These days, millennials are everywhere–including in the hiring seat when you apply for a new job. And whether you are a millennial yourself, or you think millennials are all spoiled, self-entitled brats who don’t know the meaning of hard work, you can’t escape the increasingly millennial workforce.
As both a millennial and a hiring manager, my approach to talent acquisition is a bit different than that of my older-aged peers. And while there is no shortage of articles offering advice from hiring managers and HR professionals about how to nail an interview and land your dream job, now seems like as good a time as any to present this advice from a millennial point of view.
I don’t care about your education
You went to college! Maybe even a fancy one, and that’s cool. But you know what, so did nearly everyone else who applied for this job. A college degree doesn’t tell me much, except that either you come from a well-off family or you have a lot of student loan debt. And while there are certainly exceptions to the rule, I place a whole lot more emphasis on what you know and how you think, than I do on where (or even if) you completed your tertiary education.
I want you to fail, but not for the reason you think
No one learns from their successes; we learn from our failures. Bad managers will use failure as an opportunity to reprimand and punish, but for me, failure is the best way to learn and grow, both personally and professionally. Don’t shy away from past failures — embrace them. Together with your achievements, your failures have made you the person you are today. Show me how you’ve learned and grown throughout your career — failures and all — so I can really understand how you think and approach problem solving.
Culture and personality fit trump experience and education every time
I’ve seen some amazing resumes cross my desk, from candidates who, on paper, are so perfectly qualified that a hiring manager might be tempted to make an on-the-spot job offer. But nearly every time I speak with one of these “dream candidates”, I walk away disappointed. The best hires I’ve ever made were candidates with lackluster resumes but personalities that fit perfectly with the team, and who are eager and fast learners. Spend less time focusing on polishing your resume and more time being a human who can effectively communicate the value that you can offer an organization.
How you mesh with the company’s culture and the team’s interpersonal dynamics is so much more important to the health of the organization than whether or not you have the right skills, that this — above all else — is the first thing I look for when talking to candidates. And for candidates, the cultural fit should be equally important, because taking a job where you’re a bad cultural fit is a lose-lose. If you don’t get the job because of personality or cultural fit, see it as a good thing — and find a job in an organization where you mesh well.
Long story, short: Don’t take a job where you don’t like the culture. You’ll be miserable, the company will suffer, and it will end poorly for everyone.
Know your way around a spreadsheet
Hardly anyone needs to be an Excel expert, but a basic, fundamental working knowledge of spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, etc.) can pay dividends for literally any job you can think of. No longer are spreadsheets relegated to the tools of ubergeeks and financial professionals. I’m constantly finding new uses for a spreadsheet that most people probably don’t think about, and it only stands to benefit me. I guarantee that you will never regret becoming an Excel master.
Never stop learning, because you don’t know everything
No one knows everything. I know this. You know this. Everyone knows this. So don’t try to be a know-it-all. Instead, focus your energy and effort on learning something new every day. Communicate the value that you can bring to the table through the lens of your never-ending quest to learn and grow. As a hiring manager, what you know is way less important to me than what you have the potential and desire to know, so show me that.
Finally, as both a hiring manager and a candidate, the single most important thing to do is to go with your gut. I’ve made on-the-spot hiring decisions because of this in the past, and those hires turned out to be some of the best hires I’ve made in my entire career. As a candidate, find a job that passes your “gut test” because, at the end of the day, finding a job is a two-way street.
