PayScale’s “Gen Y on the Job” report reveals Millennials’ best job and employer options, favorite cities, top job skills, common degrees and more.
Gen Y is embracing science and entrepreneurism. PayScale and Millennial Branding's recent "Gen Y on the Job" study shows that Gen Y is more likely to choose the following college majors, relative to all U.S. workers: (1) neuroscience (1.95x more likely); (2) bioengineering (1.86x more likely); (3) entrepreneurial studies (1.82x more likely). The most surprising major that has recently exploded across the country is entrepreneurship. The Kauffman Foundation, a non-profit that supports entrepreneurship, estimates that more than 2,000 colleges and universities in the US offer a course in entrepreneurship. This is two thirds of the total amount of colleges in America and growing.
A decade ago, no one would think that entrepreneurism would be something you could actually major in and now it’s becoming very common. In my opinion, colleges are being forced to offer entrepreneurship majors, programs and courses in order to compete for top students from across the world. Gen Y is entrepreneurial and sees entrepreneurship as a means to creating a job in this bad economy. In a recent report by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, they found that the number of Gen Y’s in the process of setting up their own companies increased by 50 percent in the last year alone.
Students enrolling in entrepreneurship majors just makes sense. They look up to young entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg and want to follow in their footsteps. Many don’t have a business idea and are looking for these courses to help them meet likeminded people who could potentially be co-founders of a future company with them.
If nothing else, I see entrepreneurship as a skill set now, instead of just starting a company. Companies are looking for entrepreneurially minded workers to remain competitive and innovative. Entrepreneurs are creative, have strong problem solving skills and are willing to take risks to get ahead.
Here is a breakdown of the entrepreneur skill set:
1. Leadership skills. The corporate world is all about uniting people in support of a cause. People usually have different agendas, backgrounds and beliefs. Those that can work with groups of diverse teams in order to accomplish organizational goals are valuable to the enterprise. Leaders are also good at bringing out the best in the people around them.
2. Negotiation skills. Entrepreneurs are great deal makers. They know how much they can get for what they’re selling and how to create mutual relationships, so everyone feels like they win. In the workplace, resources are shared between teams and business functions. Those that can ensure that each group is getting what they need are more successful than those who don’t.
3. Planning skills. A workers ability to actively plan and manage projects is also important. You need to be able to be able to guide your time to reach certain objectives by enduring that everyone knows what they need to do and by when.
4. Sales skills. In the workplace you are always selling yourself, your own ideas and those of the people around you. You have to be able to convince others to support your cause and invest in your projects.
Dan Schawbel is the founder of Millennial Branding, a Gen-Y research and consulting firms. He is a Gen-Y career and workplace expert, as well as the bestselling author of Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future.
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