A Different Kind of War

While being the  twalker (Twitter stalker - yes, I made the word up) that I am, I found this blog entry from Burson-Martseller. The post, written by Paul Herrick in the Madrid office, really  hit home for me, especially since our social media class was talking about the millennial generation during one of our first classes. As most members of the millennial generation, also known as generation Y, are worried about finding jobs, Herrick brings up an excellent point - jobs are going to be even harder to find, creating a "war for talent."

Even though Herrick is located in Europe, he discusses the dreadful Lehman Brothers collapse and the current state of Wall Street. This makes me even more nervous, wondering if I will have to work at Wal-Mart after I graduate, allowing my higher education and dreams to suffer so I don't have to move back in with my parents. As our social media class knows, millennials are very competitive and overachieving. We like specific instructions and we expect a great amount more than previous generations. So, if a war for talent is going to begin, how will we separate ourselves from our peers? 

Most PR students at Ohio Northern go above and beyond to create outstanding resumes and names for themselves within the undergraduate world. We obviously want to stand out from our peers, so we get involved in PRSSA and take special topics courses to further our knowledge and keep interest in PR. As Herrick hints, learning about and understanding social media will give PR students and professionals an edge compared to their peers. This will also give individuals a skill to barter with to obtain better jobs. The positions obtained will allow millennials to achieve the "work-life balance", which Herrick says is important to our generation.

However, Herrick's last idea really stuck with me. Herrick states, "too often the focus has been on beating the competition by offering more. In the future, sometimes the solution might be about offering less, which might include fewer rules, less hierarchy and less rigidity." For millennials, this is not a statement we want to hear. As previously mentioned, members of our generation like structure, so by offering fewer rules and less hierarchy, we will not know what to do. We won't know what is expected of us, which will heighten our feelings about job insecurity. Thus, making us aware of the war for talent once again. 

A vicious cycle has been born, my fellow millennials, and we must prepare ourselves. We have to be ready to use our skills and words as weapons in the war for talent. This is a war we can win, as long as we move strategically and keep our weapons sharp.