Going from college to your first job can be an exhilarating time, but you may also experience culture shock. The world of work can feel disorienting and stressful for many Gen Z employees who have grown accustomed to the freedoms and predictable rhythms of campus life. In addition to learning your new job, there are unspoken rules that govern the office. Maybe you’ve heard corporate horror stories from your friends and you are already feeling anxious. The best way to steady yourself and build your career is to focus on the things you can control that will maximize your chances of success. Today’s work world is populated with people from four different generations with people who embody diverse worldviews and attitudes about work. Understanding the priorities, expectations, and biases of your “boomer bosses” or “millennial managers” will help you adapt to your new environment. Here are four tips to help you navigate your new professional landscape:
- Acknowledge hierarchy and authority. Life in the office will be easier if you show up humble and eager to learn. It may be tempting to disparage the supervisor who doesn’t know how to convert word docs into PDFs or to dismiss long-term employees as boring corporate drones. If you have negative biases about your superiors, or authority in general, it will most definitely distort your experience. You have a lot to learn and you will need guides who want to help you. Your first three months are all about learning the job and figuring out where you fit in. Make sure you address emails with a proper greeting and avoid being too casual in your communication. Figure out the chain of command and make sure you “stay in your lane” and get approval from your manager for work that is outside of your scope. Gen Z tends to value informality and equality in relationships, but that can come across as disrespect or entitlement so be conscious of these unspoken rules for engagement.
- Make your work visible. When you were in college, you had homework deadlines and end of semester finals to prove how smart you were. The professional world won’t always recognize accomplishments and give you the immediate gratification that grades did. Your manager may be busy and distracted. Don’t interpret their silence or distance as anger or disapproval. Too many Gen Z experience social rejection sensitivity and assume their bosses hate them. If you feel overlooked or invisible, you can be proactive and communicate the value you are adding to the organization. Keep a task tracker, send status updates, and bring a list of wins to your 1:1 meetings. Being organized and documenting your work will help you stand out. If you are a hybrid worker, make sure you are scheduling time in the office when your manager will also be there. It may not seem fair, but in today’s competitive environment, workers who come into the office are perceived as more dedicated and competent and receive more developmental opportunities. The old adage “Out of sight, out of mind” can apply to remote workers, so be sure to stay in your supervisor’s line of sight.
- Be open to feedback and don’t take it personally. A common complaint about Gen Z workers is that they are too fragile and emotionally reactive. You may feel emotionally off balance if you are experiencing loneliness or isolation, which can be common in the post-college chapter of life. If you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious, you might overreact when somebody tries to correct you or give you constructive feedback. It’s natural to be defensive or to shut down. When we receive information that is not congruent with our self-view, we experience identity threat and automatically combat it by rejecting the feedback. Tell yourself that work is a game and that any feedback offered is part of the playbook for winning. Remember, you don’t have to fully agree with feedback, but it’s still valuable. Think of feedback as simply information about what the other person values and needs from you. The best response to difficult feedback is “Thanks for sharing that. I know you want to see me succeed and I’ll work to incorporate that feedback going forward.” Call your mom on the way home if you need to have a good cry, but try to keep it together at work for the sake of your professional reputation.
- Be flexible. Many Gen Z employees have watched their parents toil and hustle without getting ahead and are rejecting the idea that life revolves around work. The mindset is to protect yourself, maintaining a transactional relationship with work and seeing it as just a job. I know younger workers who think “if I don’t catch feelings, I can’t get hurt when I get laid off.” While it’s healthy to establish work-life boundaries, too much rigidity can appear to be a lack of commitment. Starting a new job is the time to demonstrate your value and establish trust with your coworkers. Being flexible might mean staying 15 minutes later to answer emails from your manager or helping a coworker with an occasional task that isn’t related to your job description. Your work reputation will be shaped in these early days and being seen as flexible will benefit you in many ways.
If you identify as Gen Z, your generation is poised to be one of the most influential generations. You are already shifting attitudes for older generations who wish they had not given their best years to a company that didn’t honor the social contract and put profits before people. Experts say that by 2025, Gen Z will make up about a quarter of the global workforce. Gen Z is known for having a “disrupt the system” mindset and isn’t afraid to speak out and challenge the leadership and structures that aren’t working. Many people are optimistic about the positive changes Gen Z will bring to work culture. Remember that your job doesn’t need to be your whole personality, but a few simple things can set you up for success. Ultimately, these tips can help you feel empowered, reduce work-related anxiety, and allow you to enjoy all the other things that make up your life.