Gen Y? Millennial? Great... what else can you do?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 07:46AM 
Here’s a fact.
One day you will be 30 years old.
Here’s an opinion.
There are a lot of people over 30 who don’t care about what you have to say about being under 30.
Here’s another opinion.
There are a lot of people under 30 who care about your thoughts but aren’t in a place in life where they can help you.
“You're Wrong! I know tons of….”
So what am I getting at by spouting off these polarizing statements? I’m trying to offer a warning. I dabbled for a short amount of time in the “under 30” topic soon to realize it was an unwise route to take.
Being a blogger or content creators requires a great deal of time investment. Through your efforts, are you branding yourself as something that would be considered valuable on a relatively timeless scale? I’m not going to bash the idea of writing about the issues that millennials, etc have to face, but realize that creating this type of content may come at a cost to your own development. Those who have come before you; your bosses, potential employers, perhaps even reporters are going to Google you and find that a great deal of content attached to your name is very narrow, and eventually expiring. Sure the “Gen Y” aspect is being tied to ______ industry so it’s really about the industry and not the age right? Well...not exactly. That may be the reality, but it may not appear that way to the person trying to assess your expertise.
Here’s yet another opinion for you, and an anecdote:
Youth is not a selling point.
Time and time again, I see the same phenomena play out.
-Smart Gen Y goes to conference and wows a Veteran.
-Veteran and Gen Y get to talking and Veteran starts to notice that the references Gen Y makes seem to refer to a decade much farther ahead than Veteran is used to talking about.
-Veteran gets curious and asks how old Gen Y is.
-Veteran says “Wow. I thought you were way older.”
Here’s why that last statement was made: Because experience and knowledge equates to time practiced. Youth defaults to inexperience and ignorance regardless of whether it is a reality because it's assumed that a younger person has not yet invested the time to have gained a surplus of knowledge. As time goes on, you WILL gain knowledge and you WILL "pay the dues" that your seniors expect from you (and believe me, they do expect it), but your google results will make you show up as someone who focuses on the issues of a younger generation. Let me be clear; this is going to cut into the value of knowledge and experience you will have built in the future.
Oh the irony
I realize the irony of this post. By posting this here, I'm contributing content to my own search results which is exactly what I'm telling you not to do. Let's call this small sacrifice my gift to all of you. As someone who is now on the latter half of the under 30 crowd I'm offering a warning to be careful what you align yourself with now. You are talented in some way. You do not need to pigeon-hole yourself as someone who is talented in some way that also represents the face of Generation ______. People (employers specificly) value talent, not talent at _______ age. Obviously we want to set ourselves apart from the many other bloggers out there and choosing a generation to affiliate yourself is an easy way to do that. But again, I'm reminding you, that affiliation will expire one day and you won't be an "Under 30 X Blogger" anymore, you'll just be a blogger. Take the time now to replace the "under 30" with something that makes you unique not dated.
Advice, generations in advice
Reader Comments (12)
Amen. that's all.
Okay that would be a crappy comment if I cut it off there.
I dropped the whole "ooh I'm so GenY" thing for this very reason. Am I GenY? Yes. But is that my whole schtick? No. Niche blogging is super for getting you noticed, but as your life changes, your content on your blog should too. You can't be Under30 forever. Just like I toyed with the ideas of being "Sydney in the City" before I settled on Unfiltered. I'll always be Unfiltered. But if I move to the burbs, get deported to mexico, whatever, I won't be Sydney in the City - and I'd have to rebrand again in 5 years.
Good work.
Leave it up.
And FTR - am I an example of the conference attendee above?
Len,
You guys have nothing on Gen X! We're the overlooked, slacker generations and the most entrepreneurial....
Just trying to match your polarization :) I get on my generational soap box from time to time and I think that's okay. I think that each generation has a lot to learn from each other. I think the trick though is that you need to help other generations understand your generations or why your viewpoint is valid, not stand on a soap box. Help your generation understand what they can learn (by telling them what you've learned) from the other generations.
No you shouldn't hit that topic too often but an occasional indulgence is perfectly okay.
Very thoughtful post, good job.
I had a specifically Gen Y blog for over a year and it's honestly not that hard to re-brand yourself. The Gen Y thing got me a ton of attention, and my blog was probably one of the top 5 Gen Y blogs in the US for a long time.
Re-branding was done in phases, and now you pretty much can't tell that Gen Y was such a huge part of my blog at one time. I mostly write about marketing now. I still throw in some Gen Y posts every once in awhile, as long as they are related to marketing, and as long as I can write about Gen Y in a removed way. (I'll say "this generation likes..." rather that "we like...")
I haven't had any major unsubscribes on my blog, even though in the last six months I've changed domains, changed topic, and changed the name of my blog (in three different phases). If anything, my blog has grown even quicker due to these changes.
So I do agree with you, to an extent. At the same time, your readership is always changing and your blog doesn't need to be consistent over a hugely long period of time, in my experience. People read you because you are you. Anyone new to the site is only looking at the last 5, maybe last 10 blog posts. I think Gen Y is a good niche to start in, establish relationships and build up your blog. If your blog has a chance of success eventually your blog will get too big for the niche and then you move on to a bigger topic.
