One could say that my great skill is communication. Be it written or oral. And just like any other person with the same skill, I have to deal with communication issues every day. Mine or other people's issues. Have I shocked you by recognizing that I also have communication issues even though I have communication skills?! Well, this is the naked truth. We are people, and far from perfection. That we tend towards it, is another story.
When I find myself in large groups, it may happen that my voice is never heard. I am rather busy with listening, than trying to state opinions that might get me into trouble. I have previous experiences, believe me, and I have learned that getting into trouble happens more often when you're caught babbling just to make some noise and particularly when you don't listen attentively enough. So, I have learned my lesson, and know now that it is better to listen carefully and decide afterwards if there is something I want to say or not.
Like I stated, I have communication skills and I am constantly on the search for information, curious to know what my peers have to say. And what comes up below is my blunt reaction to an interview I have just read.
Here am I, within a category that states that I am no longer that young, and constantly finding myself around opinions that vilify the younger generations. I know, it's a given. This gap between generations will never cease to be addressed to. Young people are judged for bing superficial. But yet, I saw it everywhere. Even when I was in primary school, and these younger generations where not yet born.
I am telling you, I have been developing a problem - and it is in constant enlargement - against prejudice. Even if one person has one or several experiences to back that prejudice up, that does not mean that one is entitled to misjudge a whole generation. Young people are today exactly as they have been yesterday or the day before that. Sure, here we have the smartphone. I have the same aversion towards the robots walking around in the metro stations that make for perils for themselves and the people around them (especially, those who walk behind them) because they just gaze into their smartphone screens and nothing else. Ok, there is the internet. Yes, young people today are able to do a lot of things that you could have not done in the past, but I am truly sick and tired of hearing/ reading interviews of great career people that affirm the folllowing:
- The issue with the young generation today is that the senior employees have to work double in order to make for the superficiality of the youngsters who fail to adapt to work tasks. (How many times have I not heard the exact reverse statement!)- Young people today are far more sensible (and I dare to translate this into 'they are no longer willing to accept the shit that our generation was glad to deal with').
- Young people are no longer willing to make efforts for their careers (again, I dare to translate this into 'they are not into spending hours on end doing overtime in order to receive a fantastic raise of 5 lei to their salaries and, eventually, when a new-comer accepts to work for a lower salary to be thrown overboard').
- We are in constant need of optimistic, outgoing colleagues because we are a family. Thank God, I have experience having colleagues that understood the concept of teamwork, that never left you behind no matter what, but work is not synonym to family (here is where the concept of remunation kicks in). And, moreover, after making the above statements, with the arrogance of a senior looking down at their younger colleagues that are superficial, far too sensible and creating frustration among peer seniors, I cannot believe you are able to treat them like family).
And now, this brings back memories of some personal experiences I had to endure by interacting with such exquisite career people:
- I had applied for a role that had the book at its center. After 5 minutes into the interview, I was told, though, that there was a special need for a different kind of individual than me, an individual that could be totally dedicated to the project; and since I already had a hobyy, I was disqualified (I deducted, thus, that the hobby in question was me having written books).
- I have never worked in an advertising agency. People in advertising agencies work really hard. I tried explaining to my interviewer that at the place I was working at I was working my fingers to the bone. But I was straighten up that I had not the faintest idea about what hard work really was (and here is the explanation to this post, when I stated that one should not insist of giving proof to someone who has already made up their mind).
- Even though I was not fit for the job, I was advised to come for a day and thus take a day off from my current employer and spend it at my potential employer's office. The explanation - we are like a family, and I have proved myself in the past to be bad at picking people to be part of our team, and thus I am now letting the team decide if we want to take someone on or not. How much can one find out from only a day spent in the office? And how much can a person be read on their first day? And why people like this believe they are entitled to commit abuses and ask a person to take a vacation day without offering to pay for that day?
A humble request, if I may: let's stop from projecting ourselves into people who know it all, people that are perfect and they know very well who is to blame and truly understand the context.
And, please do listen, people! Communication is a two-way street. You have ears, so use them!
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