On one side you have the motivated, savvy, go getting individuals who study, take on further studies at Uni or TAFE etc and although they are perhaps a little selfish and ‘me’ orientated, they are positive, hardworking and almost mature. Then…. There are the others. Now I say this with a hint of trepidation because the others I have decided are the ones giving Gen Y the bad name.

Employers can handle some pushiness and a bit of snobbiness if their employee is a machine that does the job and wants to hike their way up the ladder as fast as they can, but what employers are afraid of when hiring the infamous Gen Y is the other lot. The ones who bludge and expect things done for them. The ones  I’m sure they are referring to on the radio when they read out the stats of Christmas car crashes and the 18-25 year olds who are predominantly in them. The ones who want everything and are not prepared to give anything back. These are the Gen Yers who let us all down.

I don’t mean to sound rude but I get a little sick of being put in a category of people who are not like me at all. I am 23 but I’m as hard working as you get and I am always striving to better myself. I don’t expect things for free but I do give a lot of myself for free, I don’t bludge and make others take on my share of the work and I certainly don’t think going 150 in a 60 zone is fun!

So anyway, there is my observation. What do you see when you look at Generation Y as a whole?

Remember I was telling you about the position I went for at my local paper? Well I got it and I couldn’t be happier. I am now officially a Communities Reporter for the Sunshine Coast Daily which means I will be acting as Editor for seven regional papers!

It is so hard to break into the industry you have always loved and always wanted to be a part of and when you finally do; the hard yards, the free work – everything seems well worth it.

But it has not been easy and it has taken me a lot of time and a lot of patience and persistence to get where I finally am now.

Many people who graduate (and I was this person once) think that because they have the piece of paper to say they are competent, employers will now throw open their doors and invite you in. Wrong!  You are not the only person who has just graduated and so you, along with a gazillion others, are all wanting to break into the career of your dreams.

So some advice from someone who has been there and made it out the other end:

Get a foot in the door

If you’re finding that you’re getting a lot of doors slammed in your face, start thinking differently and consider what you’re lacking – what an employer wants you to have. EXPERIENCE! Start applying for internships and graduate programs instead of a job. It gets your foot in the door, shows that you are keen and will give you great hands-on experience and the upper hand if a position becomes available within the company. Businesses admire people who are willing to put in the time and effort to do unpaid work and this will show that you have passion!

Start at the bottom

Sorry guys but you don’t walk straight into a $100,000 salary job after you graduate (unless you’re bloody lucky). Starting at the bottom of the food chain is often the way to get into the company you want to work for. If you want to work as a radio presenter and the only position available at your dream radio station is as a receptionist – take it! Australian Vogue editor Kirstie Clements started out as a receptionist before working her way to the top. Work hard, get to know the key players in the company and get noticed.

Hang in there!

Don’t give up and get disheartened. There will be so many no’s before the big yes so don’t lose confidence and don’t lose your passion. I waited three years for the job I wanted and even now I’m on a starting wage.  But I know with my personality and enthusiastic manner of doing things that I will get noticed and I will grow. Just keep being proactive, positive and wholehearted in your approach to landing the dream job. Look through newspapers, job search sites and social media sites, join networking clubs, and just don’t give up. You never know what might be around the corner.

A few weeks ago I looked up on facebook the Editor in Chief of the biggest regional newspaper in Australia, The Sunshine Coast Daily. I sent him a friend request. He accepted!

A few days after that I began my online stalking… I mean, researching. I checked out his profile, his pictures, his info and friends; anything else I could get my hands on so I felt like I knew him better. Then I sent him a message.

This may sound creepy but this is a man who is very sought after and often hard to get hold of and thanks to a few mutual acquaintances (on facebook) he accepted my friend request and I was taking full advantage of that!

So, I spruced up my resume, rounded up some samples of work and devised a clever, witty message to send him via facebook and subsequently via email as well, asking if he had any available jobs and can I please, pretty please have one!

Of course I said this a little more diplomatically and sounded much more professional but the quirk of using online social media to ask for a job was great!

AND IT WORKED!!!!

Not a week later did I receive an email from the weekend Editor of the paper asking if I would like to do some weekend work experience and possibly get an internship? YES!!!

Then, a week after that fantastic email, I received a call from the Community Editor saying she may have a job for me and can I come in for an interview… Mark (the Editor in Chief) had sent her my details! This job  was for a regional acting Editor looking after SEVEN community newspapers all connected to the Sunshine Coast Daily! I was in for my interview the next day!

Funnily enough when I arrived and met with Mark, the first thing he said to me was “No-one has ever contacted me via facebook before to apply for a job. You showed great initiative and creativity,” Score 1 to Lahnee!!!

The interview went great, we had an icebreaker (my facebook stalking) and now I wait for the verdict.

I suppose the point of this is that in such a competitive arena with hundreds of people fighting to get interviews and jobs or just a foot in the door, you need to get a little creative. Nearly the whole wide world is online and almost everyone uses some form of social media so be a little cheeky (but still 100% professional of course) and try new ways to get noticed and hopefully score that dream job you always wanted!

Now wish me luck with mine!

1. No Pre-Planning -  Work out what you want to achieve from going to the event before you go because there is not much point in just turning up for the free food; Apart from a full belly you get nothing from the event! Do you want to meet people, just relax and have fun or do you want to build your business branding? No matter what you want to achieve be sure you actually plan for it. Set yourself some goals for the night and work out (pre-event) how you will reach them.

2. Running out of business cards – There is nothing more embarrassing or unprofessional than when someone asks you for a business card and you can’t produce one! Always carry too many rather than too few. Being prepared gives you more confidence and delivers confidence when developing new relationships.

3. Stick to your comfort zone – Most people have a great fear of walking into a room full of people they don’t know. See this as a challenge rather than an issue and avoid going for the easy option of meeting people you know well first. Certainly acknowledge these people but leave them until the end of the function to catch up with. This will maximise your chances of meeting new people.

4. Talking too much – Avoid talking too much about you. This is probably the biggest turn-off for prospective clients.

5. Not listening – How can you successfully build a relationship with someone if you don’t ask questions and listen to the answers?

6. The sales pitch – Business networking events are your opportunity to develop relationships, they are not for bombarding the people you meet with a sales pitch. Once the relationship has been established the business will come.

