The Gig

Five jobs in five years? No worries

Today, a question from one of you. Gig reader Kurt writes:

"I've been thinking about switching jobs and finding something that will provide better benefits and salary for me and my new wife. But I was typing up a new resume and realized that -- at 28 -- I have five jobs that are one year apiece. How can I spin that in an interview as a positive? Can I just MORE

Onion: Yers apathetic about office politics

I'm on the road this week in *freezing* San Francisco and there isn't much time for sleep, let alone thought, but I had to share this piece of brilliance -- the Onion News Network's "Study finds young people remain apathetic about office politics." (And here I thought we'd explored all the substantive issues with "Politics in the office: Worse than office politics.") Hilarious examples of this youth apathy? Our lack of MORE

Parents, parents, everywhere

Just a little Gen Y (and really, parenting) insight from an unexpected source, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay:

"The Doctors Kavalier maintained exacting professional schedules and, like many busy parents, were inclined at once to neglect and indulge their children."

It's always heartening to come across someone else saying exactly what you're usually trying to say, with far fewer words and so much more beauty -- and in a novel! MORE

Parents, parents, everywhere

Just a little Gen Y (and really, parenting) insight from an unexpected source, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay:

"The Doctors Kavalier maintained exacting professional schedules and, like many busy parents, were inclined at once to neglect and indulge their children."

It's always heartening to come across someone else saying exactly what you're usually trying to say, with far fewer words and so much more beauty -- and in a novel! MORE

Comic-Con: Quirky, fun, and very Gen Y

Ask any of my friends and they'll tell you, I've always been a nerd. As a child, I read classical myths before bedtime, played viola in the orchestra, and watched more G.I. Joe than could rightly be considered healthy. (Well, that last bit might have been more abnormal than nerdy, but you get the idea.)

And yet--contrary to the tales of social maladjustment and woe that those parents of nigh-seven-year-old kindergartners MORE

Comic-Con: Quirky, fun, and very Gen Y

Ask any of my friends and they'll tell you, I've always been a nerd. As a child, I read classical myths before bedtime, played viola in the orchestra, and watched more G.I. Joe than could rightly be considered healthy. (Well, that last bit might have been more abnormal than nerdy, but you get the idea.)

And yet--contrary to the tales of social maladjustment and woe that those parents of nigh-seven-year-old kindergartners MORE

Helicopter parenting goes to grade school

When I saw a headline about this study, "The Lengthening of Childhood," on the front page of the New York Suna few days ago, my Gen Y antennae immediately went up. As we've discussed here before, some researchers argue that one of the main reasons we Yers are who we are is our own (Boomer parent-enabled) elongated adolescence. But instead of the more general argument about young people's dependence on MORE

Corporate 'toolz' revealed

Just a quick update from one of our Gig authors: It's a new online comic strip, corporatetoolz, from Jake Greene, the author of Whoa, My Boss is Naked: A Career Book for People Who Would Never Be Caught Dead Reading a Career Book. (You may remember him from our "Could 'Rock of Love' boost your career?" post.)

My personal fave?

Of course, as soon as I saw this, MORE

Politics in the office: Worse than office politics

Every time politics comes up in my household -- especially these days -- it ends up being a very long conversation. It was no different the other day, when a colleague stopped by for a visit. Except that the discussion wasn't about John McCain or Barack Obama or even a policy question; it was about how uncomfortable we are talking about the candidates in the office -- and how much more comfortable others seem to MORE

What winning means to Gen Y

Our layoffs post got such an amazing response that we need to continue that conversation, and in the meantime, it's also fed some thinking on other parts of the Gen Y "experience," like this story I did for the Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. Had a chance to do the show on Monday, and the big idea was winning — what it is, what it means, how to be a MORE