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The following is a guest post by Aaron McDaniel, the author of the Young Professionals Edge blog (YP Edge).

Through my 6 years of corporate experience I have sat on both sides of the interview table. While being a headache at times, actually conducting interviews has been one of the best ways for me to see exactly what mistakes interviewees my age make but also how those new to the workforce, millennials, come off to those interviewing them.

Characteristics of Millennial Generation Workers

Certain negative words come to mind when thinking of my millennial generation peers: entitled, impatient, cocky and unrealistic are a few among many.

But at the same time there are many traits that young millennial generation professionals bring to the workplace that are refreshing and beneficial: energy, enthusiasm, creative ideas and better engagement with technology.

What Makes the Millennial Generation Worker Tick?

To learn how to interview a millennial it is best to first understand where we are coming from.

Unlike older (and wiser) generations, millennials are used to being praised for every single little thing we do. We have always had trophies given out for participation, not just excellence. We are used to a world where our input is solicited and — like in youth soccer — “everyone plays,” not just those who have proven themselves the most capable.

This type of positive, unconditional support growing up has become very engrained in millennials’ psyche, a fact that will probably come out when you interview us.

It is important to put this in perspective since, as you know, this is not how the real world works.

Now that we have laid the foundation, here are suggestions to help you hire the best when interviewing a young and talented candidate of the millennial generation.

1. Explore their group experiences; not all group members are created equal

Unlike members of older generations, whose schoolwork was generally performed in a competitive individual environment, millennials have grown up in cooperative educational environments where group work is the norm. This has a downside when it comes to evaluating their value as potential employees!

From personal experience, most group members I have worked with have not carried their full weight (yet seem to claim more than their fair share of the credit).

When an interviewee mentions an example where they worked with a group, really dig in with follow up questions to see what their actual contribution was instead of just allowing them to focus on the accomplishment of the team as a whole. Where they an integral member or just someone whose name ended up on the title page of the group report?

2. Set expectations

Especially in a todays tough job market, you can be choosy about whom you hire. Whether rightly or wrongly (the verdict is still out), the millennial generation has a reputation of not having as strong a work ethic as other generations.

If you are up front and explicit about job expectations and conditions, including hours of work, stress, and difficulty, you can weed out those who wont be giving 100% all of the time and prepare those you do hire for success in their new role.

An important part of this is letting the candidate understand the culture of the company and that while they shouldnt expect to be CEO in 5 years, they can gain experience in other areas (depending on the job/company).

3. Ask candidates about experiences outside of work

One thing that marks many millennials is that there is no typical educational and career path; everyones story is different.

Outside of class or previous work experience, many have been community leaders or taken a leadership role in things they are passionate about.

Evaluate these in the same way you would evaluate previous work experience. If you are looking to hire leaders, often young people havent had exposure to those leadership positions in a corporate environment, but they have in their community involvements. Something as simple as having been a varsity sports captain in high school can be a meaningful signal of leadership ability.

4. Dont assume you are the only one doing the interviewing — it’s always a two-way street

Dont forget to be conscious of how you are coming off to the interviewee. You are not the only one evaluating the person on the other side of the table. The candidate is also evaluating you.

I once was interviewing for a consulting job. My situation was a little unique in that I was graduating a semester early (in December) and wanted to start work the following September so that I could travel for a few months.

The partner interviewing me basically said, “Look, most young people say they are going to do big things like travel the world but most dont do it. So instead, you should come work for me starting this January.”

I had never been more offended. Belittling me and my goals was not a good move, and ultimately I didnt go work for that company. I did, however, travel to 18 countries over the next 8 months and didnt start work until the following September.

5. Be a bit of an ego-masseuse

As mentioned above, millennials are used to having their egos stroked by parents and teachers. Make sure to acknowledge some of their accomplishments when interviewing them. At the very least it will make them more interested in the job and the company.

6. Pay attention to the questions they ask

Candidates that have taken the time to really understand your business and the position show you this when you turn the tables at the end of the interview to hear their questions. If they have done their homework and are really interested in the position it will show here.