I love your 30 cut off. I remember when I turned 18 I thought I was finally a man. Then at 21 when I could legally drink I thought now I am finally a man because I was a kid at 18. Then at 25 I thought now I am finally here, gosh I was young at 21. And I didn't truly feel like I was a true grown up until I was 30! I just turned 42 btw and my friends range from 26 through 47, but most are younger than me. I got into Advertising by hooking up with a 23 and 24 year old French Punks with a great business idea in Dec 2007. But I clashed hard with one because I have 15 years of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development experience and one of the punks thought he could tell me how to sell. Just like you said he had no credible forward or backward experience. The other French Punk I admired. He was wise beyond his years. He had talents I did not. And he leaned on me for what I knew and let me do what I know how to do vs trying to tell me how I should do something. The biz folded and now I am doing a similar Agency, but I have the benefit of knowing why they failed, and all my experience working in sales, quality assurance, manufacturing, distribution, project management, account management, operations something they did not have the time to accrue. Not their fault!!!!!!! They will gain it just as you said.
Now to why at 30 I felt truly like a man/adult. 30 is when finally....FINALLY...everyone older than you in the business world actually accepts you, respects you (enough accrued knowledge), and they know you finally have skin in the game. You have a career and life you have been building. Independence you wish to keep. Before 30 you are much more likely to be reckless, irresponsible, wind up in jail, in rehab, dead, or still live with your folks. This doesn't mean people under 30 don't have superior knowledge or talent than older folks (pisses some off lol), but it is an inherent bias. We want to see some scars from your battles. We want to relate when moaning or bragging about mortgages, investments, etc. Or even being able to relate with benefits of being older making more money like lifestyle enjoyments. And of course they feel bitter when they find out the 28 year old was invited to an underground rave and partied all weekend long and still made it work fresh on Monday (we get hangovers!) I of course was at the rave. lol
But the important thing to remember when you get past 30 is to keep one foot under 30. Never lose your optimism, your zest at life, or frown on those that are younger for having such attributes. It will keep you younger longer and allow you to succeed in your work relationships better. The best situation is to be someone who can go out for drinks with the 20's crowd and encourage their growth, share your war stories, while also having credibility when the CEO or Business Unit Manager calls you into his office.
Finally, someone pointed this out. And of course it was you, Len, considering this was a semi-grumpy post. :)
Even though I'm under 30 myself, I've for the most part avoided being associated with any label that says my value is attached to my age. I know plenty of smart, Web savvy people over 30, and many people under 30 who think they have it all figured out. Whether they do or not is up to their employers to decide, but something tells me the curtain may be drawn back on some of us when real results are demanded.
So here's to us Millenials, or Gen Y-ers, or whatever getting a little less cocky and a little more humble.
Len,
Wow. Well said.
Two things:-
1) Yes, I do blog about being a Gen-Y. But its to relate to my own age group and a means to find people out there like myself, in the same boat.
Do I consider myself a total Gen-Y blogger? Yes and no. Yes, b/c I am Gen-Y., no because I think that eventually, like you point out I will be 30. And the next Gen of 20-somethings will come around.
By then, the other 30-somethings I'll be around would have grown past (most of us) whatever issues we thought we were facing ten years prior.
It's a way of like.
That being said...
2) You are absolutely right about working yourself into a niche like that. It can be harmful in the long run. A friend of mine once said, you should hire someone based on their talent and not their age.
So sure Gen-Ys are, for the most part, very net savvy. Well, I know a lot of non-Gen-Ys who are net savvy too. Some even better than a Gen-Y. It goes back to the talent thing.
I don't know, maybe right now it's just cool to be under 30 with all of the internet and social media craze. And maybe I'm just lucky that I'm 24.
But that's the thing, at 24, I look at myself at 18 and even 21 and I think, "wow, I didn't know a thing." I don't think I know everything and I feel that in that sense a lot of Gen-Ys are getting the sticky end of the stick in terms of stereotyping.
Angela and I are actually going to go the other way and interview babies, maybe even hook up a mic to an ultrasound. You know, for cutting-edge insights nobody else has. Brands will be beating a path...
;-p
Len:
I hate using demographics as a proxy for what someone cares about, what they can do or how they will behave.
Good marketers market to passion, not demographics. Good employers hire talent and passion, not demographics.
Every time I see an article titled "Gen X this or Gen Y that or Millennials other" I quickly turn the page or close out the tab to avoid it.
Thanks - TO'B
I have less than 4 weeks to go before I turn 30, and I think I'll try to remember what Howie is saying as I move into the next decade of life. I will try to keep the enthusiasm I've had and the drive to get ahead, but will also be able to use the experience I've gained.
Mostly I keep trying to escape what I call "pipsqueak syndrome." I've been at my company for almost 8 years, so I was only 22 when I started. This means that I've been the youngest for a long time, and I am still the youngest even as I approach 30.
Fly Len. I can effin fly.
Syd,
I noticed the rebrand and reformat of the blog. I think it was a great move and a fantastic design! And ok...I'll leave the post up :)
Tac,
I'd like to say we all have something to learn from each other, generations included.
Monica,
You did a great job rebranding your blog to more of a marketing focus. Then again, I think you're more savvy than a lot of bloggers and shifting your search results :)
Caleb,
Like we said before, it needed to be said. Thanks for stopping by to read and contribute.
Nice! It's nice to know these things before I turn 30. Thank you for this very nice post.:)