# Hiring Milennials



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

AgNews....

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/the-mission-to-hire-millenials-NAA-wyatt-bechtel/


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I agree with the Millenials not wanting to work the traditional day. I would hate doing an 8-5 every day. And I'm a lazy X generation person.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

A key element he missed with millennials is the the need to provide for them. Most require lodging, few can be bothered with cooking and an alarming amount of the need to pushed to get their drivers license. As a employer of them, we end up being part mentor, part parent too.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

carcajou said:


> A key element he missed with millennials is the the need to provide for them. Most require lodging, few can be bothered with cooking and an alarming amount of the need to pushed to get their drivers license. As a employer of them, we end up being part mentor, part parent too.


I don't understand the not wanting a drivers license.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

A couple thughts:
"They aren't a punch-a-time-clock generation,"

I see this one all the time. In my experience boomers place way too much emphasis on the time put in, and not nearly enough on what was accomplished.

As for word of mouth vs internet job seeking:
It's not what you know, it is who you know. Word of mouth trumps all. When you don't know someone or have an "in", everyone else comes online. Of the few people who walk in the door (that I see), most are not employable.

The few and far between exceptions can be some of the best though.

Edit: this is based on my experience. Different industries/jobs will vary.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

It's awful.....been trying to hire an office worker for 3 months.....starting pay 15.50 an hour and can't get any good candidates.....only ones we do get that are good workers are military and don't stay long, usually 2-3 yrs.....


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

That's tough Dawg. Gotta keep searching. Good candidates are out there. Just more of the other kind. Gotta sort through em.

Tougher now too that the job market has been picking back up. Here anyways.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

carcajou said:


> A key element he missed with millennials is the the need to provide for them. Most require lodging, few can be bothered with cooking and an alarming amount of the need to pushed to get their drivers license. As a employer of them, we end up being part mentor, part parent too.


Geez... that's something I just TOTALLY do not understand... It's not the first time I've heard this, either, and seen it myself...

I was born in 1971. I'm 44 years old. Not "over the hill" or an "old fart" (yet, though I sometimes feel like it!) so I don't like to think I'm THAT disconnected from the "younger generations" but this IS something that *I* just completely DO NOT understand...

My BIL's nephew is a perfect case in point... He's 22 and STILL does NOT have a driver's license. He drives on back farm roads (illegally and sooner or later will probably get caught or have something happen and the fit will hit the shan...) and has no desire to get his license. Course, his Dad got killed about 4 years ago in a wreck during the family vacation, and his mom is kind of a basket case, and she's overprotective of him and basically they just sit at home together and do ???? (nothing as far as anyone can tell). It's just not a good situation, but nothing anybody can really change...

My oldest cousin (I graduated a year or two before she was born, in like 91 IIRC) does have her license; she was in college and ended up flunking out and letting some dingbat friend of hers wreck her car and ended up getting pregnant by a low-life that's now in prison... Gotta hand it to her, after a year or two of abject stupidity she's FINALLY put two and two together, got rid of the worthless scumbag baby daddy, and got a good job, new car (after baby daddy wrecked the other one they got several times) and is slowly getting on a better track...

My middle cousin, who's a few years younger, is in college studying to be a pharmacist... recently announced her intention to go for her PhD, and goes to a college in central Texas about a 3-4 hour drive from her parent's place. My uncle keeps the roads hot up there and back because, until VERY recently, SHE didn't have her driver's license and had no real interest in getting one! She works hard, babysits for the faculty and even the dean, but just got her license like late last year!

My nephew, who's 19 or 20, the youngest, again, has had NO interest in getting his license... my uncle again keeps the roads hot taking him to his job pushing in shopping carts from the parking lot at the local HEB grocery store... they offered him a job inside and he turned it down... he enjoys working in the parking lot too much... (go figure that one out!) His Dad drives him to work and picks him up every day.

Problem is, my uncle is 60 or so and not in good health. He's retired from Region III (educational support center, the guys who "teach the teachers" in Texas, so to speak, after teaching vo-ag in high school for about 25 years). He finally bought them all used cars last year and I think kicked them in the pants to get a driver's license, I guess so if he's under the weather, they can get around on their own...