7. Lack of personal branding – Research shows that 95% of business people are often asked, particularly at business networking events “what do you do?” and it is really interesting how many people have no idea what they do. Having a personal brand and a business brand helps to clarify what you do and takes the embarrassment out of this question.

Great, so now everyone knows what you shouldn’t do at a networking event. I feel much better now.

I finished school five years ago, have done three Diplomas and am half way through a Bachelor Degree and I am still asking myself “what am I going to do?”

The problem I find is not lack of knowing what you WANT to do but more a lack of opportunity. So many places these days don’t take graduates unless you studied at a particular University or College and quite simply the competition is fierce and the number of jobs low.

I have wanted to be a journalist and eventually a big fancy magazine editor since I was in grade 5 and my English teacher told me it would be a great career choice for me. I loved writing, loved magazines (I still find myself making daily trips to the newsagent today) and I even used to ask my old teacher for extra work (what the?); So my little year 5 heart got set on this career path and off I went.

After finishing school I did a Diploma in Professional Journalism followed by a Diploma in Public Relations and a Diploma in Event Management. I contacted a million magazines and papers for freelance work (and I was quite successful after a year of trying relentlessly), I read every newspaper and magazine I could get my hands on and started to get my name out there; for no money.

After two years of freelancing for free I still couldn’t land a proper job in the industry so I began a Bachelor Degree in Communications (Journalism) to increase my chances and I started working in Public Relations and Marketing instead; still looking for my break into the exciting world of news and or magazines.

In three years I have had 63 published articles in a WIDE variety of magazines and newspapers from fitness to travel, fashion, news, business and even bridal.

Still can’t get my dream job!

Don’t get me wrong, I am working and working hard. I even co-direct a boutique multimedia agency with my partner but I still dream of editing a magazine or reporting on the news. It’s my passion and passion is so important when deciding what you want to do with your life.

I have chosen a particularly competitive field and you need more than a degree and you need more than a bit of experience. You need to be the best and nothing less. You need to get your foot in the door however you can and keep it there however you can. I learnt this the hard and tiresome way but I stuck at my dreams and after three years and a lot of work experience, no pay and hard work, things have paid off and I have just been offered a trial at my local paper, the Sunshine Coast Daily; the biggest paper in the region! I am STOKED!

I suppose the point of this story is that anyone who has just finished their studies and wondering what to do should look to their passions and work hard. You work for most of your life so deciding to do something you love is very important. Get your foot in the door; do work experience, get an internship and work for free if you have to and prove to potential employers you are enthusiastic and you are worth it. Make contacts and keep excellent relationships with them because it will always be about who you know!

Go forth Gen Y’ers; ask yourself “what am I going to do now?” – Then go do it!

About a month back I attended a networking evening for a magazine launch and met many people. Most of which I can’t remember at all because they didn’t bother to spend the time talking to me and they didn’t ask me the right questions or respond to my questions with an answer I found satisfying. Needless to say I don’t remember them and they probably don’t remember me either. We didn’t even exchange cards (mainly because many of them had run out of cards or simply forgot them).

Although, on the flip side I did meet a man named Paul who works for a company called MiKi Kard. We were chatting for quite a while and DID exchange cards. He was a good networker and clearly I must have been the same because just the other day I received an email from Paul with an offer for some ongoing work.

We met for a very informal lunch meeting (food and beer at Hogs Breath – love it!) and he actually told me a story about the lack of good networkers and how his new business hopes to change this! According to Paul, apparently statistics show that when networking just 2.4% of people you meet will actually do some form of business with you!

Pretty small amount really and I believe this is largely due to the lack of knowledge surrounding networking especially within Gen Y and people relatively  new to the networking scene.

Believe it or not networking is an art and it certainly pays to learn.

This is not a dig at anyone who’s been to Uni (I am studying myself and have been for years) but the thing I am noticing is that it is the experience to back up the degree that now counts the most.

Funnily enough it was a Uni assignment that brought me to this conclusion about experience. I study Communications and at present I am doing a unit called ‘Organisational Behaviour and Communication’ and my assignment was to research Media Manager positions within Government and develop a recruitment package to suit. I had to write an advertisement similar to what you would find on a job website or in a newspaper and as I was researching I noticed a common trait within the ads I used for examination. Every single one said you needed “experience” to qualify. Degrees were merely preferable.

So basically it says that even though someone may have spent three or four years studying to become a Media Manager or Advisor, they have the preferred degree, but they won’t be picked for this job because of lack of experience. Hmmmm.

I suppose my point is that many positions are becoming so popular, to be considered you must possess both the piece of paper that says you are worthy and the skills and experience to back that up. One or the other is not enough.

Luckily I worked this out quickly and for the past three years I have been offering myself to companies for work experience and learning as much as I can ON THE JOB!

My advice to anyone who is studying or just finished studying is to get yourself some work experience or an internship because without it, you just won’t cut it!

Read up on the importance of unpaid internships (and get an info packed e-book on the subject)  in the AELC newsletter .

Yes Generation Y can be selfish and yes we often act like prima donnas wanting everything and greedily snatching up what we want without so much as a second thought but as “The Boss” pointed out to me during this meeting; this is not such a bad thing!

By being selfish we demand the best and settle for nothing less: by taking what we want we become ambitious in our lives and this is why Gen Y is on the rise. He also reminded me that in general we are tech savvy go getters who will become the next leaders because of our ‘stigma’. The Boss is a 26 year old General Manager; I am a 23 year old business owner; we are both Gen Y! Guess he made a good point!

But, then there is the other side of the story and there are a few of us who don’t like being attached to this stigma. Another young lass in the office (who has just recently left to pursue a career overseas – ambitious Gen Y????) hates the stigma and hates being put in a “box” with everyone else her age. Fair enough but that does not necessarily mean she doesn’t fit into that box with the rest of us.

The stigma attached to us is a good thing I think (wow I am agreeing with “The Boss” – so unlike a Gen Y to agree with authority).  It sets us aside and allows us to stand out.

I always find it interesting and almost exciting when I turn up at a business meeting with a bunch of 50 something year old males and they automatically judge me on my age; then I open my mouth and suddenly I have earned their respect.

One time I was at a meeting with a hard business woman who is well in her 60’s with a lot of experience in her field.  I was nervous before the meeting and then during it, she sat there and told me to my face that she wasn’t really interested in dealing with me because all young people were useless and couldn’t be trusted. Being a smooth talking Gen Y I managed to change her mind; this same lady now seeks me out to chat at functions and recommends me to her colleagues!

