job & interview

How Millennial Employees Can Embrace Older Colleagues

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How Millennial Employees Can Embrace Older Colleagues</h1>
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These tips will help bring harmony to the trio of generations in your office.</h2>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">The presence of millennials in the U.S. workforce is set to rapidly increase, according to a 2012 study from the University of North Carolina. Next year, millennials, usually defined as those born between the early 1980s and 2001, will comprise 34 percent of workers. By 2020, that number will jump to 46 percent.</span></div>
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Working alongside millennials will be baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) and Generation Xers (usually defined as those born between the mid-60s to early 80s). While relations between the older and younger generations in some areas are healthy, in others, there's a real rift. For example, a recent study by The Hartford, a financial services group, showed that millennials resent some baby boomers for not retiring earlier, thus preventing millennials from getting hired or promoted. Meanwhile, the same survey showed 74 percent of Gen Xers agreed that the "entitlement generation" is an appropriate nickname for millennials.</div>
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While some resentment may last, there are ways millennials, also known as Generation Y, can grow from having a quality relationship with their senior co-workers. We've detailed some below.</div>
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<strong>Be a good listener. </strong>Lending your ear can pay dividends, especially if you've run into a problem that your knowledge can't resolve. Also, don't perceive seeking advice as an admission of weakness or inexperience. "It doesn't mean that you're not fully capable of executing on your own, but getting diverse perspectives at any age is always going to be valuable to your success," says Lindsey Pollak, a millennial generation expert and author of "Getting from College to Career."</div>
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<strong>[Read: <a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/11/14/8-things-millennial-job-seekers-do-that-we-all-need-to-try" style="color: #005ea6; text-decoration: none;">8 Things Millennial Job Seekers Do That We All Need to Try</a>.]</strong></div>
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<strong>Strike up a mentorship. </strong>Your company may have a mentorship program that matches up employees from different generations. Or you can take a less formal route and find one or two senior co-workers to regularly chat with over coffee or lunch. Through these interactions, millennials can get "a leg up in terms of the ability to learn about the culture of the company, the ins and outs of the politics that are going on [and] general business etiquette," says Lisa Orrell, a California-based consultant who specializes in generational dynamics in the workforce. Fortunately, many millennials like the idea of a mentor. MTV's 2012 "No Collar Workers" survey showed that three-fourths of millennials would like to have a mentor and eight out of 10 want feedback from their boss.</div>
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<strong>Recognize the experience older generations have on your peers.</strong> Orrell warns about the perils of only interacting with co-workers in your age bracket, or as she phrases it, staying in the "millennial cocoon." "You don't expand your horizons," she says. "It's hard to learn how to be an effective leader, manager, communicator [and] how to work in high-pressure situations if you're only making your workforce peer group people who are the same age as you." Increasingly, Gen Yers are aware and appreciative of the exhaustive résumé a more senior colleague may have. According to The Hartford survey, 90 percent of millennials agree that baby boomers bring substantial experience and knowledge to the workplace.</div>
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<strong>[See: <a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/slideshows/12-surprising-facts-about-boomer-retirement" style="color: #005ea6; text-decoration: none;">12 Surprising Facts About Boomer Retirement</a>.]</strong></div>
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<strong>Appreciate the values of baby boomers.</strong> According to Meredith Wells-Lepley, director of research and consulting at the University of Kentucky's Institute for Workplace and Innovation, boomers "are known to be really hardworking and really loyal to their organization." EY, the professional services firm formerly known as Ernst & Young, conducted a generations survey of 1,215 company professionals throughout the U.S in June. The survey found that managers and non-managers from all three generations gave boomers high marks for being hardworking (73 percent) and team players (56 percent). By contrast, millennials scored highest in three out of four negative traits in the survey, including being most difficult to work with (36 percent) and entitled (68 percent).</div>
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<a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2013/11/07/how-millennial-employees-can-embrace-older-colleagues" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</a></div>

How Millennial Employees Can Embrace Older Colleagues

How Millennial Employees Can Embrace Older Colleagues These tips will help bring harmony to the trio of generations in your office. The presence of millennials in the U.S. workforce is set to rapidly…

