Career and Life Lessons for Gen Z

Editor's Note: Today's post comes to us courtesy of guest contributor Chris Dobyns.

Over the past several years my high school in Ohio has adopted the practice of inviting alumni who have been generally successful and renowned in their respective career fields to return and provide small groups of students with professional and career advice. The pool of successful and renowned alumni has apparently grown “shallow” recently, evidenced by the invitation I received to come speak in late September of last year. 

Suggested Speaker Guidelines

In the spirit of helpfulness, I received some very formal guidelines to help me structure my remarks. As expected, the guidance suggested describing how I had become interested in my career field and how my education had prepared me to be successful. A description of an “average day”, the pros and cons of my career specialty and the long-term prospects of the profession followed. 

Reading this structured and well-intentioned guidance left me feeling anxious that at the conclusion of my presentation, the most likely response from my student audience – would be the sound of crickets.

Going Off-Script

Accordingly, I decided to focus more on making this a dialogue with the students and to attempt to learn from them. I would leverage my HR know-how and convey the importance (and type) of education, experience, skills, networking and (good) behavior, employers are looking for. I also decided to pass along some "first job advice" to help the students avoid a couple of career "potholes" that I may have naively stepped into in my early years.

The Main Attraction

On the day of the presentation, I was completely overwhelmed to learn that between 35-40 students had signed-up for my session. Made more remarkable because attendance at these events is voluntary and scheduled during the students’ lunch hour.  When I arrived at the designated classroom, I quickly realized that the availability of free pizza and soft drinks may have exerted a slightly greater level of influence on student attendance than the reputation and subject matter of the scheduled guest speaker.  :(

Hooking The Audience

To redirect my audience’s attention from lunch I shamelessly resorted to a time-tested classroom gambit – I showed the group an orientation video about my organization (coincidentally referenced in a prior posting).  When the lights came back up, I appeared to have been at least semi-successful in shifting attention from the pepperoni and cheese.

I made some brief remarks about my professional background and work experience, with focus on my more recent federal service. I then asked a series of questions, which elicited some thoughtful and encouraging responses. 

Refreshing and Surprising Revelations

It’s not new news about the documented reluctance of current teenagers to get their feet wet in the part-time labor pool. However, in response to a question about part-time work, more than half of my decidedly small sample-size audience indicated holding or intending to obtain part-time jobs.  A number of students noted the benefits of that work experience in learning how businesses operate and perhaps most importantly, how to interact with co-workers and the public.

Another quick canvass revealed, not surprisingly, a substantial portion of the audience heading to college after graduation.  Although when asked about advanced degrees, only a few hands went up. The reasons varied, but surprisingly a number of students questioned the value of advanced degrees in today’s world, with the shifting trends and channels in how formal education and knowledge can now be obtained. 

On the question of career and disciplinary interest, many of the students had at least an inkling of their future direction.  And in answer to the critical “$100,000 question” about future salary expectations, I was gratified that nearly every student who responded had a realistic salary expectation, and which was within 5-10 percent of the current market reality, relative to their intended job or career path.

Career Planning and Expectations

In closing, I suggested the students continue to work in developing a balance of both hard and soft skills (collaboration, interpersonal, etc.). I also recommended that while having the framework of a career plan was valuable, they should always remain open to differing career paths that would arise along the way. 

Lastly, I suggested not setting their sights (and career expectations) so high that when everything didn’t work out as planned, they made themselves miserable.  It’s better to maybe aim lower, because in the end they would be more satisfied with the outcomes and what they do achieve.

Everyone probably has a different perspective.  What’s yours?

Chris Dobyns, CCP, CBP is currently employed as a Human Capital Strategic Consultant for the Office of Human Resource Strategy and Program Design for one of the largest U.S. intelligence agencies. The Office of Human Resource Strategy and Program Design is responsible for organizational effectiveness, personnel assessment, compensation and incentives, occupational structure, recognition and rewards, HR policy, human capital program design, implementation, evaluation and assessment and internal consulting. Chris has worked in the area of compensation for more than 35 years, and has been employed in various compensation-related positions by a number of large, private sector companies including, Sears, Roebuck, Arizona Public Service and Westinghouse Savannah River Company.

Original image "Career Expectations" courtesy of Chris Dobyns.

Comments

[Joe Thompson]

Clearly, if pizza was the main draw, its only because they haven't watched any reruns from your WorldatWork conference presentations!

I think I am most surprised by your anecdotal finding that these high school students had realistic salary expectations. Anecdotally, many college students seem to have unrealistic salary expectations, and so where/when do those expectations change? And why?

[Chris Dobyns]

Yes, from a recent sidebar exchange, I know you've experienced a different "reality" with some of your newer employees (on salary expectations).

Admittedly, my audience (sample) size was pretty small - but I was totally gratified that the students had pretty accurate insights into what the labor market was paying, and there was a clear dichotomy of the "expectations" for the crew that were contemplating a technical career track versus the ones angling toward more non-technical disciplines.

Maybe colleges and universities have taken a more "activist" role in trying to inform/educate their students on what they should anticipate earning. We've heard whispers to that effect as more and more schools have worked hard(er) to justify (to the students AND parents) the costs (and resulting value) of a post-secondary education.

[Dan Walter]

First. I will listen to you speak if you bring pizza and a cool video!

Second. My guess is high school students have more realistic expectations because they have not run up their student loans and calculated how it will take to pay them off!

I find that by the time they've had a couple of years of college their understanding of the NEED for money is quite different (even though the reality of what we pay hasn't changed in accordance with this new reality).