Just goes to show that being an egocentric, determined youngster isn’t such a bad thing after all – if you do it right!

Until now I have had only 3 phones in my life. The first was a big bulky Nokia 3210 which did nothing but call and text pretty much and allow me to play snake. My Nokia was followed by a Sharp flip phone which was surprisingly the most durable thing I’ve ever seen. Five years later it still goes pretty strong. My third phone (thanks to Telstra) was a Nokia 6720 and a great little companion it made; I could finally check emails and facebook and even use a gps. But apparently I was missing out and thanks to a lovely employer; I now have my very own piece of what is becoming electronic history. I am in the cool group!

When I start using this slim looking sexy gadget I know it will be everything I have always never known I’d want from a phone. I will be able to flick my photos across the screen, write myself notes and calendar entries all on a big screen.

But… for those who do know a thing or two about the infamous IPhone you will also know that there is much more I will be able to do (once I learn) such as phone business budgeting, use quick office, scan and read business cards, create spreadsheets, create folders and invoice people! Yes this little machine is a business person’s best friend which probably explains why every business person and their dog has one. They are extremely convenient.

As a young business woman, I am certain that in time my new toy will become more like a third hand and something I can’t live without. To be perfectly honest, this is just fine with me because in this day and age, anything that makes business and communication easier really is something you can’t live without!

It seems as though people are getting lazier in their work and no one seems to take pride in what they do anymore.

Often I’ll go out for a coffee and it’s burnt or weak or something is wrong with it and really it’s not so hard to make a coffee if you put a little effort into it so why do I always walk away disappointed, never say anything and feel crap about it.

Another example was at breakfast Sunday morning; my bacon was so rubbery it physically choked me! My bread was stale and my egg barely even cooked. This all comes down to a simple lack of energy and lack of caring in my opinion and it is happening more and more. Not only has good customer service flown out the window in many places but now the quality has too.

I have two points here. The first is do not get lazy! On the job, in your life, in your relationships, anywhere! Always strive to provide quality in whatever you do. The second point is don’t put up with crap. If you are unhappy with a service or a product, tell someone. Often they will be happy to fix the problem (or at least they should be) and if not then it’s a lazy thing again! Work and life can be measured in similar ways when it comes to quality and happiness so please strive for these things in both!

I had been working contract to contract via word of mouth and basically people told me what they were going to pay me and I never had a say in the matter, so, when I scored myself my first big contract and the client asked me my rates, I was a little confused.

Like I said, this was not my preferred industry. I studied journalism not marketing and yet here I was with no clue on how to answer this question about money so I did what any confused youngster would and told the man it all depended on the type of work and I’d get back to him.

Hmmm so what now? I was tempted to call a few contacts in the industry and ask what they charge but who’s to say these contacts wouldn’t try to steal my first big gig from out beneath me? I was a touch paranoid and inexperienced so instead I called upon the only other person who may be able to give me a hint; a certain general manager of a certain company who employs a lot of PR people.

Maybe I’m a little naïve but I had been lucky to be getting 20 bucks an hour previously so I decided that 40 bucks an hour was pretty darn good as an amount to charge… wasn’t I wrong!

This general manager basically laughed at me and followed this laughter with “I pay between 120 and 190 an hour”. Oh my god I think my jaw dropped. Was this really the going rate?

I was feeling pretty excited after this phone conversation but leveled with myself before I got too carried away. I am 23 years old and working in a profession I got into by accident because I can sell and because of the people I’d met along the way. I was new to the industry and still a little green. I had no fancy team working behind me, my resources were still limited but good enough to succeed and as this was my first job I felt almost guilty for charging over $100 per hour. I decided to average out the costs and came up with a generous price of $90 per hour for my time and my work. This was an amount I felt comfortable with and I think this is very important. The client turned out to be happy with this amount (maybe he was expecting I’d charge more) and I was happy with this amount.

In business there will be many times like this where I’m not going to know the answer and will need to ask for help and this is ok because it is all a learning process and the more you learn the better you will become at whatever you do. From this experience I learnt to seek advice and I also learnt to trust in my abilities a little more and be confident in the work I do. I am bloody good at my job and now I feel worthy of charging the ‘going rate’.

Well what if I don’t want or need any more ‘experience’ as they call it!

What if after writing about a particular subject for numerous publications all over the country (and some parts of the wider world) I strongly feel that ‘experience’ is no longer what I need? It’s money!

Don’t get me wrong, work experience is a vital learning tool and anyone who wants to be successful should do as much work experience as they can. Believe me I have done this! In fact I have done years of this; offering my services for free in order to gain experience and exposure, but there does come a time when enough is enough!

This frustration has come about after I was asked to write a regular column for a local business magazine.  At first I was thrilled at the opportunity; I would be writing on a subject I’m passionate about, writing for a magazine I admire and this was a great chance for more work and more money! But no, I was wrong and it was not until AFTER I had finished the first piece and emailed it through that I discovered this was NOT paid work and in fact, the Editor had the nerve to say most writers PAY HER to be published in her magazine. I do own a small media business by the way and editorial is one of my specialties!

Wow is all I have to say and I’m very glad that I received this nice bit of news via email because my reaction was not so great!

Don’t get me wrong, work experience is amazingly valuable when you are starting out in any job or business. It teaches you the tools of the trade and gives you all of the practical experience studying doesn’t. Take up every chance at experience you get when you are trying to make a name for yourself but once you are competent in a particular field, don’t let others take advantage of you.

Being a Gen Y I am constantly being offered work for ‘experience’ because the truth is, some business owners just don’t want to pay; they want what they can get for free and they assume because you are young you don’t deserve to be paid; you aren’t experienced enough.  Sure someone who has been writing for 20 years may be more experienced than me but is that really what experience comes down to? Age?

The moral of the story is this… If someone comes to you asking you to work for them, make sure you clarify on what terms and make sure you are happy with those terms before you do the work. If they feel you are good enough for them to approach you, then you are good enough for them to pay you. Maybe you are happy to do it for the exposure alone and this is great because the more experience you get in one field the better. But keep in mind, the definition of professional is someone who “is paid for what they do”.

