Cell phones, blackberrys, laptops, IPODS, have all become such a huge part of our generations everyday lives. The only problem is, that older generations who are not as techonolgically savvy do not understand it.
Last week i went to a pannel of marketing professionals who spoke about thier careers, how they got started- what they are looking for when hiring potential employees, etc. At the end of the pannel, the floor was open for questions and someone asked what is a huge turnoff of colleagues who are just entering the workforce. All three of them agreed on two responses; One being the unwillingness for employees to "pay their dues" in other words do whatever needs to be done- taking a low paying job to learn about the industry...They said that too many college students think they are going to get out of college and become CEO's - its just not going to happen. Secondly they explained how our generation are always on our phones, checking email or surfing the web - In meetings, at their desk when work should be getting done, this subject got them pretty heated.
This is something that comes second nature for us, we are used to doing 100 different tasks at once and getting it all done on time. For other generations who did not grow up with these technologies, so it is not as embedded in their lifestyles, it may be a little unhabitual. I thought it was really interesting to hear this from potential employeers, and although we are not trying to be rude or disrespectful at times, it may come off that way to others.
3 comments:
Older generations often do not know the newest technologies but generally they also have a much slower learning curve when they try to learn. However, it is possible. I have taught my grandma how to chat on instant messenger, my dad how to text message, and my mom how to send all sorts of attachments in e-mails. The only problem was that it got really annoying when I had to help them each time. I must have showed my mom how to upload the pictures from her camera to her computer about 5 times before she got the hang of it.
Aside from that students do not typically know the proper cell phone etiquette or simply to not wish to follow through with it. It has become nearly impossible to turn off your phone and become disconnected with the outside world. People would usually much rather simply turn their phone on silent way before turning it off. Students definitely need to learn the proper time to put their toys away and focus on the topic at hand.
Cell phones have become so much a part of our life that it doesn't seem unreasonable to have our cell phones with us at all time. It might be rude but our phones are sometimes so much a part of our every day that turning them off is just like turning out an extension in our bodies.
I totally agree with that panel. Cell phones at work and especially during meetings are really annoying. What's worse is people's expectations when we have cell phones. As I've said in class, people expect me to answer my phone even while I'm in a meeting. I find that very annoying and disrespectful to my meeting. I won't interrupt a meeting if and be rude when if I didn't have a phone that person would never have been able to talk to me in the first place. A luxury has now become a necessity in some people's minds. That ideology needs to stop now. And it needs to stop where it is most affecting how people work- on the job
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