I don't know about you guys, but I was driving trucks and tractors and pickups and machinery from a very young age... by 12 I was running in the fields all day every day on the tractor. I drove my mom's car home (following Dad) one night from the hospital she worked at 23 miles away two towns over because she got sick and had to be hospitalized one night or something when I was about 10-12... I ran down the highway from one end of the farm to the other by the time I was 14. When I got my permit at 15, I was driving the pickup to Shiner hauling hay with Grandma in the front seat. Got my license at 16 and ran grain trucks and all sorts of stuff, drove all over the country hauling stuff, etc... I couldn't WAIT to get my license... I got the keys to the 85 F-150 farm truck and it was like FREEDOM! I couldn't even IMAGINE being 20-22-24 and not having my driver's license... to me it's just unfathomable...

Heck, I've already taught my daughter to drive the farm truck pulling the cattle trailer and flatbed trailer, worked on backing, and teaching her to drive tractors and stuff... I showed her a video I shot and posted on Youtube of a little Mennonite girl about her age driving a 620 John Deere tractor running a square baler and pulling a pair of wagons behind, with Daddy and little sister riding the wagon while Dad stacked bales on the wagon... that got her thinking some I think, because she's been kinda scared about running machinery, riding mowers, etc... But heck she's old enough and it's time to learn and get over that "skeered" stuff...

Anyway, that's just something that has really bothered me and that I frankly just don't and I guess CAN'T understand.

Later! OL JR


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Why bother getting a license when mommy or daddy will drive anywhere, provide all, etc? It is not a kid issue. It is a parent issue.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I thought kids liked freedom? What is more freedom then having a drivers license. Heck they have to go through the hassle of getting an ID generally from the same place that gives drivers licenses. Why not just take a couple tests and get the license? Though sometimes I wonder how do city kids get any driving experience before they are 16 to safely drive on roads. Particularly in the city? I'm going to have to figure out how to disconnect the weight sensors on our tractor seats for my son to be able to drive them when he is a little older. He is big for his age. One good thing about the older tractors.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

deadmoose said:


> Why bother getting a license when mommy or daddy will drive anywhere, provide all, etc? It is not a kid issue. It is a parent issue.


Children are products of their environment. Fortunately, some children thrive as a result and sadly, others are merely survivors. Every child grows up in an individually perceived environment and their perceptions are their reality. You can influence but you cannot dictate. The Millennials grew up with digital media, in a child focused world, school shootings, terrorist attacks, AIDS, and 9/11. They also typically grew up as children of divorce. Like previous generations, they hope to be the next great generation and to turn around all the "wrong" they see in the world today. They grew up more sheltered than any other generation as parents tried to protect them from the evils of the world. They came of age in a period of economic expansion and were often kept busy as kids. They were the first generation of children with schedules.

I'm not sure what this next generation (my grandchildren-Generation Z) will be like but they will be interesting/different and the Millennials will be tearing their hair out trying to understand them. Right now, is an interesting time because for the first time in history, we have four generations working side-by-side. Different values, experiences, styles and activities create misunderstandings and frustrations, but it doesn't have to be a collision and all it takes is a little respect. Just remember that the generation before you didn't understand you either......They damn sure didn't understand me.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

deadmoose said:


> ....
> 
> I see this one all the time. In my experience boomers place way too much emphasis on the time put in, and not nearly enough on what was accomplished.
> 
> ...


Some put emphasis on time put in, but it takes time to master an area. According to Malcolm Braddy in his books Outliers and Blink, it takes 20,000 hours of practice to master a subject. I whole-heartedly agree.

As near as I can figure, I have spent in excess of 70,000 hours working with computers and consider myself a Grand Master. I have spent in excess of 30,000 working with horses, and I consider myself a Master. And I have spent about 20,000 hours growing hay. I have spent at least 60 hours/week doing all of this stuff, plus other activities such as remodeling houses, raising 5 kids, 3rd Degree Black Belt, acting classes, music lessons (and playing in a band) and a few other things (I don't know if I want to include my taste for Scotch in this list.).

I wonder how many people have spent 20,000 hours doing any one thing seriously? (20,000 hours is 10 years, 50 weeks/year, 40 hours/week.)

I do not consider myself an exception.

And then: "It's not what you know, it is who you know." Add on, "It's not who you know, it's who you blow." Cynical--maybe; realistic-probably, especially after living in Chicago.

Just my thoughts.