Only a week ago I received an invite to this event; the red carpet networking function to honour the winners of the Sunshine Coast Women’s Business Awards! It came just after being asked to judge the Caloundra Business Awards! Me, little old me at age 23 and having only been in the business community here for a few months is now a business judge and a VIP guest! Hmmm not bad.

Lahnee Thomas - 1st Place Sports Model INBA Brisbane Title 2010

Of course the first thing I do is call and invite the lovely Jenna Waters, QLD Business Icon winner for 2010 and get her into this crowd of ambitious local women.

I think the funny part about this night was perhaps the fact that both of us were at least 10 years younger than anyone else there. That’s right we were surrounded by Gen X! Don’t get me wrong, this was great and what a boost to be the only Gen Y’s invited to this prestigious event.

This brings me to another point; I am known on the Sunshine Coast! It came as quite a shock when some of the ladies approached me saying they knew who I was!!! It might have been the fact that my face has been plastered over the newspapers and mags recently for a completely separate matter (sports modelling) but… I have also been swamped with jobs at my little (and I mean little) Media business so I’m guessing my name is really getting out there.

I guess the point I am trying to make here is that it doesn’t take long to get where you want to be if you put yourself out there to be seen! Take every opportunity to meet people and take up any offer thrown your way. Who knows maybe it will be me they honour on the red carpet one day soon!

It is an unfortunate truth that no matter how much experience or skills you have, you will never succeed if no-one knows you exist. In order to get what you want out of life, you need to be resourceful and utilising the people you know is one of the most resourceful ways you can operate.

In every town in every state in Australia and internationally are groups, chambers of commerce, societies and organisations who meet frequently for networking meetings, breakfasts, galas, functions – you name it and there will be a meeting for it, so the first step to take is to get yourself involved in these local affairs and start meeting people. Join every networking club and association in your field.

Learn to speak with people; anyone and everyone because you will be surprised at who can help you with what. Sign up to classes for public speaking which will not only help give you confidence in your conversational skills, it will help improve your writing skills and speech giving as well as teach you to understand body language.

Get into the practice of talking to people you don’t know everywhere you go. In saying this, be sure to then stay in touch with these people you meet because what’s the point of taking the time to talk to someone, accept their business card and then never contact them again?

Practice the presentation of your own skills and learn to be comfortable in talking to people and asking “what do you do?” with sincerity and interest. At the same time learn to really listen to the responses you get. Honestly remembering the people you spoke with and what they had to offer will help you when following up on any leads.

Lastly, remember that most people you meet will be more than happy to talk to you and assist in any way they can because successful people are people with contacts and not only will you be building your network; the people you speak to will be building theirs too.

In QLD, the Liberal National Party picked young Wyatt Roy as its candidate to contest the Labor-held seat of Longman. As a twenty three year old youngster myself, I find this not only inspiring but absolutely incredible that the community as a whole and the members in the party felt that a young inspiring politician with only 20 years of life experience would be better suited to lead than the former State MP Jon Sullivan who is a worldly 59.

Wyatt was quoted in the QLD Courier Mail as saying “I want to thank you for looking to the future with hope, with inspiration, with excitement, and I promise you I won’t let you down”. But this said, he is still a Gen Y and so the Courier Mail also had this to add:

“Mr Roy’s Facebook page yesterday showed he was a fan of American lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret, KFC, The Economist and State of Origin fights”

Could we be any more typical? The statement continues…..

“He is, however, still a fan of The Economist — and, incidentally, ‘pubs’, ‘going to the footie’, ‘Oreo biscuits’, and ‘trackies and uggies’ ”

But thanks to an on the ball publicist it seems his penchant for Origin fights, KFC and lingerie is now over, with all three today not showing on his list of fan pages.

So there you have it. The North Brisbane region has finally voted in a member of the Gen Y society in all good faith that the country needs a fresh take on things and I would say the Brisbanites are onto something. Although of course some political insiders laughed when told about Mr Roy’s pre-selection (who’s laughing now?).

Personally, I would love to see a 20 year old Prime Minister because how could the country be steered astray when the most stressful thing on our minds is whether or not the Oreo cookie has the cream on both sides?

Considering we, as a nation, have not had a cliffhanger election since WW2, the ALP and the Libs have done a great job at creating political history and frustrating the hell out of everyone in the process.

We are now looking at the possibility of a hung parliament. For those of you who don’t know; a hung parliament, also known as a minority parliament, a balanced parliament or a parliament under no overall control, is a legislature in which no political party has an absolute majority of seats.

For a hung parliament to happen, this means that both major parties are evenly balanced in representation, and that means that the ability to pass a vote will fall with any Independents or minor Party people present. It also means that the nation has decided we don’t really want either of the majority parties running the country.

In this instance there is speculation that a hung parliament would mean a revote; but what’s the point?

If Australians don’t want Julia Gillard or Tony Abbot (yes apparently they represent labor and Liberal but we all vote for the person anyway) in the big seat then why can’t we just kick them out and start over; bring in a party who will represent the people and will stand up for the individuals; not just special interest groups. Bring something new to the table and see how that runs.

I understand of course things are not this simple but hey, I can dream! Here’s to picking a winner!

Now being one of this generation myself and sitting in an up market Sushi restaurant I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised; I mean if I am out sipping green tea and using chopsticks then why wouldn’t others my age be doing the same?

What did surprise me; the topics of conversation going on around the sushi train. Out of around 30 people sitting in the restaurant around 70% were from the Y Generation and of that 70%, around 50% were lost deep in intellectual conversations about the upcoming election, the new show out at the theatre (not the cinema; yes I did say theatre) and I think one couple was even discussing social entrepreneurship!

I like to think of myself as somewhat cultured but even I was talking about trivial topics which is perhaps why the dinner discussions of others caught me off guard.

Generation Y is continuing to surprise the world. The selfish generation is not so selfish anymore. We are starting to really care about what’s happening in the world and are slowly but surely opening our eyes to the greater things in life (like the theatre) and allowing ourselves to indulge a little in the finer things.

With this new found ‘upper class’ attitude who knows what we will be capable of.

I have spoken to quite a few people about the upcoming election and who is the favourite and I must admit up until a recent conversation with a very wise woman, I was set on Julia and it was for the pure fact that she was a woman. It’s a first in Australia and I was ready to run with it.

