UK bosses fed up with self-centred diva grads
Gen Y grads: Big headed, boastful, spoilt
4 February 2008
THEY want everything to fall into their laps.
And they boast about how tech-savvy, how educated and how much in demand they are.
Meet the Generation Y graduates - those born after 1982 - successors to Gen X. who were known for being cynical and disaffectionate.
If you're an employer in the UK, you probably wouldn't want to meet this particular bunch - the ones many employers are labelling 'graduate divas'.
They're the ones who lack initiative, over-sell themselves, and walk into an interview room chirping 'you all right, mate?'
A report in The Daily Mail says bosses in the UK are looking overseas for staff with a stronger work ethic in a bid to avoid self-centred, fickle and greedy employees.
The article comes after a report from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) that revealed employers' recruitment difficulties on the low calibre of graduates.
Those in Gen Y are said to be career-orientated, but many bosses find them less than satisfactory. As a result, a quarter of employers now actively market vacancies abroad.
More than two-thirds of the 217employers polled predicted recruitment difficulties in the comingyear - up from 55.4 per cent a yearago.
And last year, nearly half had to leave prized graduate jobs open, even though universities turned out record numbers of students.
Some Gen Y graduates reportedly lack literacy and numeracy skills. Others present themselves poorly.
According to the report, based on responses from employers in investment banks, law and accountancy firms, some Gen Y graduates lack initiative and expect to be pandered to.
In one case, a new recruit to a transport company was heard on the phone saying to his mum: 'I have got to go to London tomorrow and they haven't even told me how to get there.'
MrCarl Gilleard, AGR chief executive, said: 'The employer threw up her hands in anger.
'Here was someone working for a transport company, was 21, spent three years at university and who was aggrieved because he hadn't been given a detailed map.'
Mr Gilleard added: 'There is a sense among Generation Y that they want it all and they want it now. Generation Y is me, me, me, but the employer thinks, no, it's us, us, us.
'I think there is a wake-up call... As far as graduates are concerned, it's really important they understand the rules of the game.'
The demand for top graduates is illustrated by the report's finding that the number of vacancies is at a 10-year high and is expected to rise.
The report also said that graduates are often seen as 'divas... who expect everything to fall into their laps'.
It noted: 'A quarter (of employers) praise the 'strong work ethic and desire to succeed' of overseas graduates.'
Mr Gilleard added: 'This may have wider long-term implications...and both employers and graduates may have to amend their expectations.'
Perhaps it's time for fresh grads, from any generation for that matter, to stop thinking that it's all about them.
source: The New Paper