Dont get blinded by a high-flyer with great accomplishments who answers your questions well. They may be good at explaining themselves, but if they do not appear genuinely interested in the position or the company then their questions will come off as rote or artificial, as opposed to penetrating and educated.

You dont want to hire a young gun that is not really interested in the position or just wants it on their resume for experience. Millennials are a whole lot less loyal than their Baby Boomer or Gen X counterparts and will leave shortly after things get boring. (For this reason you should always watch out for candidates that have numerous jobs where they are only there for a year or so. They will do the same thing to you, and all the resources you put into training them will be used at another company.

Conclusion

If you embrace the points outlined, you will be in a position to accurately evaluate a young millennial generation job candidate. You can understand their goals and the skills they bring to the table. Plus you can gauge their interest in a position, since we are all looking for people who want to build a career somewhere, instead of someone who is just making a pit-stop for a year or two.

Aaron McDaniel, (aka Mr. Business, so named after winning a male pageant to raise funds for charity) is the author of the Young Professionals Edge blog (YP Edge). He is a corporate director, entrepreneur, public speaker, community volunteer and avid world traveler. He has experience in sales, customer care, marketing, operations, strategy and business development and has managed over 110 different direct reports and organizations as large as 60 at a Fortune 50 company while founding multiple entrepreneurial ventures and a non-profit all before the age of 28. Read more from Aaron @ http://ypedge.com

Introduction

College degrees aren’t necessarily worth what they used to be. They cost more than they used to, but they’re no longer the golden ticket to a promising career, or even to a well-paying job — at least not for everyone. Many recent college graduates have a hard time finding work at all, and those who do find work often take jobs that don’t require a degree.

According to a May 2011 New York Times story, “only half of the jobs landed by … new graduates even require a college degree, reviving debates about whether higher education is ‘worth it’ after all.” Other troubling facts include:

• Median starting salary for college students graduating in 2009 and 2010 was $27,000, down from a pre-recession $30,000, a decline of 10 percent, even before taking inflation into account.
• Only 56% of the class of 2010 had held at least one job by one year after graduation, compared to 90% pre-recession.

Of course, a good deal of this is undoubtedly the impact of a very tough labor market for everyone these days. But it should provide food for thought to all potential college students, and reason to take a hard look at college versus careers without a college degree.

These challenges faced by today’s grads dont mean a college education won’t be useful to you, but should serve as a warning to be mindful of when and how it may be most useful and most likely to be worth the costs and debts you will incur.

Answer to “What’s Your Major” Question Affects Value of College Degree

According to the New York Times article, Labor Department data show that the major you choose in college plays a large part in your likelihood of finding a job that is applicable to your degree after graduation:

Young graduates who majored in education and teaching or engineering were most likely to find a job requiring a college degree, while area studies majors those who majored in Latin American studies, for example and humanities majors were least likely to do so. Among all recent education graduates, 71.1 percent were in jobs that required a college degree; of all area studies majors, the share was 44.7 percent.

The thing is, most grads still have student loans to pay off, and the interest is accruing. Before you plunge yourself deep into debt for a diploma that may not even put you in a position to pay it off, consider the possibility of postponing college; explore some careers without a college degree.

Here are some ideas for alternative options to consider.

Start Your Own Business to Have a Career Without a College Degree

It used to be that to start a business, you needed a lot of money. The Internet changed all that. Owning a business and guiding it to success still takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but it can be done much more quickly, and for a lot less money if you start an Internet-based business. There are many options for starting an online business, and depending on your interests some options may be better than others.

• Freelance Writing: Writing content for Web site owners is an easy way to start a freelancing career, and if you have an interest and talent for writing you dont need a degree to start.
• Creating an Online Store: If youre an artist or make hand-made goods, foregoing an art program at college in order to start selling the items you create is a great way to build a network and hone your craft. In April of 2010, the number of items sold on Etsy climbed to 1.3 million.
• Affiliate Marketing: If you don’t have a craft like writing or making things you can sell online, but still have expertise in an area and can recommend products or services to the general public, you can be an affiliate marketer. Check out the book Traffic and Trust a highly recommended piece to learn about this avenue and how to get started. (By the way, this book is self-published by the author as an e-book, making it almost all profit!)