The truth is a lot of us Generation Y don’t really even know what we’re voting for. We go for the flavor of the minute and apparently the new flavor is Green! It makes a fair bit of sense I think to vote for a minority party. Clearly they won’t be able to lead our country unless there is a coalition, but with more seats in the Senate, the playing field will be leveled out and the “in” party held much more accountable.

My advice for any other Gen Y’er struggling to understand -  do your research. Don’t just vote for whoever is on the top of the ballot paper. Pick a party who will make some kind of difference and encourage others you know to do the same. We can only whine about politics for so long before we realize we can actually do something about it and the more we learn the easier it is for us to make a decision.

It gets me thinking about what it means to be an entrepreneur. According to Wikipedia, an entrepreneur is “a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome,” so in laymen’s terms someone creative and driven.

So typically Gen Y is deemed lazy and selfish with no drive; yet so many in this generation are our newest millionaires or billionaires with the sources of this income derived from entrepreneurship.

Do Gen Y’s have the edge because of our crazy all about me attitude? Can Gen Y step up and lead this world of ours with creativity, innovation and drive? Do Gen Y’s stand out from their older and wiser counterparts in this new craze of entrepreneurism?

I think the answer is yes because Gen Y, although a little self obsessed and egotistical, are spirited and excited about new things and advancements made in all forms so with a  bit of luck and a bit of direction; young entrepreneurs could be the newest craze!

SEO or search engine optimization is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid search results.

It is reported that as many as 80% of website users will click on one of the top 3 listed websites on any given search so basically if you are at the bottom of page 1, or even worse, page 2 or lower, chances are that nobody will see you.

So how do you get your website on page 1, high on the ranks? Get Google in on the process! A range of factors determine whether your website will rank well such as ‘On page optimisation’, that is, what you can do to your website on any given page, and ‘Off page optimisation’, that is, what you can do external to your own website to boost rankings.

Google has an application known as ‘Webmaster Tools’ which you can set up and operate for free. This lets you know if Google can easily find your website which is very important because if Google can’t pick it up, everyone else will struggle to find it too. This tool will also help you discover if there are any errors within the site which may be impacting on its rankings, and also gives you some useful insights into Google traffic to the website. Similarly ‘Google Analytics’ is another great statistical tool which can help you analyse how well your website is performing.

So get Google on board and get your website seen by all.

It is faster, more convenient and according to recent surveys conducted in Australia and outlined in the Internet Usage Stats and Telecommunications Market Report for 2009, 79.6% of the population, or 16,926,015 people, use the internet, making email an obvious choice of communication for businesses.

While email is a great way to relay a message, it seems as though a lot of Gen Y’s are confusing email with text. It is important to understand that the message relayed in technological form should still be professional, to the point and respectful just as a written letter would be.

Believe it or not there is such a thing as ‘netiquette’ or internet etiquette and below are a few tips for ensuring your emails follow the laws of this modern netiquette concept.

1) Do not forget how to spell: “can u plz send doco” is not a professional way to communicate in an important email. For your friends, sure, but when writing to an employer, clients or any other person you are contacting on a professional level, the common misspell is not so appropriate. Spell out each word as you would speak it in a conversation.

2) DON’T USE ALL CAPS: Whilst this may be tempting to get your point across, it is not necessary and can be considered rude. Remember you are writing, so your tone can be misread by simple things such as using all caps.

3) Dnt abrevt: Abbreviations have a use but it is not in a professional email. Info, re, 2day, thanx – these are not real words and do not belong in an important email. Abbreviated words can be very hard to understand for those not familiar with them. As with spelling, for friends it is OK, for employers, it is not.

4) Don’t show too much emotion Smiley faces are cute but are they really necessary? Using a smiley J to show emotion is fun and can be appropriate depending on the recipient but don’t overdo it. One is sufficient to heighten your point but leave it at one.

5) Don’t draaaag on: Keep your email to the point. Chances are the recipient is just as busy as you are and wont appreciate a long email with useless sentences. Be friendly but prompt and relay only the information that is important to your point. You can fill in the blanks when you follow up with a phone call at a later date.

Enjoy email and enjoy the benefits of the internet but enjoy it wisely  

Next time you are looking up something in Google, go to YouTube instead and try to look up the same thing and see what you get. You’ll be surprised at what you will find and in fact I find it easier to learn this way.

Check out this link for some interesting facts about YouTube

http://www.website-monitoring.com/blog/2010/05/17/youtube-facts-and-figures-history-statistics/

Gen Y has a reputation for ignoring manners and etiquette in their personal lives and, more importantly, in the workplace. While other generations were taught manners by their parents and at school, Gen Y were raised by the indulgent baby boomers.

In my personal experience, Gen Y just doesn’t see what the fuss is with etiquette, as long as everyone is showing basic manners and respect.

So, should we all be learning manners at school or are they becoming obsolete?

While manners can sometimes seem pointless and old fashioned, they are a sign of respect for the people around you. People will form opinions of you based on the level of manners and politeness you exhibit.

The first step I took was to work out my expenses by writing down everything I spent in a week. It was eye-opening. To find you spend over twenty five dollars a week on coffee is frightening. I also made the unwelcome discovery that my expenses exceeded my revenues. How I had managed this is a mystery to me!

I then set about writing up my budget. This part was easy – I simply wrote down expenses and allocated amounts to them. The difficult part was sticking to it.

Within four days I had whipped through all the money allocated for my weekly food bill. I had also discovered many expenses I had forgotten to budget for at all. Not a good start.

But as I progressed through the weeks, I found it did start to get a little easier. Finding ways to save money became less of a drag and more of an enjoyable challenge.

Barrack Obama has motivated people long disconnected from the political system to push for change. Millions of America’s young people, who normally choose not to vote, took to the polling booths in support of Obama.

Australia’s compulsory voting system means Gen Y is forced to participate in the democratic process, but does Gen Y care?

Gen Y has a reputation for not caring about the world the way previous generations have. While our parents protested against the Vietnam War, we seem content to sit idly by and watch. So are we apathetic or do we just feel powerless?

Gen Y has a crucial role to play in shaping the world of the future. The world is on the precipice of a financial crisis and global warming continues to sky rocket. As our parents begin to retire, the responsibility for the world falls to us… a scary thought!

So is Gen Y the self obsessed, uncaring generation they’re portrayed as? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I was surprised to find myself actually anxious about not being able to access my email and of course my beloved Facebook. Not to mention internet banking, grocery delivery and news updates.

