Four Reasons Why Your Next Hire Should Be a Millennial

As an “old millennial,” people my age (a youthful and vivacious 34ish years old) still remember a life without touchscreens and having to hand-writing thank you notes but have a really hard time staying off Instagram and fully intend to binge watch the entire season of “Fuller House” the very day it comes out (C’mon, our mad crush on Uncle Jesse has lingered since 1995). The “Oregon Trail Generation” has uniquely lived through the ying and yang of traditional patience and digital instant gratification.

Early in my career as a marketing and PR professional, I was fortunate enough to have scored higher-level positions in the corporate world, meaning that many of my colleagues were significantly older than me. I was able to tap into their wisdom, learn from their past experiences and received many amazing pieces of guidance, which has helped me tremendously in my career.

When I began hiring direct reports of my own, from interns to full-time employees, it was evident that there are immeasurable benefits to hiring employees who are younger than you. The millennial age group, who often (and unfairly) get a bad rep in corporate America, can offer so many unique benefits to companies who are willing to grow and evolve their talent pool. Here are four reasons why millennials should be represented in your mix of employees.

**Let me preface by stating that there are many, many non-millennial professionals that also possess these same wonderful characteristics. These are just my own observations that I have noted in hiring and supervising employees in this specific age group. No hurt feelings, please!

They rock technology

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to show someone how to open an email attachment, download an app or explain what the hell Twitter is. Millennials already know this stuff because they’ve grown up with this technology since they were old enough to operate an iPad. No patience-zapping explanations. No time-wasting tutorials. All which leads to increased productivity.

They love to learn

“Want to go hear Seth Godin speak on Thursday?” Yea, I’m in!
“There’s an advanced social media workshop coming up next month. Are you interested?” Hell yea, sign me up!

Millennials have this absolutely refreshing characteristic of soaking in as much knowledge as they can to broaden not only their career skills but also their own emotional intelligence. Rarely do they get stuck in their ways and use the age-old BS excuse “well this is the way we’ve always done it.” (Eeeek! Cringe!) Their open-mindedness can be a huge asset to companies for problem solving and creativity purposes.

They keep everyone else in the know

I can’t count the number of times I heard all about the crazy escapades of Amanda Bynes to a trendy bar that just opened in town to a new indie band that just dropped a new album – all from my millennial employees. Employers can learn tons of new knowledge, both professionally and in pop culture, that can enhance their lives in general and perhaps help them better connect with other youth that are in their lives. Millennials also offer an enormous amount of camaraderie that can easily and effectively bridge the generational gap among colleagues.

They’re revolutionizing company culture

Gone are the days of getting a gold watch after 40 years with the same company, strict on-site work hours, minuscule vacation time and horribly awkward “team building” exercises. According to The Intelligence Group, 86 million millennials will be in the workplace by 2020—representing a 40% of the total working population.

While companies are starting to recognize this shift in the workforce, millennials are redefining company culture and expecting, if not demanding, that it change with the employment trends. They crave flexible hours, remote work options, fun excursions, professional development, recognition and appreciation (all which probably cost way less than that fancy gold watch).

The bottom line is that millennials are set to rule a majority the American workforce within the next decade. Their skills, talents, creativity and opinions should be wholly embraced, rather than fought against. The experienced vs. emerging eras can successfully co-exist but it takes just a single opportunity to make the first step.