There's an article today on the Globe and Mail website titled "Why a 22-year-old shouldn't be handling your social media". The main argument sits on this quote:
“I’ve seen it a lot,” [Winnipeg-based business growth consultant Ryan Caliguiri] says. “And I always pose this question, ‘You wouldn’t let your intern stand front and centre in a booth at a trade show, would you?’ And they say, ‘No we wouldn’t.’ So then why would you put them front and centre online on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn?”
If you give yourself a mere thirty seconds to consider the question "you wouldn't let your intern stand front and centre in a booth at a trade show, would you?", the problem with this whole article becomes clear:
Why would you hire an intern that you don't believe would accurately understand, reflect and communicate your business strategy effectively enough to bring on new (and keep your current) clientele? Why would you hire an intern / junior staff member that you wouldn't showcase at a trade show?
There's this assumption that us 22 year old interns/recent-graduates are incompetent as far as business sense and strategic planning goes. We don't have 30+ years experience, we haven't been in the trenches for long, so of course we shouldn't be standing front and centre to represent the agency you've slaved over for decades.
My question is this: with the job crisis as we're currently in (i.e. thousands more graduates than self-gratifying non-bartending jobs), why should small and medium sized companies waste their energy on hiring 22 year olds they don't believe should be operating their Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn? Or standing front and centre at their trade shows?
As a 22 year old who is in the throes of running my own business, I often wonder why my highly talented honour-roll colleague graduates are having a rough time finding careers worth their time and ability. The answer, however, is slowly becoming clear: small and medium sized companies aren't taking the time to find the cream of our crop and put them to the value they're worth.
You don't want to pay them more than $35 000 a year? Then don't. But give the valuable 20-somethings in the Toronto market the opportunity to represent your brand and demonstrate to you that it doesn't take 30 years in the trenches to be an asset to your company.
And don't waste your time hiring anyone you wouldn't trust to represent your brand.
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ReplyDeleteI've always felt like we twenty-somethings are underrated. We are brought up to know we have to work hard and show our talents if we want a job... and then we get here, educated and willing and smart, and they tell us it's STILL not good enough. Huh.