I decided to keep track of how many hours a day I spent using technology and I have to admit I was scared by the results. Including an eight hour day at work I found myself bordering on double figures.

Technology obviously has lots of benefits but there equal downsides. Many Gen Y-ers seem to have little ability to spell or use proper grammar without the assistance of a priceless tool called spell-check.

Other generations claim all this communication technology is actually making us less sociable. As the real and online worlds become virtually intertwined, we become less and less able to go without technology even if we wanted to.

Most of the population has experienced this before, during the Great Depression and the 1987 Stock Market Crash. But not Gen Y.

We were lucky enough to be born into and grown up in prosperous times. Things like mass unemployment are foreign concepts to us.

I’m reminded of the story of the squirrel and the grasshopper. The squirrel spent his summer storing food and building shelter while the grasshopper played and danced in the sun. When winter came, the squirrel was equipped and the grasshopper was not.

While previous generations have had the experience to know that the good times wouldn’t last forever, Gen Y lacks this knowledge of the past.

So can Gen Y cope with hard financial times? After quizzing some fellow Gen-Yers I’m torn. Some appear well equipped to survive, while others seem to lack even a basic understanding of what is ahead.

Let’s hope Gen Y is prepared for the long winter ahead.

While these things are undoubtly true of some of every generation, I believe the stigma against Gen Y is mostly undeserved. It is true that we want things sooner than our parents, but is this necessarily a bad thing?

We will work for what we want, we would just prefer to work smarter rather than harder. We see a job as a mutually beneficial relationship: “what can we do for the company?” but more importantly, “what can the company do for us?”

I hate to get all hearts and flowers, but it really comes down to different generations learning to work with each other by accepting their differences. Different ideas and ways of thinking create conflict, but often lead to brilliance.

I have been fascinated by the rise of the so called “kippers” – Kids In Parents’ Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings. These are the Gen Ys living at home with their parents up to and past the age of 29.

As someone who values her space and freedom, this sounds like my nightmare. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family but if I had to live with them till the age of 29 I think I would have killed them or (more likely) they would have killed me.

That’s not to say moving out of home has been easy. The discovery that my dishes didn’t wash themselves was an unpleasant one. The excitement of having my first bill in my name deflated when I had to pay it. But for me, the price of freedom is worth it, even if it does mean surviving on 2 minute noodles.

There probably isn’t a woman out there who hasn’t been tempted to blow money set aside for a bill on a pair of “must have” shoes, but Gen Y seems to be taking it to a whole new level. The rising pressure to be fashionable has many Gen Ys spending on despite the declining economic environment.

As a Gen Y, my view is that we just don’t understand what its like to have to scrimp and save through an economic downturn. We were born into the good times, so we can’t fathom anything else.

But is Gen Y fully to blame for its reckless spending? Never before has a generation been so pushed by advertising and the media to have the latest fashions or own the most up to date gadget.

I personally do not make a conscious effort to limit my spending. I am typical Gen Y – I want it now! While I have yet to default on a bill to buy Carrie’s latest Manolo Blahniks, I am undoubtly spending too much on things I just don’t need.

This started us on the path of the typical Gen Y wanting everything yesterday, not used to being told no and always being highly opinionated. We have been built by default with low resilience to day to day problems and life in general by our unsuspecting parents.

With Gen Ys moving on to their more independent lives out of the family home, my question is “has the time come where we will sort the weak from the strong?”

We have ticked up expensive cars which are ridiculous on petrol now that prices have risen. Interest rates are rising due to rocketing inflation which is still not looking good. Some of us have our own kids. I do and there is no way I can afford childcare. I am lucky enough that my partner can take our bub to work otherwise we couldn’t afford our mortgage. So how do we survive?

I have had to think and research and analyse my everyday spending to work out ways of saving money and preparing for rising costs.

I used to not care about what I paid for anything! I don’t know how much I have wasted on stupid buying choices. I have decided to put a stop to this. I now have dropped things like delivered water for a water filter saving around $800 yearly. I have discovered online specialty shops like pharmacies and pet stores which can significantly reduce costs. We sold the V8 and are saving $300 per week, the costs of running that car. I have even started writing shopping lists this can save us up to $100 a week. Our meat we buy in bulk saving about 40%. There are so many ways to save money it’s just a matter of opening your eyes.

I bet there are many people in my situation, I did my comprehensive budget and found I was spending around $20 – $25,000 over what was coming in per year. Now I have brought it down to be able to save $1000 per year. Just by opening my eyes and taking responsibility for my once grim future I am now spending less than we earn and I am confident of many more ideas to come to save us money. It’s not about what resources you have, it’s about how resourceful you are. Who will survive off their own back, whose parents will once again come to the rescue and who will learn the hard way? only time will tell.

Over the past 6 months, our finances have been getting tighter and tighter so I did my full year budget that included everything, from car services to pet expenses, and not too surprisingly I discovered I was falling short about $4000 for the year. I had to start thinking what could I do to get my budget back on track. I looked over many options but the one which I was unsure about was my health insurance.

I researched many different health funds but it seemed that for every saving you made there were insufficient benefits paid. There were no plain English explanations of what you could or couldn’t claim, it was just a major headache. I asked what my colleagues thought of health insurance and I was told by one that they had completely dropped it all together 2 years ago. This got me thinking, could I do this and save the expense all together. Mine and my partners wage was under the threshold for paying the extra 1% Medicare levy so that wasn’t going to be an issue.

I looked at what I had used my health insurance for; we used the public system for the pregnancy and birth of my daughter as the extra payments for private care was too expensive. We had great service and a good experience in the public system. We also had trouble getting the health insurance to pay a hospital bill from the year before and ended up paying for it ourselves.

After looking at my extras and the benefits from them for the current year, I have to say that I have used my extras more than I ever have. This included visits to the Dentist, Podiatrist and Psychologists totalling to about $800 in claims. When I did the maths it worked out to be that I was paying the same amount for that years cover as the claims I have made.

I have completely stopped my private health Insurance now and I’m one step closer to getting my budget back on track. I would love to hear what others have done in this situation. Even if I was paying the extra 1% levy I would still use the public system unless I was earning $150,000+.

I think it has to do with the importance of the job. Sure there might be lots of pleb jobs like sorting files, follow up calls and other crud but how do those jobs give me the passion to want to work?

