Millennials - Not worth employing

[Raizinman]

I run a highly technical profitable company. I placed an ad looking for a new employee. A college graduate (BA) applied, age 23. He passed the drug test, driving test and appeared to be a really good candidate. We hired him and start his training. He would require 3 to 4 months of training before he can even start a job. His first two months went very good. I’ll have to say that the first two months are basically sitting and listening with virtually no hands on. In month 3 we start with some hands on training. He basically forgot everything we taught him. We took him on a job and asked him to just assist and he was completely worthless. We spoke with him and he confided to us that he just wants a paycheck without having to do any real work. He told me that for the first two months he just let the information go by and did not pay any real attention. We explained that he cannot work here. He begged and begged for us to reconsider, but we said that this company is profitable because we just don’t hand out paychecks to people who don’t deserve it. He still didn’t understand why he can’t work here. This is the second time this happened with someone in this age range. Are all 20 to 30 year olds like this? I would estimate that his best bet of employment would be fast food.

 

[highland145]

His Mama will keep him fed and in xbox game $.

 

[purbeast0]

Yes.

The 2 anecdotal examples you provide means we can extrapolate that every 20-30 year old is like that.

 

[ultimatebob]

Someone who's 23 now is just barely a Millennial. The age range is now 23 to 39.

So, yeah, I have a lot more in common with a typical older Millennial now (Married, kids, steady job, house and car) than that 23 year old.

 

[K1052]

We once hired a bad Gen X so they should all be put in the woodchipper.

Believe it or not you get good employees and bad employees from every age range.

 

[Platypus]

sounds more like a problem with your vetting process to be honest.

 

[brianmanahan]

in my 20s i was working 70-80 hour weeks for a couple years on salary

but that was a few years ago

 

[njdevilsfan87]

If I had to sit and do nothing but listen for 2-3 months, I'd probably bomb my first hands on experiences too. I don't have the attention span nor the memory to retain 2-3 months worth of information without actually putting that information to practice. I'm not sure anyone does. You should maybe consider readjusting your training plan so that the hands on experience ramps from the start. Because imo the most effective way to learn is to start by asking how or why. And you're more likely to get someone asking that when they have an actual task that needs to be accomplished - be as trivial as it may be, this is for you to figure out in your plan.

 

[repoman0]

Ok boomer. Fail at having a good hiring and vetting process and fail at onboarding. Not to mention fail at basic statistics.

 

[rh71]

I have my own stereotypes of various workers, but I'm curious - what kind of job is this that requires / allows 2 months of no hands-on first? Sounds very excessive and may be a reason they zone out. And if it's not a good-paying job (as expected for a starter), I wouldn't be surprised at the attention span either.

 

[snoopy7548]

We spoke with him and he confided to us that he just wants a paycheck without having to do any real work.

I mean, doesn't everyone? You can't blame the kid. He got 2 months of pay without doing anything. Sounds like someone who sets clear goals and achieves them!

 

[Sonikku]

The generalizing is strong with this one.

 

[JM Aggie08]

What do you think the answer to that question is, dumbass?

 

[DigDog]

but people who are worth hiring are also millenials.

Hear now my Theory of Roleplaying Game Reality:

we don't get better. we simply minmax our points.

I've come to this simple yet deep understanding years ago when i saw a brief video .. maybe even on TV .. about how people in ancient times could remember a vast quantity of information as a normal, everybody life skill; the incident was that of a ceiling collapsing and one of the surviving diners being able to name the dead by recalling their seating position. That's just one case, if you look at things such as the oral traditions - people memorizing bigass books such as the Iliad - this is even more evident.

So, we don't get better. If a human being is worth an abstract value of 100 points, they are worth 100 points even if they were born in the middle ages, or the renaissance, or whatevs. It's just that these points are now distributed in a different way.
Think about it: you don't need to learn any survival skills, language is far easier to learn, trades do not require a lifelong dedication. But also, you don't need to invest any "points" into being fit, into being able to survive terrible diseases, or just the mental and physical strength required to survive without common modern comforts.

Those horrid good for nothing millenials are not worst than anyone else, it's just that they are putting their points into things that aren't profitable. Manga Knowledge. Masturbation. Call Of Duty Insults. Swag.
It's a poor investment but they don't know any better, it's the parents' fault. And THEIR parents' fault.

So you can have one millenial guy who has dedicated his life to infosec and who is absolutely brilliant, and another who is completely worthless. Here is the surprise: they both live in a fantasy world. One lives in a fantasy world of anime tiddies, one lives in a fantasy world of cyberhaxx0rs. The guy who lives in the fantasy world that crosses over with some useful real life skills, is the guy you hire, the other .. i feel sorry for him.

My only problem with millenials, is that they overdo it. You get really smart guys who can't boil an egg.

Anyway, i am sure you will all agree that my Theory is undeniably correct.

I AM SO SMART
I AM SO SMART
S.M.R.T.
I MEAN S.M.A.R.T.

 

[Captante]

but people who are worth hiring are also millenials.

Hear now my Theory of Roleplaying Game Reality:

we don't get better. we simply minmax our points.

I've come to this simple yet deep understanding years ago when i saw a brief video .. maybe even on TV .. about how people in ancient times could remember a vast quantity of information as a normal, everybody life skill; the incident was that of a ceiling collapsing and one of the surviving diners being able to name the dead by recalling their seating position. That's just one case, if you look at things such as the oral traditions - people memorizing bigass books such as the Iliad - this is even more evident.

