivity. A survey by Ring Central found that 84 percent of Millennials use mobile phones for work while on personal time.

Amanda Augustine is the Job Search Expert for TheLadders, the premier mobile career network, committed to finding the right person for the right job since 2003. Follow her at @JobSearchAmanda on Twitter and Like her on Facebook for up-to-the-minute job-search and career advice.

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The post Managing Millennials: 7 Tips for Turning Your GenY Employees into Fearless Leaders appeared first on Brazen Life.

Well, a recent survey has found that job-hopping might not be deemed as taboo as before. CareerBuilder found that more than half (55%) of employers have hired a job-hopper and nearly one-third (32%) said they have come to expect workers to job-hop.

Read more at Black Enterprise…

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The culprit? It might not be entry-level pay or the smallest cubicle, but a factor you wouldn’t expect: lacking opportunities to continue learning in their first jobs.

The 2014 College Graduate Employment Survey, released recently by Accenture, found that 80 percent of 2014 graduates expect a formal training program from their first employer. But only about half of 2012 and 2013 grads reported receiving such training.

One of the strengths of the GenY set is their willingness to learn and to try new things. In response, managers have an opportunity to help their younger employees grow. Not sure where to start? Try these ideas: (Click here to tweet this list.)

Empower your employees

If your company is small or lacks the resources to offer a formal training program, toss the keys to your employee. “This is exactly the kind of training and career path that many creative people want: to be able to set challenging goals for themselves and then try to meet them,” Richard Branson explained in an advice column on Entrepreneur. And with self-paced online learning programs like Skillshare and Codecademy, your protégé may be able to study at the office.

McLean Robbins, a freelance writer and social media trainer, noted that brown-bag lunch presentations offer younger staffers a chance to not just learn about relevant topics, but also to groom their public speaking and presentation skills.

Be a student, too

Whether you’re providing the coaching or just the encouragement to self-starters, remember that you can also learn from from GenY staffers.

A fresh graduate can be especially helpful in teaching you the ropes of new tech tools or social media trends. When you’re willing to learn — and be taught — you foster engagement. Engagement and a sense of being useful can in turn lead to company loyalty.

“[GenY workers] seek to continually improve themselves, and by providing clearly defined metrics for appropriate behavior and even promotions and success, these employees are much more likely to stay engaged,” Robbins said.

Share your experience through mentoring

Mentoring may not come with homework or formal programming, but real-world experience shared through conversation can be valuable to younger employees.

For example, Discovery Communications’ MentorNet program matches employees with more senior staffers in their department or field of interest, whether the best match is down the hall or around the world in a global office.

“I was very interested in learning more about digital content and strategy on a global scale, and the company matched me up with someone overseeing digital content for Discovery Networks International,” Kim Tran explained. “Talking to my mentor on a weekly basis was so exciting because she had over a decade of experience in the industry and was incredibly insightful. I learned so much just through our conversations.”

Tran has since left Discovery, but said that her mentor offered candid advice that helped her make decisions about the next step in her career.

If you manage GenY employees for your company, how do you offer them opportunities to learn?

Lisa Rowan is a writer and editor in Washington, D.C.

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Growing up, most of us still believe in the American Dream – that by getting a college education and building up our resumes with internships and relevant professional skills, we’ll be able to graduate and walk into a high-paying (or at least stable) career. But with nearly half of the nation’s recent college graduates working jobs that don’t require a degree, a college diploma is no longer a golden ticket.

This harsh reality, paired with the “celebretization” of entrepreneurship, turns everyone into an aspiring entrepreneur. But the road to successful entrepreneurship is by no means easier that the traditional American Dream. In most cases, it’s harder — and it takes a lot of time, effort, energy and more often than not, money.

So whether you’re brainstorming how to make it on your own or are a seasoned entrepreneurial vet, here are three tips for today’s generation of entrepreneurs.

The system isn’t built for entrepreneurship; you have to work it.

