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Gen Y at Work: How do I Prove Myself?

Published on October 5th, 2009 at 7:15 pm by Blake Sunshine

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Generation Y at Work: How do I prove myself?

By: Blake Sunshine
Blakesunshine.com

It’s not easy being a Generation Y at work. Everyone is watching you and waiting for you to make a mistake. That’s why, it’s especially important for Generation Y to prove themselves in the workplace, both to their bosses and their coworkers.

But there are a few things that Generation Y can do to prove themselves and prove their value to the business:

Go above and beyond – Generation Y HAS to prove themselves every day, and the best way to do that is to go above and beyond in everything you do. Perform your job well, finish your tasks quickly and work with your team to ensure success for yourself and the business. Don’t half-ass anything! Going above and beyond is the only way to prove yourself at work.
Offer to do a job no one wants to do – For Generation Y at work it’s important to show that you are willing to do the “sucky” jobs that no one else wants to do. Does everyone on your team hate pulling metrics? Offer to do it. Does your boss need someone to stay late? Offer to be that person. When you do something no one else wants to do your coworkers will see your dedication and commitment.
Don’t make mistakes – I know it’s impossible to not make any mistakes. But if you are a Generation Y at work you have very very few opportunities to make mistakes. When you make a mistake you look like an amateur, and amateurs don’t last long in business. The best way to not mistakes is to do your work, ask questions and review your work diligently. And if you do make a mistake, fix it very very quickly.
Recognize yourself – I love to work in teams, but it’s the nature of the game that I work a lot by myself. And when I’m working by myself, I get a lot done that nobody knows about. The problem with that is if nobody knows what you are doing than it looks like you aren’t doing anything. Take a few minutes every other week and update your boss on all of the great things you have been doing at work. If you have a big success, email the people involved and let them know. Recognize the great things you do and everyone else will begin to recognize them too.

http://twitter.com/WillNaylor Will

What you're missing is perseverance – it's a bit like looking at Superman and Batman. Superman has all these amazing powers and can defeat just about any foe but Batman ends up having more respect. The reason is because Batman's foes challenge and push him – Batman, as a mere mortal, must persevere through it all as best he can just to be alive.

Crazy analogy but hopefully it makes sense
http://mikearthur.co.uk/ Mike Arthur

As a Generation Y who is doing alright in his career I would agree with 1) but not 2), 3) and 4).

2) Staying late or doing all the rubbish jobs just makes you a doormat. People don't get promotions by doing boring jobs or having no work-life balance. People get promoted because they prove they are better than their coworkers. You are better to leave work on time and relax and get a decent nights sleep so you are fresh to work your arse off while you are at work.

3) Everyone makes mistakes. When you make mistakes, as the new guy, you should own up to them quickly and be honest about them. If you try to just silently fix them yourself them chances are you'll just dig yourself into a bigger hole.

4) No-one likes people who constantly self-promote. The above advice is a quick way to alienate yourself from people. Leave the self-promotion for your reviews and build up a portfolio of evidence to back up your reviews rather than just boasting to coworkers and your boss.
Rian Padua

I'd have to respectfully disagree with your points, Mike. I was born towards the beginning of the Gen-Y group, and, at this point, I'm doing quite well in my career. The advice listed in the above article pretty much summed up the start of my professional life; it was a lot of intense, hard work, and on many different levels: doing my actual job was the least of my worries — in fact, interacting with all the different generations of co-workers was equally important.

I found that the older generations, who have very different work ethics than Gen-Y workers, were really surprised that I dove right into the tasks that pretty much sucked, as well as staying late when we were all crunched with tight deadlines. They most appreciated that I never complained about any of it, and this was how I showed that I was able to pull my own weight. I showed them that they could trust me to be in the trenches with them whenever things got rough, and that during times that sucked, I showed them that I was great company to be with.

As for mistakes: yes, of course we should own them, and there is such a thing as owning them “quietly.” Our generation is sometimes perceived as whiny, and owning our mistakes “loudly” can come off as whiny. When mistakes are made, it's best to own it, suck it up, and fix it. Fast. That's what the older generations did, and that's what they expect us to do, too, because it worked for them. It's a good expectation.

Lastly, “self-promoting” is different than “sharing success.” When you share success, you're letting your superiors know that you're enthusiastic and care about the company. Of course, there are appropriate and inappropriate times to share: for example, it would be inappropriate to share with them that you did your job that day. That's lame, because it's expected of you. However, it would be excellent to share how your team was able to land that new client/account, or that you were able to identify a stellar way to save the company loads of money each month by whatever spectacular reason. Remember, you're just sharing with your superior(s), and not necessarily with your coworkers (depending on what it is you're sharing: team accomplishments, versus your individual accomplishments).

This last point of sharing successes is extremely valuable, because all of that gets put into your personnel folder, which is then referenced during your review time (it's different when YOU compile all your accomplishments, versus when YOUR BOSS compiles them, and perhaps happily, too). Also, if you keep your superiors in the habit of expecting good things from you, it will become automatic for them to “catch you” doing good things (as opposed to catching you making mistakes). Getting in the habit of sharing successes will also automatically energize you to catch your coworkers' successes, too, which will make you a really great team member to be around.