I work at pace and efficiently when the job has some auspice and importance about it. Jobs like this ignite some passion in me. I will work solidly and efficiently to achieve results because what drives me is the tangible outcome of anything I do. If the outcome is great it will make me feel good and I will be inspired to keep going.

The frustrating thing is that there are always going to be the pleb jobs, even for us Gen Ys who think we are truly above such things. The trick is balancing them with the jobs that keep us motivated and inspired.

Now I want to talk about how this effects my work life balance.

A work week for me could involve 6am starts, then events and meetings through to 10pm some evenings. Nothing in my week is a set thing. From week to week my work schedule changes to fit with these external events.

I have a partner and a baby whom I like to spend time with and other commitments like sport, friends and music etc. The only way I am able to manage this is by having flexibility with my working hours.

Through being connected wherever I am I can stay in touch with my work colleagues, keep track of my emails and follow my calender. This allows me to manage my work load and personal life effectively.

Sure not everything will go my way but most if the time I am able to fit everything in.

This is possible only because of my flexible work arrangement. The criterion for my job is as long as it gets done, we don’t mind when you do it. I can spend 4 hours in the middle of the day with my partner and baby or knock off from work early to go out with some friends – even have a sleep in if I’m feeling a bit exhausted.

It seems to me that people get confused about work life balance. To me work life balance isn’t starting work at 9am finishing at 5pm and then going home and forgetting about work until tomorrow. I think it’s about working to suit you.

Sure I may check and reply to emails at 10pm at night, write a blog and check my appointments for tomorrow. This is a great time to do it for me as there are no disturbances. Emails aren’t coming in every 5 minutes, the phone’s not ringing and colleagues aren’t talking to you.

A job which can seemingly take forever during the day is completed in no time at all at 10pm in the evening.

The flexibility of my job is what keeps me in control of my life and being connected anywhere I am enables me to perform my job successfully.

I often wonder how people went without these sorts of things. Writing on a piece of paper now just doesn’t cut it. You can’t drag and drop files onto your paper, you can’t quickly whip it off to someone over the other side of the city to look at and have it back ASAP to submit on schedule.

The ability for me to be able to work from anywhere at any time is very important. I meet a lot of people through my job and need to record their details and notes on to a database quickly so I don’t forget. It means I can deliver anything I have promised and keep a history of our dealings on file.

Being connected allows me to work when I’m early for a meeting or have time in between meetings. I also have the option of working from home when I have to look after my daughter or wait for a delivery or so on. Being connected with social networking sites like Facebook help me to manage my social life to keep in touch and organise outings with friends but without taking up a lot of time. Being connected is a one stop research tool and helps fuel my hunger for learning more.

I think that 20 – 30 years ago there wasn’t the need to have such highly organised lives. Now everyone’s workload is so high, the amount of content and emails we are expected to handle day to day is ridiculous. The mainly technology driven deliverables we need to achieve are much greater than before. This is where Gen y being so connected and giving them that ability is a must for any company.

Work/life Balance is said to be a trait of Gen Y but I think our ability to multitask and organise and schedule our lives with the right technology is a major plus. So much more work can be achieved without sacrificing work /life Balance, ultimately keeping me and many other Gen Ys much happier.

I have a little family who I love spending time with and I love my work/life balance. I plan on using technology to help me keep up my workload and organise my life better to keep me balanced.

The baby boomers would always be at work on time and work hard from 9 to 5 than clock off. Whilst they worked well they never did anything different to what they had done in the last 30 years but had great knowledge and experience. No ideas or innovation came from them and new things didn’t catch on quick but you could always rely on them. My Baby Boomers also seemed to stick through the political crap. They stayed in the job even if they were unhappy. Out of all the Generations they were in the organisation for the longest and were planning on retiring from the same job when they were ready.

My Gen-Xs seemed to be more techno Savvy, yet technology still took a little longer to catch on. I did notice though they were always worrying about what other people were doing and if it was fair or were they getting the bad end of the stick. This quite often caused work place politics as they loved gossip. The gen-Xs were still open to new and fresh ideas and had a great work ethic but weren’t afraid to challenge authority if they felt the need.

Gen-Ys! Well aren’t we just a herd of our own. I am a Gen-Y and on a social level it was great but on a work level it was painful to manage other Gen-Ys. They hate being told what to do! I had to think so carefully about how to word my directions. It was like I had to make it their ‘idea’ or soften it up somehow. Apart from the dedicated small bunch most of my Gen-Ys just wanted to rock up and go home with as much money as they could with the littlest amount of work possible.

On a creative level they were coming up with great new ideas and if it was their idea they would turn it into something. They really fostered their creation until something new and better came up. On the downside, as soon as they lost interest, didn’t get what was promised or felt they were at a loss somehow they were gone in weeks. They sometimes went home and just didn’t come back to work ever.

When you look at the Dynamic mix you start to realise that that there is a place for all in each business. It’s great to have the reliability and knowledge of Baby-boomers. It is great to have the work ethic and opinions of the Gen-Xs and it is great to have the creative fresh perspective of Gen-Ys. With the right training in inter-generational awareness & understanding, Management & Leadership skills and work place ethics you can structure a team which is efficient in all areas and really foster a great workplace culture which will support the day to day differences of a Dynamic workforce.

I was at a networking function the other night and was talking to some baby-boomers about the different generations. A lady I was speaking with mentioned when she was a child, the man of the house had the say about major decisions. One day he would come home and say “right, we’re moving” and that would be it. The kids weren’t even considered and never had a choice.

She said that now for even the simplest things she will ask the opinion of her 17 year old daughter. Even when it comes down to the colour of the pavers she wanted for the back of her house. She said she wanted one colour and her daughter wanted another which she ended up going with.

We come across this all the time in the work place. Think about all the times you have approached a Gen-y with a situation that they didn’t agree with. They sure let you know their opinion! If they don’t agree or have a different idea which they more than likely feel is better, you’ll hear all about it. Gone are the days when younger employees just put up and shut up.

Communication is one thing that Gen-Y is really good at and whether through email, face book, messaging or talking, our voice is heard loud and clear. If you stop and listen you might just realise that a lot of our ideas can be very fresh and innovative. So if you were wondering why this highly opinionated bunch couldn’t be swept under the carpet it’s because we’ve always had the spotlight and are used to being heard.