The system is still not designed for you to be an entrepreneur. It’s designed for you to work for someone else. Once you understand that, you can begin to look at your situation through a different lens and realize that this will be the one of the hardest things you will ever do, and one of the most valuable and rewarding experiences in your life. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

Being an entrepreneur is about doing things you never thought you could do and having great perseverance while doing it. You need to have great confidence in your idea(s) and what you have set out to accomplish. Be prepared to work the system to make it work for you. It may not happen overnight, but stick with it.

Learn to leverage new technologies for your business.

It’s safe to say that I’ve had the entrepreneurial bug in me since I was a kid. I started a video game newsletter when I was 11 years old. Back then, I used a Logitech handheld scanner to help me scan images and used Prodigy and AOL to help promote my newsletter on gaming message boards. By using the latest technology, I was able to gain retail distribution in the Northeast and in-book advertising from a handful of national brands. I can only imagine what I could have done if I were 11 years old today.

Moral of the story: Learn how to leverage technology to fast-track your personal knowledge of your industry and your business’ resources. It will allow you to grow fast while keeping overhead low. Here are some great resources for new and experienced founders and CEOs:

• Graphic Design: Check out 99Designs.com, a crowdsourced graphic design marketplace that helps you run a design contest open to a community of graphic designers all over the world. The best part: You only pay once you select your preferred design(s).
• Turnkey E-Commerce: Shopify.com is a customizable and affordable hosted e-commerce platform.
• Legal Resources: LegalZoom.com is my favorite online resource for basic legal document services and legal plans for small businesses. It’s especially good for startups. They have great templates that you can customize for your needs.
• Email Hosting + Management: I recommend Google Apps for Business. It’s no longer free, but I think it provides the best bang for your buck. It’s easy to set up (no IT experience necessary) and provides instant comfort level thanks to user login via Gmail.com.
• Web Publishing: WordPress is the de facto choice for millions of web publishers, but I recommend that you look at Squarespace as well. The best analogy between is that WordPress is like an Android phone while Squarespace is like an iPhone. The templates are basic, but you can customize WordPress to look and act as needed; Squarespace comes shiny out of the box with little room for customization.

Know where your customer is going next.

Don Coleman, founder, chairman and CEO of GlobalHue, the largest multicultural marketing agency in the United States, recently told me how, as an entrepreneur, his focus is on knowing and being where the consumer is going.

“Whatever we are doing as marketers and consumers, we need to focus on where the consumer is going,” said Coleman.

For Coleman, that meant leveraging GlobalHue’s multicultural legacy and deep cultural insights to offer their clients a total market solution in order to reach the changing consumer demographics in America.

This is a principle that today’s entrepreneurs must apply to succeed — whether your business is service-oriented (like Coleman’s ad agency model) or product-oriented. Identify how your business model can offer a client solution based on where your consumer is today, and even more importantly, where they will be three to five years from now.

Alex Frias is co-founder and president of  Track Marketing Group, an award winning brand experience company specializing in live event and social activations. Alex also curates young & social, a marketing blog dissecting the convergence of brands, music, fashion, and lifestyle marketing.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

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But how can you attract the right Millennials to work for you? The hard-working and innovative young minds whom everyone is competing for?

You may be thinking of the flashy offices and free lunches offered by tech startups — but even if you can’t provide these, don’t despair. By understanding what makes Millennials tick, you can adjust the structure and workflow of your company to attract (and keep) them.

This Entrepreneur article on “Millennial-proofing your office” explains three sold ways to nab the top talent you need:

1. Take advantage of new technologies

Millennials are always hip to the newest tech tools and gadgets, and they expect the same of their workplace. Make sure your processes are digitally up-to-date, and that you’re utilizing technology in a modern and efficient way.

2. Focus on collaboration and teamwork

Today’s young workforce wants to sit at the table — and have their voices heard. Make this happen in your company with everything from collaborative team meetings to open workspaces.

3. Be flexible and open-minded

It is no longer the era of boss = king. Give your employees open channels through which they can easily offer their input, and be flexible with work arrangements — for example, allowing employees to work remotely one day a week.

According to the article, “This fosters a culture of trust and can be very beneficial for employee/employer relationships.”

Whatever it is, remember that enticing Millennials to join a company takes more than a ping-pong table and snazzy chairs — it takes a workplace where they can do what they’ve been doing for the past 20+ years: grow.

