What are business schools teaching now-a-days?

[Shoopy]

When I was doing my undergrad (and this was just 5 years ago when I graduated), we were required to take a 2 week business etiquette course before graduating. It went over everything: email etiquette, how to dress for meetings, the true definition of business casual, what is appropriate language in the office, what you should/should not do, etc.

I''m so amazed at the crop of interns we are getting each year. No manners whatsoever

. They walk around with their IPODs all the time. We have external vendors here that pay a lot of money to be in business with us and this is what they see when they roam the halls. On Fridays we are allowed to wear jeans, this does not mean cutoff, low-rise, can see your tatoo and parts of your rear jeans.

We have one "jr analyst" in our Department that is also extremely rude. Today I''m doing the status updates for our team because my boss is out in the field. I approach him with the presentation that we do each staff meeting and just ask for a quick run-down of his projects since a lot can change in a month. He turned, gave me his back, and said "I never do this. If you want to know, you''ll have to ask our manager."

I''m very tempted to say in our staff meeting "We''ll have to wait for J to come back for an update on these projects since C doesn''t know where he is right now" but I was taught better in school

 

[janinegirly]

There have been articles on this generation (20 somethings) having a sense of entitlement in the workplace despite not proving themselves or paying dues. I think managers have been forced to find a way to manage this--since can''t just ignore that segment of the workforce. However, I would think the current market would have tempered that whole element. Oh and the theory is it comes from coddling parents etc, but who knows.

Sounds very frustrating and I''d have a hard time not saying something (veiled with sarcasm of course, hehe).

 

[that_someone_special]

Uhh I know!

Before getting my bachelors we had to take a full class on this type of stuff.

Fiance and I went to a movie the other day and we we got out a team of kids cleaning the theater next to us were leaving at the same time. More than half had ipods ON in their ears... I was thinking, "since WHEN was music at a workplace ok when you deal with and see customers???"

I think some of the turdy ones need to be put in their places.

 

[that_someone_special]

Oh and when I had my internship, I worked 10-12 hr days to prove my worth.... I didn''t get an A for no reason

 

[katamari]

As someone who is teaching college classes, there is an awful abundance of entitlement in many of my students. I believe there is a lot of institutional blame, as many of my colleagues give students Bs just for submitting any quality of work and staying out of their way. Many also ignore texting/fbing in class or im-style e-mails because the confrontation takes more time and emotional labor than just ignoring it. I think a lot of my colleagues are collectively creating the problem by assuming there is someone else to fix it and just pushing it onto employers. Honestly, it might be best to bluntly say things about it or include a professionalization segment during intern training just because I don''t think most are getting it somewhere else.

 

[jet2ks]

As someone who was responsible for hiring and firing, I felt one of the root causes of the problem is that you can''t give an honest report to another prospective employer anymore. If I had someone call about a former employee, all I was allowed to tell them was dates of employment, nothing else good or bad. Since there is no accountability job to job, why should someone care about their performance--it won''t follow you.

How much different might the job market be if these types of people were repeatedly not hired because of being unprofessional at a previous job?

 

[tlh]

Date: 11/30/2009 3:59:32 PM
Author: jet2ks
As someone who was responsible for hiring and firing, I felt one of the root causes of the problem is that you can''t give an honest report to another prospective employer anymore. If I had someone call about a former employee, all I was allowed to tell them was dates of employment, nothing else good or bad. Since there is no accountability job to job, why should someone care about their performance--it won''t follow you.

How much different might the job market be if these types of people were repeatedly not hired because of being unprofessional at a previous job?

I know many --- less than stellar performers -- and former co-workers that used this to their advantage. They did just enough to get by.. not enough to stretch themselves... or too much to "not be eligible for rehire"

 

[elrohwen]

All of my friends and all of the young people who have been in and out of my company over the past few years have been extremely polite, well dressed, and proper. In fact, it's the older generation that I've noticed to be rude, sexist, and out of line at times, not the younger folks.

ETA: I'm not saying that all young people are great employees or that all older folks are rude, but I think generalizations like this happen with every new generation. In 10-15 years, people will be bashing the "new" young crowd.

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 11/30/2009 3:59:32 PM
Author: jet2ks
As someone who was responsible for hiring and firing, I felt one of the root causes of the problem is that you can''t give an honest report to another prospective employer anymore. If I had someone call about a former employee, all I was allowed to tell them was dates of employment, nothing else good or bad. Since there is no accountability job to job, why should someone care about their performance--it won''t follow you.

How much different might the job market be if these types of people were repeatedly not hired because of being unprofessional at a previous job?

I was really surprised when I found this out from an HR friend of mine. Why even bother calling if you don''t get any details? I think a lot of companies are doing this as well.

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 11/30/2009 4:20:36 PM
Author: elrohwen
All of my friends and all of the young people who have been in and out of my company over the past few years have been extremely polite, well dressed, and proper. In fact, it''s the older generation that I''ve noticed to be rude, sexist, and out of line at times, not the younger folks.

ETA: I''m not saying that all young people are great employees or that all older folks are rude, but I think generalizations like this happen with every new generation. In 10-15 years, people will be bashing the ''new'' young crowd.

I''m only 27 but I still feel that the group we are getting here are just so rude. It may be the hiring style...I don''t know.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 11/30/2009 4:32:46 PM
Author: fiery

Date: 11/30/2009 4:20:36 PM
Author: elrohwen
All of my friends and all of the young people who have been in and out of my company over the past few years have been extremely polite, well dressed, and proper. In fact, it''s the older generation that I''ve noticed to be rude, sexist, and out of line at times, not the younger folks.

ETA: I''m not saying that all young people are great employees or that all older folks are rude, but I think generalizations like this happen with every new generation. In 10-15 years, people will be bashing the ''new'' young crowd.

I''m only 27 but I still feel that the group we are getting here are just so rude. It may be the hiring style...I don''t know.

And I will also admit that my previous company had a large number of very awful adults who should have been subject to disciplinary action, so I''ve seen a lot of adults behaving badly

As far as hiring young people, in general they did a pretty good job and had very high standards.

Also, the attitudes that you guys are talking about never would''ve flown in my college or high school (I went to Catholic high school which explains a bit of that). So I think the attitude can absolutely have a lot to do with the school system and whether they took the time to mold proper young people or just let them run amok. In some situations, the young people might just not know any better and would behave better if someone had instructed them.

 

[zipzapgirl]

I understand what you mean in most respects. I am always a little shocked by what our new staffers and interns think is appropriate, especially when it comes to oversharing of weekend activities, the definition of business casual, and general professionalism. Not to mention some of the super casual emails with misspelled words or texting abbreviations.

The headphones issue bothered me at first too--I thought it was very antisocial. BUT, when you think about it it makes sense. Most offices now have an open floor plan/cubicles and no one has a radio (like in the olden days!) at their desk because it would bother everyone else. The earphones allow you to listen to music without disturbing your all-too-close neighbors and some people really need that isolation to avoid hearing the distracting chatter or background noise. I think it''s ok to use earphones at your desk when you are working alone and do not expect to interact with others. Now, walking down tha hall? Not so much.