Do Today’s Grads Have a ‘Sense of Entitlement’? Accelerated Learning Resources

Do Today’s Grads Have a ‘Sense of Entitlement’?

In a Wall Street Journal commentary piece titled Dont Wear Flip-Flops to the Interview, career counselor Adam Friedman writes that parents ought to do a better job of prepping their children for the job search, including such basics as how to dress and behave:

What is surprising is that most parents spend thousands of dollars on SAT preparation for their college-bound children, but little or nothing for job preparation. Most graduates with liberal arts degrees have no clue as to what jobs they are suited for and have little idea of what skills they need to land the job they want. More perplexing is the all-too-common scenario of the grad who is bewildered by the many options and doesnt know where to begin the job search.

Lack of focus is another issue. One applicant for a public relations firm was asked by the human resources manager at the firm why he wanted to enter the field and his response was, It beats flipping burgers.

Mr. Friedman follows his anecdotes with a standard-issue, bulleted list of tips for graduates and the parents helping them. Find your passion, develop a network, perfect your resume (Typos are bad, kids!), etc., etc.

But he winds up with a broadside on an entire generation of job seekers. Quoting a recruiter for a Fortune 500 company, he writes:

Todays crop of graduates is as bright and easily as accomplished as their predecessors. Whats different is their attitude about finding a job. They have a sense of entitlement that suggests that we need to impress them, not the other way around.

Its easy enough to dig up a second-hand flip-flop anecdote to make a point, but we wonder about how much this generations job prospects are being shaped simply by perceptions and stereotypes.

Job seekers, do you get the sense that youre being judged before you walk in the door? Recruiters and hiring mangers: What evidence are you seeing of this sense of entitlement? Is it any worse than in previous generations, when the goof-off son of an executive would be a shoo-in for an internship? Shouldnt employers be trying to impress their job candidates, too?

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