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It’s not really a deep confession, it’s not even a secret, but it is a dirty truth.
I am the youngest person in my office.
Jobs are harder than ever to come by. Less people are retiring due to pension and social security deficit and it is leading to a lack in space in most companies. In fact, even jobs listed as “entry level” are looking for people with Master’s Degrees. Why? Simple: because those people are just as desperate for a position that pays as we mere Bachelor’s Degree-holders. So naturally, if you are even able to score a position in a well-established business straight out of college, chances are that you too have been the youngest person in the office.
Upon being hired, it seems like a good idea to be the new-KID-on-the-block. You are fresh out of school with a bright new outlook on things. You want to amp up the social media presence in the company since, as a member of this generation, you’re a Facebook and Twitter pro. You’re ready to integrate all the things you learned in college about technology and new policies. You’re ready to take the business to the “next level”… whatever that is. In your interview, you mention all of this, and the company is impressed. You’re excited. You’re ready.
You’re so, totally, WRONG.
Yes, there will be some things that you can take the lead on. You are in charge of Excel Spreadsheets since you’re the one that knows all the tips and tricks to it and you’re in charge of anything with a “www.” in front of it. Other than that: nada. No projects assigned to you, no authority is given to you, and you’re not even given the ability to delegate tasks out.
Why?
I used to think that it was a simple power struggle. That in being the new and young person in the office, with degrees and different angles on things, people were threatened by the thought of change. I thought that integrating technology would change jobs, change paths, change the way things “always were” and I thought that would bother people. While all of that was true, and that maybe there was a little truth to the “power struggle” theory, there is much more to it than that.
A recent High School graduate came in to help with a project. While I wasn’t given the authority to delegate a task to her, I gave it to her anyways. The job was simple, mostly just doing and re-doing the same movement over and over again. Simple, redundant, but just time consuming. I figured that the job was in capable hands and I walked away from it.
I was wrong.
The job got mutilated. Pieces were missing. Pieces weren’t done. It looked sloppy and who was to blame?
The kid in the office.
In this instance, I learned something about being “the kid in the office.” Yes it is true you get to help change a lot and make things more efficient using the technology that you are so well versed in. And yes the older people in the office won’t trust you for a long time, forget about your existence constantly, and refer to you as “kiddo” for several years before you prove yourself. But that is just it: you have to prove yourself. In delegating that one task to an incapable young person, I made myself look lazy. In delegating that task, I proved that the “fast way” is not always the RIGHT way. That task had to be re-done taking triple the amount of time it should have and costing double what it did in the first place. In trusting the high school graduate, I realized why it took me so long to earn the trust of my coworkers. Being “the kid in the office” comes with its trials but eventually, you earn the ability to delegate, manage, and control. It takes time.
I still get called “kiddo” constantly. I still get left out of staff meetings and important decisions. It is still assumed that since I do not have a husband and children of my own, that I must have a lot of spare time on my hands. I still get made fun of on a regular basis. I am still “the kid in the office.” But in reflecting on the last year, I am also able to organize mailings by myself, design advertisements, and even take charge on a few things. I have proven capable of starting projects before they have even been asked for. I have even begun to suggest things, and have seen my ideas become a reality. Every kid has to walk before they run, and this kid is just getting started.