As Generation Y hit the workforce, they will insist on being heard!

Our parents didn’t want us to have the same hardships that they did so they provided us with all the things they didn’t get. They didn’t want us to have the same stresses as they did so made life just too pampered for us. Being given everything and living in easy times has been the biggest reason us Gen-Ys want everything with less effort.

Don’t put us down for not wanting to work over-time and leaving it to the Gen-Xs and baby-boomers. We’re not lazy. We just don’t want to do all the over-time and have no life.

It is said that Gen-Ys don’t have the same pressures and that we work just to support a high lifestyle. What a Load!

I have a family and a mortgage – one that I can barely afford. If I didn’t have my free time to spend with my baby daughter, my partner, playing sport, just enjoying living then what would be the point of life? I believe that work/life balance is a must unless you want to see more people falling off the deep end from pressure.

What would really make a positive difference to work-place stress is a better understanding of each generation’s abilities. Start using the potential and knowledge of each generation to build an innovative, hardworking and fun work culture.

If we used the learned skills and natural abilities across all generations to help each other and share the load then there would be less of a need for extended work hours. Grey-power, the electronic multi-taskers coming up through the workforce and the generations in between can all learn from each other.

Yes, it is possible. It happens at my workplace.

With Gen-Y numbers set to double in the workforce in the next 5 years, a supportive work place culture with variety, direction, help and leadership are going to be key factors in keeping us happy.

Otherwise, you might see recruitment and retention costs send your business bankrupt.

I have Read so many articles on Gen Y in the last few months – it seems to be in fashion. I have noticed that the above claim pops up in these articles all the time and I think it is a little inaccurate.

It is true to say that Gen Ys are outcomes based, at least in my case because I never think about the small stuff. I understand what it is that needs to happen. I have a set objective in mind and I do what needs to be done to get to that target. I won’t ever think about the possibility of it not being achievable.

This I think is a great benefit to Gen Y. We don’t get caught up in the small steps whilst trying to reach a target. The benefit is that we don’t throw a complex task in the too-hard basket before starting which many people do once they realise the difficulty of a task at hand. Gen Y will just start the task anyway and try to keep going until it is achieved.

The part which I don’t agree entirely with is that we will “do it in our own way”. That suggests to me “to leave us alone and we will work it out”. That is not the case.

What they should say is “show us, train us on how to do the task or job and we will often interpret it and deliver it our own unique way”.

That’s not to say that we won’t need help along the way. In fact the more support the better. As long as it fits in with the way we have set out to do it.

This is where things can fall apart. If we set out on a task that is big and we get stuck along the way or if we do not have the support around us to help jump the hurdle, we’ll kick the hurdle over!

Then we’ll bitch about how the hurdle was too high and wasn’t supposed to be there and that no-one wanted to help us get over it anyway.

The result? I think I’ll leave and go somewhere else where I’m appreciated.

The reality is to me it’s just the culture of the time you were brought up in.

Some people I meet in my travels really get all up tight when they get labelled with these names saying they don’t have the traits or they think it’s a load of baloney or just an excuse. I think they really need to open their eyes and realise that it is just a way of recognising the traits of different generations.

If we all spent a little more time learning how to manage the different generations and realise their different cultural up-bringing has led them to work differently we could bring the best out of them.

I’m Gen Y and realise that I fit in to the Gen-Y theme really quite well – I want everything yesterday, I am 24 and have had roughly 15 jobs since the age of 16 and generally I have left those jobs because I have been promised something that hasn’t been delivered.

I am really independent and hate being told what to do and especially hate being treated like I am dim-witted. Unlike stories that we hear from the past and how hard living was for our grand parents and parents going through wars and low economic times most Gen Y were given a lot of hand outs and spoilt and this was mostly because there parents weren’t given what they wanted and didn’t want there kids to go through the struggle’s that they had to.

Little did they know that by doing that they were instilling very low resilience, a poor work ethic and unrealistic rewards expectations. This has led to the Gen Y problem of not understanding the meaning of working for what you get.

I had nothing handed to me on a plate. I bought my first house on my own and my first car and have always been made to work for anything I have but in saying that I still got it easy. Work was easy to come by and I was paid plenty of money with little experience.

Loans were easy to get and I bought my first house before the end of the boom so made plenty of dough on it. I still think I got it easy and like all other Gen Ys out there we can pick and choose what they we to do and can earn so much money with so little experience.

It’s just adding more fuel to the fire. This has still led me to be impatient and want everything now and have very high hopes. I like having my say and being heard. I also am generally always coming up with lots of new ideas and always on the look out for what is new and best. I understand technology very easily and lucky for me I understand the traits of the other generation so find it easy to work with them.

My last job had me managing 6 staff over 50 and when I left they were so disappointed because they loved working with me and the new innovative ideas I brought with me. But like all other jobs I have been in I was promised lots and although I was delivering I never got what was I promised so I left.

I can’t stress enough the importance of understanding intergenerational change and realising that it is real. It’s not just learning about how to manage Gen Y but also how about teaching Gen Y how to manage Baby Boomers! After all you won’t have a choice as us Gen Y are coming on thick and strong. We are seemingly demanding but with the right methods can be managed.

I thought I might bring to your attention what I happen to think about superannuation and what it can do for me. Nothing! This was first brought to my attention when I was at a conference recently which had a speech on using superannuation as a recruiting & retention tool.

The first thing that popped into my head was why the hell would I care about getting a measly superannuation check when I retire when I’m going to be able to support myself by then anyway?

I always see these ads on TV saying “his super fund has $280,000 when he retires but hers only has $320,000 after she retires because of our fund” – well whoop-de- doo!

If I have that much to retire on you might as well shoot me then. I think it would last me approximately 2.5 seconds.

I have spoken to my friends & colleagues about this and they all agree by that stage their ambitions would have become reality and they would have all the money they needed for retirement.

Well sure if all that goes wrong a few bucks in the bank that has been eroded away by fees and lost through change of jobs and different funds would be handy. But really it would be better in my barely affordable mortgage now.

——————

Oh and a point or two about retention – How about buying me that car I want and letting me pay it off through salary sacrifice or supporting my ambitions by putting me in the spotlight, nurturing my talent and supporting me every step of the way.

The same boring old job every day and I’m gonna want to leave. The excitement of new challenges and responsibility with the right support mechanism and a clear direction for my future and I’m here to stay.