So, we don't get better. If a human being is worth an abstract value of 100 points, they are worth 100 points even if they were born in the middle ages, or the renaissance, or whatevs. It's just that these points are now distributed in a different way.
Think about it: you don't need to learn any survival skills, language is far easier to learn, trades do not require a lifelong dedication. But also, you don't need to invest any "points" into being fit, into being able to survive terrible diseases, or just the mental and physical strength required to survive without common modern comforts.

Those horrid good for nothing millenials are not worst than anyone else, it's just that they are putting their points into things that aren't profitable. Manga Knowledge. Masturbation. Call Of Duty Insults. Swag.
It's a poor investment but they don't know any better, it's the parents' fault. And THEIR parents' fault.

So you can have one millenial guy who has dedicated his life to infosec and who is absolutely brilliant, and another who is completely worthless. Here is the surprise: they both live in a fantasy world. One lives in a fantasy world of anime tiddies, one lives in a fantasy world of cyberhaxx0rs. The guy who lives in the fantasy world that crosses over with some useful real life skills, is the guy you hire, the other .. i feel sorry for him.

My only problem with millenials, is that they overdo it. You get really smart guys who can't boil an egg.

Anyway, i am sure you will all agree that my Theory is undeniably correct.

I AM SO SMART
I AM SO SMART
S.M.R.T.
I MEAN S.M.A.R.T.

Some things never change!

 

[Red Squirrel]

Not everyone can learn every little thing and retain it right away. The best learning is on the job learning - he may need to be reminded of stuff but he'll learn. Try to think of when you were new at the job, could you do the job 100% on your own within only a few months? I doubt it. It's one thing to sit in a training environment and just try to absorb everything, but it's another thing when it comes time to actually doing it.

The best tool for a job is documentation, and making sure people know where to find it. It's impossible to expect someone new to remember every little thing right off the bat.

I always bring that up at my work. They want us to start doing DMS10 level 3 support which involves more in depth programming. Great, now provide us with documentation and reference materials. Training on it's own is not enough.

 

[pauldun170]

I run a highly technical profitable company. I placed an ad looking for a new employee. A college graduate (BA) applied, age 23. He passed the drug test, driving test and appeared to be a really good candidate. We hired him and start his training. He would require 3 to 4 months of training before he can even start a job. His first two months went very good. I’ll have to say that the first two months are basically sitting and listening with virtually no hands on. In month 3 we start with some hands on training. He basically forgot everything we taught him. We took him on a job and asked him to just assist and he was completely worthless. We spoke with him and he confided to us that he just wants a paycheck without having to do any real work. He told me that for the first two months he just let the information go by and did not pay any real attention. We explained that he cannot work here. He begged and begged for us to reconsider, but we said that this company is profitable because we just don’t hand out paychecks to people who don’t deserve it. He still didn’t understand why he can’t work here. This is the second time this happened with someone in this age range. Are all 20 to 30 year olds like this? I would estimate that his best bet of employment would be fast food.

I've been in the workforce since "A Thousand points of light"
There have always been people like that.
I've dealt with middle aged people who are no better if not worse.

Sounds like the issue is not "millennials" and more the people involved in the hiring process.
My first question would be who was involved with the vetting process and then who is grownup enough to admit they could have held a better interview.

 

[BudAshes]

Your problem is the drug test. Most of my successful friends would likely not pass that.

 

[brianmanahan]

I've been in the workforce since "A Thousand points of light"
There have always been people like that.
I've dealt with middle aged people who are no better if not worse.

oh man, the guys that my grandpa told me about in the 80s and 90s when he worked at the steel mill

some guys straight up sleeping half the day on the job and not getting canned for it

 

[pauldun170]

oh man, the guys that my grandpa told me about in the 80s and 90s when he worked at the steel mill

some guys straight up sleeping half the day on the job and not getting canned for it

If only people knew about what happens at our local power plant.
It's amazing how much people get paid to watch netflix

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Your problem is the drug test. Most of my successful friends would likely not pass that.

Heeheheh... maybe you're right.

I've been with.... 4 employers now since graduating from college. I've yet to ever be drug tested... neither before behind hired - nor during employment. Not that I would fail, because I wouldn't - but I just remember lots of fear-mongering that you would be a failure, etc... if you do drugs because you would fail drug tests.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

oh man, the guys that my grandpa told me about in the 80s and 90s when he worked at the steel mill

some guys straight up sleeping half the day on the job and not getting canned for it

You're referring to American Unions

Thankfully, those are dying.

Ask Hostess, GM, Ford, etc... how unions have helped them so much during times today. Now look at their competitors that don't have unions (and have refused via vote) and are way happier.

 

[ch33zw1z]

There's plenty of people, even boomers, who are just like this. So get another applicant and maybe explain the job role during the interview. Or, even be more detailed in the job posting.

Edit: and I've never been part a union, so all those lazy bums were non union as well.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Your problem is the drug test. Most of my successful friends would likely not pass that.

That's a good point, not sure why the states are so obsessed with those. Lot of smart people smoke weed.

One of our best networking techs smoked weed regularly. Weed and Tim Horton's basically kept him going lol. Really nice guy and he knew his shit.

 

[DigDog]

It's amazing how much people get paid to watch netflix BE ON STANDBY

FTFY