What methods have you found successful for recruiting and maintaining Millennials? If you’re a Millennial, would these three tips apply to you?

Susan Shain is a travel blogger who loves helping people discover adventure through international travel or alternative careers.

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The head Barb in charge was the talk of the Web when she stepped on the scene to promote her new movie The Other Woman in a toned-down look that had everyone taking note of the 31-year-old’s natural beauty. And while the queen of Young Money says that her new look isn’t so new (since she wore her natural hair and conservative makeup in the early stages of her career), we can’t help but highlight the important lesson that the rapper-turned-actress has taught us about professional re-branding to elevate our careers.

No matter what professional stage you’re in or what career field interests you most, below are three common career moments that signify it’s time for a change:

Read more at Black Enterprise…

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Now, not only are we apparently bringing our parents to interviews — we’re actually having them interview for us! Well, some people are.

Check out this story from a recent Harvard Business Review article:

A recruiter at a well-known Fortune 10 company told me this story: She was getting ready for a phone interview with a new college graduate. But when she dialed into the conference number at the scheduled time, instead of the candidate, there was an older woman on the line.

The female caller identified herself as the applicant’s mother and said, “I know you were expecting a call with John (not his real name), but he’s tied up in another interview at the moment. Fortunately, I know him so well that I can do the interview for him. Do you mind?”

The recruiter understandably replied that she did mind and asked John’s mom to have her son call when he was available.

If you suspect this conversation is an anomaly (and a shocking one at that!), think again.

While we can understand other things mentioned in the article — namely, that many Millennials still live at home and turn to their parents for advice with their job hunt — going so far as to have your parent stand in for you on an interview doesn’t exactly present the right message when it comes to your ability to handle your own career.

Sure, your mom might know you well enough to answer questions about you, but do you really want her to? (Click here to Tweet this thought.) One of the goals of an interview is to determine whether you’re a good fit for the position personality-wise and whether you’ll fit into the corporate culture. Your parents may be able to paint a picture of the kind of person you are, but nothing compares to the real thing. And, let’s be honest, praise from your biased mom probably shouldn’t hold much weight in an interviewer’s mind.

We’d like to think this is another example of the media blowing GenY stereotypes out of proportion, but the article’s author claims 50 percent of HR professionals she’s spoken to have experienced this sort of interviewing-by-proxy. We’re curious to hear your thoughts.

You can read the full article here.

Would you ever consider letting a parent interview for you? What do you think of Millennials who do?

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See Exhibit A: a bit Stephen Colbert recently did on The Colbert Report in which he discussed a new feature introduced by Slate.com: the “minutes to read” feature. That’s right; as you browse recent articles on the site, Slate now lets you know right next to the title just how long it will take to read each one.

Why?

As Colbert put it, Millennials (which group he includes himself in) are a group that simply doesn’t have time to spare on anything that isn’t personally meaningful:

We want our food fast, our ‘grams Insta, our mobs flash — and we want it all now…Clicking on a story is a huge commitment. First, you’ve gotta aim the cursor, then it takes about two seconds to load, then I gotta scan the thing to see how long it is…As many as eight seconds have passed and I’m that much closer to the cold embrace of death.”

You can view the full segment here (it’s worth it!):

As funny as this segment is, can you relate to it? Are you (or anyone you know) like this?

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Well, it seems the world is changing rapidly. Now that young professionals are moving up the ranks in the workforce, we’re likely to see some fundamental shifts in how business gets done. (Click to Tweet!)

GenY has a few significant advantages over their predecessors:

1. Social media fluency

Social media is here to stay. And who are the biggest users of social media? Generation Y.

Although social media has been around for a number of years, many organizations have yet to make an appearance on these platforms. In today’s competitive business age, social media is a must to build an attractive brand and reach a larger market. GenY feels comfortable with social media and can help businesses grow through these platforms.

GenY grew up using social media and the Internet, so they’ll most likely be the ones who make the decisions, apply innovation and manage projects in the workplace. This is not just limited to social media, but all digital marketing. It just makes business sense.

