Everyone’s been talking about the latest stats regarding unemployment amongst stats for Gen Z new grads, but very few people have been talking about what happens after you actually manage to land that “entry level job”.
I’m currently 28 years old, so an elder genz, and have been part of the white collar labor force for 5 years now. Landing my first role was hell, and keeping it was even worse.
I often see articles about poor job etiquette amongst Gen Z employees and I just want to clarify that those common complaints didn’t apply to me. I always dressed appropriately, showed up to work on time, notified my leaders at least a month in advance ahead of any PTO I took, was personable, and capable of holding conversations. I’m also a first generation college grad who worked full time all through undergrad and still maintained a strong GPA/extracurriculars. So the hustle is there.
My struggle in the workplace always arose once it came time to do the actual job. Onboarding entry level roles generally looked like this: a couple 20 minute intro calls with my colleagues that consisted of surface level niceties and corporate jargon, a couple more calls with my manager where they would rush through the actual mechanics of the job, and if I was SUPER LUCKY—a PowerPoint slide that never covered beyond the core basics.
And if I dared to ask clarifying questions or requested additional assistance, I was met with unhelpful, passive aggressive responses until I eventually got the hint that everything would be trial by fire despite being less than 6 months on the job (usually less than 3 though).
And if I didn’t miraculously rise to the occasion or god forbid make a few mistakes along the way I was harshly criticized and made to feel inadequate. Then of course, managed out.
These early experiences were incredibly traumatizing and did a number on both my workplace confidence and mental health. Most of my agemates in corporate have had similar experiences (especially if they were minorities on their teams).
My peers in education and medicine have also said the same. Can any other gen-zers chime in?