The Z Factor.

Let’s start off on the right foot

"Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
—George Bernard Shaw

The skinny

Young professionals are waiting in the wings to soak up knowledge and fill job positions.

♥

Smells like teen spirit.

For the first time in decades, teen employment is on the up-and-up. After plummeting during the Millennial-era recession, the rate of workers between 16 and 19 currently hovers around 33%. It hasn't risen with gusto quite like this since boomers entered the workforce in the 1960s and 70s.

The Z Factor.

For years industries like tourism, food and beverage, and hospitality have relied on summer gig workers (often teenagers) to keep up with customer demand. Now, the professional world is taking cue, hiring younger employees at higher wages to compete in today’s tight labor market.

La-Z-Boys and girls?

Nope. Gen Z is breaking the mold, proving teens aren’t the slack-jawed, self-obsessed population some expect them to be. They aren’t lazy. Instead, hungry to learn career skills and eager to gain real-world experience.

Hungry. Not starving.

The job market today is unlike anything we have ever seen. Knowing their enthusiasm (and headcount) is in demand, Gen Z candidates are setting their standards high. Giving vague answers? Interview over.

Two words.

Purpose and balance. Gen Z workers, currently the most likely to leave their role of any other generation, are looking for organizations that uphold meaningful values and cultures that prioritize work-life balance.

Those seeds need water.

Even the best education does not (and cannot) fully prepare young professionals for the workplace—especially when, due to the pandemic, higher education moved online and graduates are not leaving their classrooms, but rather their bedrooms.

Avoid the faux pas fest.

The average worker hails remote working for allowing more personal time and less expenses. But Gen Z recruits who are already facing culture shock, so to speak, can benefit from in-person engagement. Social hours, hands-on trainings, team retreats … face-to-face connection helps teach young employees essential soft skills to succeed at this critical time in their career.

Date with Data: The ‘Zillennial’ worker generation has grown by more than 5 million over the last 5 years.

Further Reading: Stop giving Gen Z so much credit for shaking up the workplace.

The skinny

Your personal brand (yes, yours!) is critical to career success and longevity.

♥

Lemme take a selfie.

Branding isn’t solely for Instagram models and TikTok influencers. All those quantitative goals you have for yourself (that increased salary or leadership opportunity) they rely on qualitative experiences driven by your personal brand.

Your reputation precedes you.

Whether we realize it or not, every day we each write stories about ourselves for our friends, family, and colleagues. In short, our words and behaviors establish our credibility.

Loosey goosey.

If this is a new idea for you (or if the whole thing makes you cringe) start with defining your values. Developing a personal brand can more flexible and authentic than you think. It simply means you’ve given yourself a guide for how you speak, work, and build relationships.

Got it. What’s next?

Craft an unforgettable introduction. There’s no faster way to empty the mind than to be asked to spill a fun fact about yourself. Many of us, now forgetting our own eye color, are no longer listening to the names and factoids of the colleagues in the room with us.

Hello, my name is...

Spend a little time weaving together your role and duties with details about your background and aspirations into a clean introduction. This present, past, future framework is an easy and eloquent way to manage your personal brand.

For you: 5 main benefits: why is personal branding important?

More: How to Repair a Work Relationship