Generational Differences

Last fall, I got a text message from my dad asking, "What do you consider the end of the day?"

"11:59:59,"I typed back.

"Ha! That's what the speaker said you'd say!"

Nancy Barry was speaking to my dad's company, explaining to them differences between their generation and mine and how they should be prepared to deal with new hires out of college. My dad's company was using me as a guinea pig to see if she was right - apparently I proved her point, which was that my generation considers the end of the day to literally be the end of the day due to the current digital world. My dad was so impressed with her that he bought a signed copy of her book for me: When Reality Hits: What Employers Want Recent College Graduates to Know. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting in my stocking at Christmas - I'm not one for reading self-help books in my spare time, I prefer historical fiction or chick literature (proven by the list of books on my Kindle) - but I feel like I'm getting something from reading her book.


One of her main points is that someone right out of college looking for a job needs more than a good resume. She insists that "soft skills" will help set you apart from everyone else being considered. Out of a list of eight soft skills, I feel these two are ones I'm learning at KOMU while producing:

#6: "Demonstrated ability to work independently and be a team player."
As a producer, I assemble a newscast on my own but also take input from my executive producer. I work with reporters for stories for the rundown, graphic artists for over the shoulder images (OTSs) and maps, and directors to get the show on-air. Those are just a few of the people who act as a team to put together a newscast. In class, we were discussing that making everyone feel like a team is one of the most important parts of the newscast. It motivates the members to do their best so the newscast ends up being the best it can be.

#7: "Ability to work in a high-volume, face-paced environment; to multitask; and to meet deadlines."
I think anyone who works in a newsroom would agree that it's a face-paced environment. There are days when not a lot of news is going on. Other days, there's so many stories, you have to cut things out of the rundown to be anywhere near on-time before going into the show. Multitasking is part of a producer's job: you write stories for the newscast while juggling reporters and their questions and putting the details into the rundown (anchor reads, cameras, OTSs, etc.). And a producer has a daily deadline - the time the show airs! "The show must go on" and you have to be ready for it.

I'm about one-third of the way through the book. It's interesting reading about HR and managers perspectives on hiring 20-somethings and seeing the generational differences between growing up in the digital age and growing up in the age of a single computer that takes up an entire room (according to my dad).