If you're just doing “all right” in your career, maybe take a chance and follow one or two, or all three, of the points you had countered. You won't be losing anything, and you'll probably have a whole lot to gain. I'm speaking from personal experience (and a stellar career), and I hope that you, too, will have a stellar career, because our generation is growing up really, really fast, and we've got lots of work to do in this world. Be well, and much aloha.
http://mikearthur.co.uk/ Mike Arthur

I said I'm doing “alright” in my career because I'm trying not to be boastful. I'm at a company that I described as my “dream job” when I was at University and getting a great salary and great flexibility.

My views on 2), 3) and 4) are not just casual theories. You say “you won't be losing anything” but I said them because, in my experience, you will lose out through doing them, that's why I disagreed. I'd say the same thing to either a peer or someone in my team.

With 2) I worked at a previous job doing all the rubbish jobs and staying late and it just became expected and me that I'd drop anything outside of work when something important came up. As a result my work:life balance suffered and I got worse at actually doing my job as I wasn't getting the time to relax. Now I've moved to a job with a 40 hour week and paid overtime and I'm better paid, more relaxed and doing far better.

3) maybe depends what career you are in. I'm a software engineer and when I've interviewed people or had people in my team and they've screwed up then they need to admit it straight away so someone more experienced can clear up the mess. If you are doing a job that's even slightly time critical this will apply. Ultimately you trust those people in your team more because they care more about the team doing well than them looking good.

4) Maybe this depends on the industry as well but generally people can see the results of your work, it's being delivered to someone. If you deserve the praise you'll get it. When you brag about something that actually wasn't seen as being very good you would have been better off not mentioning it at all. Better to focus your energy on doing the great work rather than talking it up.

Thanks for the comment but I'll also respectively disagree with you on the above Be well yourself!
Rian Padua

I'd have to respectfully disagree with your points, Mike. I was born towards the beginning of the Gen-Y group, and, at this point, I'm doing quite well in my career. The advice listed in the above article pretty much summed up the start of my professional life; it was a lot of intense, hard work, and on many different levels: doing my actual job was the least of my worries — in fact, interacting with all the different generations of co-workers was equally important.

I found that the older generations, who have very different work ethics than Gen-Y workers, were really surprised that I dove right into the tasks that pretty much sucked, as well as staying late when we were all crunched with tight deadlines. They most appreciated that I never complained about any of it, and this was how I showed that I was able to pull my own weight. I showed them that they could trust me to be in the trenches with them whenever things got rough, and that during times that sucked, I showed them that I was great company to be with.

As for mistakes: yes, of course we should own them, and there is such a thing as owning them “quietly.” Our generation is sometimes perceived as whiny, and owning our mistakes “loudly” can come off as whiny. When mistakes are made, it's best to own it, suck it up, and fix it. Fast. That's what the older generations did, and that's what they expect us to do, too, because it worked for them. It's a good expectation.

Lastly, “self-promoting” is different than “sharing success.” When you share success, you're letting your superiors know that you're enthusiastic and care about the company. Of course, there are appropriate and inappropriate times to share: for example, it would be inappropriate to share with them that you did your job that day. That's lame, because it's expected of you. However, it would be excellent to share how your team was able to land that new client/account, or that you were able to identify a stellar way to save the company loads of money each month by whatever spectacular reason. Remember, you're just sharing with your superior(s), and not necessarily with your coworkers (depending on what it is you're sharing: team accomplishments, versus your individual accomplishments).

This last point of sharing successes is extremely valuable, because all of that gets put into your personnel folder, which is then referenced during your review time (it's different when YOU compile all your accomplishments, versus when YOUR BOSS compiles them, and perhaps happily, too). Also, if you keep your superiors in the habit of expecting good things from you, it will become automatic for them to “catch you” doing good things (as opposed to catching you making mistakes). Getting in the habit of sharing successes will also automatically energize you to catch your coworkers' successes, too, which will make you a really great team member to be around.

If you're just doing “all right” in your career, maybe take a chance and follow one or two, or all three, of the points you had countered. You won't be losing anything, and you'll probably have a whole lot to gain. I'm speaking from personal experience (and a stellar career), and I hope that you, too, will have a stellar career, because our generation is growing up really, really fast, and we've got lots of work to do in this world. Be well, and much aloha.
http://mikearthur.co.uk/ Mike Arthur

I said I'm doing “alright” in my career because I'm trying not to be boastful. I'm at a company that I described as my “dream job” when I was at University and getting a great salary and great flexibility.

My views on 2), 3) and 4) are not just casual theories. You say “you won't be losing anything” but I said them because, in my experience, you will lose out through doing them, that's why I disagreed. I'd say the same thing to either a peer or someone in my team.

With 2) I worked at a previous job doing all the rubbish jobs and staying late and it just became expected and me that I'd drop anything outside of work when something important came up. As a result my work:life balance suffered and I got worse at actually doing my job as I wasn't getting the time to relax. Now I've moved to a job with a 40 hour week and paid overtime and I'm better paid, more relaxed and doing far better.

3) maybe depends what career you are in. I'm a software engineer and when I've interviewed people or had people in my team and they've screwed up then they need to admit it straight away so someone more experienced can clear up the mess. If you are doing a job that's even slightly time critical this will apply. Ultimately you trust those people in your team more because they care more about the team doing well than them looking good.

4) Maybe this depends on the industry as well but generally people can see the results of your work, it's being delivered to someone. If you deserve the praise you'll get it. When you brag about something that actually wasn't seen as being very good you would have been better off not mentioning it at all. Better to focus your energy on doing the great work rather than talking it up.

Thanks for the comment but I'll also respectively disagree with you on the above Be well yourself!
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