KEY POINTS:
There have been countless articles written on the art of connecting with Gen Y and how employers should be pandering to their sensitivities and "engaging" them in meaningful projects, etc. Consequently, self-styled Generation Y "experts" like Peter Sheehan have succeeded in saddling a whole generation with a reputation for being precious and prone to career promiscuity with their lack of tenure and tendency to job hop.
However, as a Gen-Xer who started her career straight out of university as an underpaid dogsbody in PR, I do have the following words of advice and home truths to impart to candidates looking for their first role.
Chances are, you're not Paris Hilton's "BFF", so please don't feel the need to speak in a faux west coast drawl and punctuate every sentence with "like" in a formal interview situation.
Likewise, make sure your CV is written in English, rather than text speak and is grammatically correct - I'm amazed how many graduates feel the need to dump in a "t" in their Batchelors (sic) degree.
Make friends with the spell check facility in Word and ask someone you trust to proof your CV for you.
Every graduate or school leaver potentially faces the same chicken and egg dilemma.
You need work experience to get a job, but how are you going to get that experience when no one will employ you? If you can possibly afford it, this is when couple of weeks' unpaid work experience will prove invaluable. Whilst still a predominately American trend, some New Zealand companies have caught on to the idea of offering internships, with no obligation on the part of either party.
Failing that, draw up a wish list of organisations you would love to work for and proactively approach them, offering to work for free for a couple of weeks.
Worst case scenario, you will pick up some valuable contacts purely from any rejection letters you receive.
If you have a burning ambition to follow a particular career path, contact someone who is doing your dream job and offer to buy them a coffee. Pick their brains as to how they got where they are and what advice they would give to someone starting out.
However busy or high falutin' an individual is, most people will gladly take 20 minutes out of their week to give you the benefit of their advice and may be quite flattered to be viewed as a potential mentor.
Never underestimate the power of networking. You may not think you have developed any discernible networks as of yet, but school or university offers endless opportunities.
Take advantage of any careers fairs and guidance your education institute may offer and don't be shy about approaching the parents of friends who might work in your desired industry. Frankly, the more schmoozing you can do the better as people can't help you if you don't let them know what you want.
If you don't have much work experience, try to avoid the temptation to list every minor accomplishment to date in your short life.
The fact that you were once a member of the Girl Guides/Students Against Drink Driving/Otago University Beer Appreciation Society, etc, etc, is no doubt laudable but largely irrelevant to a potential employer.
However, if you managed to hold down a job during university or every summer, make sure you include this as it will single you out from the lazy trust fund slackers who sat on their posteriors during every holiday and lived off their parents' benevolence.
You may be holding a shiny new degree certificate in your hot little hand, but so are 60 or so of your peers who are graduating at the same time, so you need to make yourself stand out when it comes to doing well in your first job.
When you have yet to distinguish yourself by having work experience on your CV, you really do need to make yourself indispensable and if this means long hours, menial work and a huge dollop of humility on your part, so be it.
For those of you who want to secure a role in a traditionally oversubscribed "fashionable" profession, such as the media or advertising, don't dismiss the idea of taking an admin role to give you a foot in the door.
Robert Walters is setting up a secretarial support division and our clients view graduates very favourably, which is testament to the changing face of this work.
Finally, sorry, but it's highly likely that a large component of your first job will be mind-numbingly dull and beneath your expensively honed intellect.
Photocopying is neither fulfilling nor interesting.
But heck, WE had to do it, so why shouldn't you?
* Lucy Nichols is the New Zealand Marketing Manager of Global Recruitment firm Robert Walters.