2. New networking tactics

Networking is becoming easier, and Millenials have learned to branch beyond their business cards and get creative to reach influential people in their industry. You might reach out through a tweet, a LinkedIn message or even by writing a personal email to get the attention of the person you’re after.

Since GenY has had the advantage of growing up with this technology, they’ll most likely find online networking easier. There are also forums abundant with opportunities to network. And, of course, there’s the good old Google search. Type in a name or a topic of your interest, and away you go, straight to the “About” or “Contact” page.

It’s great to see more and more Baby Boomers and GenX networking online, but GenY employees do have a slightly better opportunity to leverage this medium to help advance their careers faster and more effectively.

3. Drive to learn and adapt

Although Baby Boomers and GenX have been working in the corporate world for much longer and have a massive amount of expertise and knowledge, GenY does have an advantage in understanding more about the way the future will look and feel.

Another advantage to GenY is they have the desire to tap into more knowledge, skills and expertise at the earlier stages of their career—and not just in the local community, but around the world. Millennials are eager to learn on the job so they can make projects successful and advance their careers.

The way business is being done is changing forever. It’s exciting. Because of rapid technology advancements, we’re at a pivotal point in the history of the world and how companies operate.

Baby Boomers and Gen X are the driving force of organizations, but GenY workers have already started to make their impact and will soon take the reigns.

Brendan Baker is the Founder and Director of Gradrecruit, a graduate careers portal that provides graduates with the opportunity to search and apply for graduate jobs, internships and vacation programs and provides the latest and most relevant career advice from leading experts around the world. Head over now and launch your career at Gradrecruit.

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Some say the resume is dying.

I say it’s not. For most jobs, you still have to present an impressive resume and cover letter to land an interview.

But the resume – and other details of the job hunt – certainly are changing. Resumes are morphing into a combination of digital identity and the traditional summary of work experience and skills. And perhaps what has changed the most is how your work history affects your job hunt.

No more climbing the corporate ladder

Traditionally, the quality career path has been defined by a history of increasingly important jobs that have led to a management role, in or around one industry.

Yet the job market that has spun off from the new economy has changed the definition of a successful career. It’s now common for young professionals to change jobs frequently, and not always because the new job offers a clear advance in the ranks. Millennials change jobs because they are recruited by a fascinating startup or have sought out a new company that has perceived potential.

The transition might even include a drop in salary, which traditionally has been treated as a black mark on your resume. No longer! Now hiring managers know that reduced salary is likely a calculated bet on the new employer or the experience and learning opportunities that the company is expected to provide.

Career track rerouted

Years ago, a work history with one employer was the gold standard for a potential new hire. Today, a work history that lays out what in your eyes was progress is a substitute for the one-stop career.

That means if you have moved from working as an affiliate rep, through two or three companies to become a marketing manager, that history can easily be defined as professional growth. And if your last employer folded, that’s not necessarily a black mark either given the history of startups over the last twenty years.

It’s all about energy

If you can sketch a work history that illustrates proactive, energetic, aggressive steps, then you’ve reached what for many employers is the tipping point. Any HR professional will tell you that they’re looking for an innovative, dynamic person to fill the empty slot, that a mere functionary won’t do.

Whether those credentials will bear up once you’re installed in your shiny new job is another matter, but the point is that you got there by showing a pattern of personal initiative, seeking opportunities with multiple firms. That oh-so-important selling point, however, requires a resume and cover letter to accompany your LinkedIn profile.

Revisiting the one-page resume rule

Defining a series of jobs and explaining the purpose for moving on takes more than a few disconnected phrases, which is about all you can fit on a one-page resume. Let’s assume for a minute that the one-page rule is applied to an online resume; that page is going to be as long as you want it to be, correct? Then it’s just a matter of writing concise sentences that provide a thorough explanation of your travelogue.

There’s no reason you can’t treat a paper resume the same way. Your goal is to get in the door for an interview, and an additional page isn’t going to cost you that opportunity. Instead, it could help you provide a more well-defined perspective on your professional history.

Bob Hartzell writes about education, business and budgets, as well as changes in collegiate goals, with focus on the new bachelors and online masters degrees. He lives in Maine, a beautiful part of New England – but you’d best bring your job with you.

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