When I run training programs for companies on how to better manage their Generation Y talent, there is a certain complaint I hear over and over again:This generation wants too much feedback!According to many managers, Gen Y employees want feedback “on-demand”—they want to know how they’re doing after virtually every meeting, presentation, report, project or any other demonstration of their skills.Most Gen Ys don’t dispute t...

With all the disheartening news lately about a double-dip recession and consistently high unemployment, many job seekers are desperate for new career ideas. One great place to seek inspiration is shatterbox, a video-based social community for students and young professionals to find inspiration and share ideas about innovative careers. The site is completely free and is conveniently searchable by industries or keywords.I re...

It’s no secret that “all work and no play” is a bad idea. But what if you could actually play more at work? Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds? According to guru Dale Carnegie, fun is not just pleasurable, it’s actually essential for career success: “People rarely succeed,” he once said, “unless they have fun in what they are doing.”While every minute of every day can’t necessarily be a blast, I wholeheartedly agree w...

Tammy Tibbetts is one of the most active, inspirational Gen Ys I know. I am a board member of her organization, She’s the First, which is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit that sponsors girls’ education in the developing world.Tammy generously agreed to answer some questions about how she started her organization and what advice she would give to other Gen Ys who aspire to nonprofit careers.Q: How did you first have the idea to...

Emily Dubner is a 2006 college graduate and founder of Baking for Good, an online bakery that gives 15 percent of every purchase to charity. I love this concept and use Baking for Good for most of my business’s holiday and thank you gifts. (Read about one instance of the excellent responses I’ve received to these gifts here). Besides having a great concept and satisfying my sweet tooth, Emily is an inspiring example of a y...

Be concise.Yep, that’s it.For many years I’ve taught professional writing seminars in addition to my career speeches and workshops. In these programs, “Be concise” is the advice I find myself dispensing more than any other.Even in our world of 140-charater tweets, 160-character texts and txt msg spk, most people make the mistake of talking and writing way more than is necessary.Here are some reasons why conciseness is so im...

In one of the first jobs of my career, I had a very hands-on, micromanaging boss. She frequently double- and triple-checked that I had completed even the smallest tasks. Not surprisingly, it kind of drove me crazy.Looking back, though, I consider that job to be one of my best learning experiences in professionalism, attention to detail and—most importantly—the art of “managing up.”When people talk about management, they’re...

Over the years I’ve written multiple posts about the importance of cleaning up your online image and, specifically, your Facebook profile.When I first wrote about this topic in 2007, I found a study by the Ponemon Institute, a privacy think tank, reporting that 35 percent of hiring managers used Google to do online background checks on job candidates, and 23 percent admitted to looking people up on social networking sites....

I’ve become increasingly distressed over the years by the number of students and recent grads who complain to me that their jobs or internships contain too much “grunt work.” (Interestingly, these complaints have not slowed at all in the bad economy, when one might think any job, including one that requires some “gruntage,” is better than none.) First, let’s define this yucky phrase. According to a (possibly dubious?) entry...

As another cohort of young professionals enters the workforce this graduation season, I’ve been pleased to see some more positive articles about Generation Y appearing in the media. Sure, the members of this generation are still young and have a lot to learn, but, these articles assert, maybe they’re not as “entitled” and “coddled” as older generations feared.Finally some good press for today’s twentysomethings!I’ve been an...