E.g.: My home office





















Ralph


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

According to that Ralph most millennials should be masters of smart phones


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Bgriffin856 said:


> According to that Ralph most millennials should be masters of smart phones


And they are! My youngest son can get 10x the texts through his phone in 5 minutes that takes me 5 hours to get one through!

But I've got better things to do with my time than text my girldfriend--WHO IS SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO ME ON THE SOFA! Blew my mind!

Update: Just saw this--How appropriate!










Ralph


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

somedevildawg said:


> It's awful.....been trying to hire an office worker for 3 months.....starting pay 15.50 an hour and can't get any good candidates.....only ones we do get that are good workers are military and don't stay long, usually 2-3 yrs.....


Cripes, I've worked at the same shop for 15 years and make $15.50. Boss always tells us he pays us what we're worth.... I hate him more now...


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Wow, you need to build your own shop and go on your own. Maybe cost of living where you are is low, but in my neck of the woods a tech with your knowledge is worth a lot more than that....


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

PaMike said:


> Wow, you need to build your own shop and go on your own. Maybe cost of living where you are is low, but in my neck of the woods a tech with your knowledge is worth a lot more than that....


Not really, I'm not a very good mechanic.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

stack em up said:


> Not really, I'm not a very good mechanic.


Lol, ain't much demand huh stack.....I feel your pain brother, ain't much demand for me either


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

somedevildawg said:


> Lol, ain't much demand huh stack.....I feel your pain brother, ain't much demand for me either


Birds of a feather dawg, birds of a feather...


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

stack em up said:


> Not really, I'm not a very good mechanic.


I'll challenge you on that! If you are really not that good, then you are not worth $15/hr, maybe not even that.

But....... If you have been there 15 years, you are probably a helluva of lot better than you give yourself credit for.

You tell me: Are you a good mechanic....or not? I'm betting you're better than you give yourself credit for!

Ralph


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Teslan said:


> I thought kids liked freedom? What is more freedom then having a drivers license. Heck they have to go through the hassle of getting an ID generally from the same place that gives drivers licenses. Why not just take a couple tests and get the license? Though sometimes I wonder how do city kids get any driving experience before they are 16 to safely drive on roads. Particularly in the city? I'm going to have to figure out how to disconnect the weight sensors on our tractor seats for my son to be able to drive them when he is a little older. He is big for his age. One good thing about the older tractors.


Just throw a spare cast iron weight on the seat and you're good to go... LOL

Later! OL JR 

PS. Geez this new stuff is overplumbed... bout like a modern riding mower... have to rewire the thing to get it work right, eliminate all the stupid "kill the motor if you shift in reverse with the blades on" and "kill the motor if you get up off the seat" crap...


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

stack em up said:


> Not really, I'm not a very good mechanic.


Compared to some of the idgits they hire now, you don't have to be...

So long as you're not working on the computer systems... those you need a guys who REALLY knows what he's doing, and those guys are REALLY few and far between!!!

And I ain't one of 'em either... LOL I can fix pretty much everything else, but if it's a "computer problem" off to the shop it goes... Why I don't like and don't want computerized *anything*...

Bout ready to get a 79 Chevy and do a frame off restoration on it and just keep rebuilding it for a farm truck-- way cheaper than these new computerized monstrosities that even the dang factory trained tech's can't keep running right...

Later! OL JR


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

rjmoses said:


> Some put emphasis on time put in, but it takes time to master an area. According to Malcolm Braddy in his books Outliers and Blink, it takes 20,000 hours of practice to master a subject. I whole-heartedly agree.
> 
> As near as I can figure, I have spent in excess of 70,000 hours working with computers and consider myself a Grand Master. I have spent in excess of 30,000 working with horses, and I consider myself a Master. And I have spent about 20,000 hours growing hay. I have spent at least 60 hours/week doing all of this stuff, plus other activities such as remodeling houses, raising 5 kids, 3rd Degree Black Belt, acting classes, music lessons (and playing in a band) and a few other things (I don't know if I want to include my taste for Scotch in this list.).
> 
> ...


The old timers around here used to say that a guy had to farm for 20 years before he really knew what he was doing and got really good at it. It fits in line with what your saying. Its been 20 years since I have been officially farming. By that I mean filling out the farm income tax forms in my name and paying taxes from farm income. Its only been in the last few years that I realized that the old timers were right.


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