For the cost of a domain and hosting, you can have a business up and running in less than 24 hours. Whether it keeps going beyond that depends on the quality of your product, how you market it, and how much time and effort you put in, but that’s true of any project.

A Web site costs a lot less than a college education. So much less that if one idea doesn’t pan out, you can move on to the next at little cost. Plus, if you start to become successful you can then invest in a business degree to further your knowledge and practices, starting with classes that seem most well-suited to fill gaps you’ve discovered (for example, you may decide you need to learn some accounting and marketing).

Tips on How to Succeed When Starting a New Web-Based Business

• Network: Use social media and bloggers in your field to reach out and spread the word about your venture.
• Research: Do plenty of preliminary research on the field youre planning to enter. Know things like who your competition would be and what they are doing to promote their business.
• Determination: Since youll be your own boss, it will be easy to make your own schedule. Just make sure that you implement daily tasks to complete and include those things you may not want to do, but need to get done. Always stick to a schedule.

Foreign Language Fluency Increases Your Value For Careers Without a College Degree

Starting a business isn’t for everyone, and if it’s not for you, there’s nothing wrong with that. You can still find a good job without a college degree — one that doesn’t require using a spatula to flip anything. But the reality is that few companies are going to hire anyone, even to entry level positions, unless they can demonstrate their worth, and unless they bring a little something extra to the table. One way to do that is by learning a foreign language.

Foreign language skills are highly sought after by a lot of companies. A business can teach anyone their internal processes, but language skills take time to cultivate — time most companies just don’t have. Companies that have foreign offices need people who can communicate with those overseas employees, and who can read and write documentation in that language. Even local businesses can use people with language skills.

If you live in an area with a high Hispanic population, learning to speak Spanish could make you stand out. Being able to talk to and help Spanish-speaking customers can give you an advantage over other job-seekers, including for careers without a college degree, especially since its projected that by the year 2050 the United States will be the largest Spanish-speaking country.

The good part is, you dont need to take language classes or go to college to learn. There are many tools to help you reach fluency:

• Audio-based Programs on CD: These programs are focused on perfecting your conversational abilities and pronunciation. Audio-based programs like the Pimsleur method are ideal to learn Spanish because they focus on speaking ability.
• Online Grammar Exercises: Since audio-based programs will help you with your fluency, supplementing them with grammar exercises will round out your knowledge of the language and help you with writing.
• Podcasts: On iTunes, change your location to a Spanish-speaking country (the menus and navigation will still stay in English). By doing this you can find podcasts in Spanish that are created by native speakers and use these as listening exercises.

Educate Yourself

Whether it’s that you couldn’t afford college, or you just didn’t want to spend the money, universities aren’t the only places offering education. Community colleges offer a lot of useful degrees and diplomas, and so do technical colleges and vocational schools. Rather than spending four years and many thousands of dollars on a degree you won’t really need or be able to use, look for alternative ways to educate yourself.

Below are some professions with high growth and good pay that do not require a Bachelors degree:

• Paralegal: A two-year degree is needed from a community college, and the job has an average pay of $46,120 per year.
• Electrical Technicians: A two-year degree from a technical school or community college is generally required. The average pay is around $53,240 per year, but varies depending on the industry.
• Police/Detective: A degree is not always required, although some departments require some coursework and a physical examination. The average pay for a police officer varies depending on which department youre in and what role you take.
• Medical Assistant: Two-year degree needed. Average pay is $28,300 per year. Employment for this profession is expected to grow by 35% within the next five years.

Aside from other institutions that offer courses in classroom settings, if you’re diligent and really have a desire to learn, there is little you can’t find on the Internet, or at the local library. Read. Research. Learn on your own about the things that interest you, and that will help you pursue the career you want. A degree can look nice on a resume, but a smart hiring manager will see a lot of value in someone who took the time and had the tenacity to educate themselves and can demonstrate knowledge in their chosen field.