20 Nov 2014

9 Tips for Starting a Business While Working Full Time

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9 Tips for Starting a Business While Working Full Time</h1>
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There is a way to juggle your current responsibilities with your growing aspirations.</h2>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">With the Fourth of July this week, perhaps you’re thinking of your own independence. Have you considered</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span><a class="" href="http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/best-business-jobs" style="color: #005ea6; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5; text-decoration: none;" title="Link: null">starting an entrepreneurial venture</a><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">? You would be in good company. Since 2011, the overall number of independent workers has grown more than 15 percent, to 17.7 million, according to a survey from the business services firm MBO Partners</span><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/0608/Rise-of-the-flex-economy" style="color: #005ea6; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5; text-decoration: none;" title="Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/0608/Rise-of-the-flex-economy"></a><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">. If you aren’t ready to leave your existing job (or salary) at this time, you’ll want to make some carefully considered plans to plot out your future move.</span></div>
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Karla Trotman, owner of BellyButtonBoutique.com, an online business with a global clientele, launched her business while working full time. Here are her tips to help you do the same:</div>
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<b>Keep track of your ideas</b>. Trotman suggests you carry a notebook to record your thoughts, ideas and inspirations. As your idea takes shape, you can refer back to the points from your brainstorming sessions. “My notebook became the basis of my business plan," she says. "I wrote in it <a class="" href="http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/slideshows/15-activities-to-try-on-your-lunch-break" style="color: #005ea6; text-decoration: none;" title="Link: http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/slideshows/15-activities-to-try-on-your-lunch-break">during my lunch hour</a> or while waiting for the kids to finish their activities. The notebook lived in my purse and I would pull it out whenever I had to get an idea out of my head and onto paper.”</div>
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<b>Leverage your library</b>. “Google is great, but the library is awesome,” Trotman says. Visit a university or community college library, or see if your local system runs a business library. Ask the librarians to direct you to resources to find information pertinent to the business that you're about to start. “You will want to know who your competition is, what products and services are available but do not have wide spread distribution, what demographic is best to target, etc.," Trotman says. "Library professionals are trained in the art of utilizing databases that are not available to the masses. Hoovers and Mergent are great resources that you cannot access without a subscription, however many educational institutions and public libraries do provide access.”</div>
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<b>Read business books</b>. “When I launched my business, I devoured any and all books that had to do with online business, search engine optimization, social media and small business," Trotman explains. "Six years later, I'm still reading and its helped not only my business, but also my family's 28-year-old manufacturing firm. Knowledge is power and books are the key.”</div>
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<b>Avoid distractions</b>. When you’re planning your<b> </b><a class="" href="http://www.keppiecareers.com/start-business-side-working/" style="color: #005ea6; text-decoration: none;" title="Link: http://www.keppiecareers.com/start-business-side-working/">business on the side</a><b></b>,<a href="http://www.keppiecareers.com/start-business-side-working/" style="color: #005ea6; text-decoration: none;" title="Link: http://www.keppiecareers.com/start-business-side-working/"></a> it’s tempting to sit down in front of the TV or to spend hours aimlessly reading Facebook updates after working a full day. You’ll need discipline if you want to launch your own business, so don’t let yourself fall down the proverbial rabbit hole when it’s time to get some work done.</div>
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<b>Be selective when choosing confidants</b>. “There were people who pretty much laughed at me when I told them my idea for my online store," Trotman says. "Had I not been so driven, I would have quit.”</div>
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<b>Plan for launch</b>. Once you’ve researched your client base and competition, investigated all of the ins and outs of your business idea and decided that entrepreneurship is for you, put a launch date on your calendar and schedule your deliverables backward. Trotman explains that she wanted to launch her website on August 8, 2008. "My registration, website creation, supplier agreements, packaging, branding and everything required for the launch needed to be ready by that date," she says. "By establishing a hard finish, I kept the project from lingering. I got everything done from start to finish in four months.” It may take you more or less time, depending on your plans and schedule, but the important thing is to give yourself a deadline.</div>
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<b>Invest in professional-looking visuals</b>. “People want to know that you are a legitimate business.<a class="" href="http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/04/30/7-key-elements-of-a-great-personal-branding-statement" style="color: #005ea6; text-decoration: none;" title="Link: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/04/30/7-key-elements-of-a-great-personal-branding-statement">You can't pull that off</a> with a ClipArt logo and a website that looks like your seven-year old designed it,” Trotman says. She suggests exhibiting professionalism and polishing anything related to your brand or business.</div>
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<b>Seek and implement systems</b>. For example, if your business will require someone to answer the phone, make sure you set it up ahead of time so you aren’t stuck trying to respond to calls when you’re at work. “I use Solid Cactus as my call center," Trotman says. "They created a Wikipage for their staff and have answers to all of the most frequently asked questions. They can also access parts of my ordering system and will elevate any issues they cannot handle on their own. Utilizing this service, which only costs around $75 per month has given me more free time.”</div>
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<b>Network and attend conferences</b>. <a class="" href="http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/09/04/the-secret-to-juggling-a-9-to-5-job-with-an-entrepreneurial-venture" style="color: #005ea6; text-decoration: none;">It can be a challenge</a> to work all day, run your business and network, too. Conferences can be expensive for a startup owner. However, you never know what you can learn when you spend time with like-minded individuals who are driven similarly and dedicated to the growth of their businesses. Trotman also benefitted from connecting with a group of other women who were also starting businesses. “Most of my friends couldn't relate to my entrepreneurial vision, so it was nice to have a core group that understood my journey," she explains. "A few years later, members of the same group shared their media connections. One connection even helped me land a monthly feature on the evening news in my city.” When you network, make sure you make a point to give as much as you take.</div>
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<a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2014/07/02/9-tips-for-starting-a-business-while-working-full-time" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</a></div>

9 Tips for Starting a Business While Working Full Time

9 Tips for Starting a Business While Working Full Time There is a way to juggle your current responsibilities with your growing aspirations. With the Fourth of July this week, perhaps you’re thinking…

20 Nov 2014

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How Millennial Employees Can Embrace Older Colleagues

9 Tips for Starting a Business While Working Full Time

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