Millennial Allegiance How My 2-Week Temp Job Turned Into an 11-Year Career

Millennial Allegiance How My 2-Week Temp Job Turned Into an 11-Year Career In the business world, the millennial reputation is mixed. Were known for ur talent but also our turnover.The median job tenure for a Gen. Y employee is just two years, according to a PayScale report a far cry from the seven-year average for baby boomers. Another studyfrom Elance-oDesk found that 53 percent of hiring managers found it difficult to find and retain millennial talent.Ive watched friends change jobs and often entire careers several times before their 3othbirthdays. As for me, however, Im in year 11 of my first job. I was 19 years old when I took a two-week temp position working for a data company, which became part of Nashville-based tech firmEdgenet. At the time, my intent was to make some quick cash while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. Well, I happened to really enjoy my stint at Edgenet, and the rest is history.Ive been asked mora than a few times why I havent explored new opportunities. In the tech industry, after all, competition is pretty fierce for the best perks. And while all-day snack bars and game rooms get the cool factor, for a lasting work environment, its important to make sure that connections to employees run deeper than games and free food. (In fact, the ping-pong tables in a tech firm has become a stereotype and not a good one.)From a millennial perspective, here are my tips to help employers conquer the great divide between Gen. Yand the other generations.1. Give Us FlexibilityMillennials idea of work doesnt always fit into a 9-to-5 schedule. We have busy lives in and out of the office, so we value the ability to manage work life and home life interchangeably. Promoting a strong work/life balance and offering remote working opportunities go a long way in showing your Gen. Y employees that you value them. A take time off when you need time off policy and even something as simple as encouraging employee s to take personal calls at work (my office has special pods for that right outside the conference room) shows the company values all of your time, not just on-the-clock hours.2. Dont Let the Work Environment Become StaleIn most millennials eyes, change is excitement, and its something were used to. We went from VHS, landlines, and dial-up to on-demand streaming video,smartphones, and Wi-Fi all before many of us were out of our parents homes. We grew up on change, and we thrive on it.In my 11 years with Edgenet, the company has evolved dramatically. The company hastaken me along for the ride, giving me opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. With each promotion, Ive learned something new, which is essential to keeping the attention of the most educated generation to date. I even had the chance to move across the country to Nashville and reenergize my personal and professional lives.3. Be Honest With Your EmployeesIf there was ever a time to be completely open and transparent with your employees, this is it. Millennials value being in the know, and, thanks to the Internet, we expect it. This goes for the workplace, too. We appreciate open and honest lines of communication between all levels of the company, and we expect to be held to the same standard. Sharing plans for the business and giving us the opportunity to offer input and be taken seriously in doing so is invaluable to earning our loyalty.4. Open the Door for ProgressMillennials often want to know where we fit in the big picture. If we dont binnensee a clear path to growth and a desirable role, we already have one foot out the door. Be frank with your employees about their long-term potential within your company, and listen when they express their desires for change, whether its more responsibility, the chance to try a new role, or an idea to move the company forward.Become a trusted mentor to your employees and guide them along their professional journeys to reach their goals. Eve n if those goals dont happen to be at your firm, letting us know that youll help us get to where we ultimately want to be is an incentive to stick around.5. Show Your AppreciationMillennialswant to stand out and feel valued as individuals. Our professional selves and work selves are intrinsically connected, and we find excelling at work to be personally gratifying. A handwritten note or some praise for great work in front of peers lets your employees know that their hard work and talent arent going unnoticed. Share how the work we do makes a difference to the company. If we feel valued and connected to firm goals, we have purpose and thats something were constantly thirsting for.Millennials may get a bad rap for corporate loyalty, but because we are relative newcomers to the workforce, businesses are still trying to figure out how to work with our generation. You can easily win the allegiance of this generation as long as you pay a little attention to our quirks.

Internships at the United Nations

Internships at the United NationsInternships at the United NationsThe United Nations was established in 1945 to replace the League of Nations. Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations as a term to describe the Allied countries. The United Nations Charter was established to maintain international peace and to promote cooperative solutions to international economic, social, and humanitarian problems. The U.N. Headquarters is in New York City, and it resides in international territory. It also maintains main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. Jobs at the United Nations span a wide gamut of disciplines and geographies. Paths as well as functions, departments, geographic locations, and even organizations or fields of work can change during a career with the U.N. With almost 44,000 staff from 193 Member States interns can find themselves working on multi-cultural teams with people from all backgrounds and cultures. The United Nations edict is to seek solutions to com plicated problems from helping to end conflicts and alleviate poverty, to combating climate change and defending human rights. The issues are as diverse as the careers are. Staff member, with assistance from Interns, do everything from monitor elections, help disarm child soldiers, coordinate humanitarian relief efforts, and provide logistical support to carry out our complex mandates.?? Opportunities The United Nations offers semester-long full and part-time internships during the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms for undergraduates, graduate students, and recent graduates. Interns there participate in a variety of activities in support of the department for which they work. The nature of internships depends on the needs of the department the intern is working with. Searching for internships at the U.N. involves using the search engine on the U.N. website. There are job openings for specific positions as well as generic job openings, which are used to create pools of candidates f or selection across the Organization. Generic job openings contain the following text This Job Opening is for roster purposes. The application process is the same for both types of job openings, whether position-specific or generic. Objectives Expose students to the work of the United NationsEncourage them to consider careers in the U.N. or related causesProvide a framework for students from diverse academic backgrounds to utilize theoretical knowledge in practical work assignmentsTo aid the United Nations to achieve its mission. Qualifications Applicants should be enrolled in a degree program in an undergraduate or graduate school during the internship or should be a recent graduate with a demonstrated interest in the United Nations and international development. Locations New York City Bangkok, Thailand Beirut, Lebanon Santiago, Chile Nairobi, Kenya Geneva, Switzerland Vienna, Austria Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. How to Apply To apply for internships with the U.N., visi t their website. Applicants should submit a current resume and cover letter online, with the letter being addressed to Intern Administrator. Only Online Applications will be considered. The resume and cover letter should be in Word or pdf format. Only completed applications, with both a resume and cover letter, will be considered. International Opportunities The United Nations has a truly global workforce. In the last decade, the Organization underwent a dramatic transformation to be more responsive to needs around the world. Today the U.N has a more reactive field-based operation, with 60 percent of its staff working in locations all over the world. Efforts such as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the United Nations Environment Program have rtlich offices all over the world to allow them to respond rapidly to emerging issues that call fo r their expertise and assistance. Due to the International nature of its mission, there is a myriad of Internship opportunities abroad with the United Nations through their offices in Bangkok, Nairobi, Geneva, Beirut, and Santiago. These can run the gamut from Economic Affairs in Lebanon to Humanitarian Affairs in Thailand to Information Technology in Kenya.