Don’t let the expense or the bleak economy outlook stop you from pursuing your dream. You may have to adjust how you get there, but it can be an even more fulfilling journey. Careers without a college degree or without a four-year degree are definitely worth considering.

By Beth Hanson, with George Lenard

Women’s Bureau Priority Three: Higher-Paying Jobs for Women

The Womens Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor is a government agency created to monitor and remedy barriers to full integration of women into the workforce. This series looks at the current priorities identified by the Women’s Bureau.

Higher-paying jobs for women is the third one.

The Womens Bureau emphasizes several routes to higher paid jobs for women, including work in nontraditional jobs (traditionally male occupations) and green jobs. Additionally, breaking the glass ceiling and moving into higher-level management jobs is an important way for women to improve their employment status.

Nontraditional Jobs

Nontraditional jobs for women, such as those in skilled trades and the green sector, tend to be relatively lucrative, often having higher entry-level pay, generally between $20 and $30 per hour. The Womens Bureau seeks to get more women into such positions.

A Womens Bureau initiative towards this end is Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations, which seeks to “increase the number of women entering and remaining in apprenticeships associated with nontraditional occupations . . . by providing grant funds to eligible community-based organizations that, in turn, provide technical assistance to help employers and labor unions place and retain women in apprenticeships that are in non-traditional occupations.”

The Department of Labor defines a nontraditional occupation as one in which women are less than 25 percent of those employed. Nontraditional jobs include:

• detectives
• architects
• aircraft pilots
• chefs
• computer and office machine repairers
• construction occupations, including construction and building inspectors
• machinists and small engine mechanics
• truck drivers
• fire fighters

What is considered a nontraditional job for women is changing over time. The Women’s Bureau says “many jobs that were nontraditional for women in 1986 were no longer nontraditional for women in 2006, [including] … physicians and surgeons, chemists, judges and magistrates, announcers, lawyers, athletes, coaches, umpires, and postal service mail carriers.”

Here’s a real “feel-good” video on women training for non-traditional jobs:

For More Information on Nontraditional Jobs for Women

• National Association of Women in Construction
• Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW)
• Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Act
• National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science

Green Jobs

Green jobs are good for women for a variety of reasons.

• Green employers are looking to hire, especially in areas such as energy conservation, waste management, and clean energy.
• Green jobs can provide the chance to earn more because they tend to offer higher wages than jobs usually occupied by women.
• Green jobs can give women greater satisfaction by providing them with a greater chance to find an occupational fit for their skills and interests.
• Green jobs appeal to workers with a diversity of skills and interests by providing jobs in a variety of areas — from mathematics to mechanics to management.
• There are multiple ways to get started in a green job. Training can be provided on the job or through educational programs and college degrees.
• Women can start with any skill level because 86 percent of green employers hire workers without previous experience and 94 percent provide on the job training.
• Green job opportunities are available for workers of any age.

“The Women’s Bureau is collaborating with employers, unions, education and training providers, green industry organizations, and other government agencies to raise awareness, expand training options, and promote the recruitment and retention of women in green career pathways.”

The Womens Bureau has also made available materials (Powerpoints, fact sheets, transcripts, and audio) from a series of 2010 roundtables on green jobs on the following subjects:

• Why is Green Good for Women?
• Womens Entrepreneurship in Green Industries
• Recruiting and Retaining Women in Green Training and Employment
• Green Building and Energy Efficiency
• Women Working in Alternative Energy
• Women Working in Environmental Protection
• Funding, Implementing, and Collaborating for Green Jobs Training Programs

Some Places to Look for Green Jobs

• greenjobs.com
• sustainablebusiness.com
• Green Jobs Network

More information

Our series, Green Jobs: What They Are and Where to Look for Them
Our bookstore, books on women’s work and careers
Our bookstore, books on environmental and green jobs