The number four myth about Generation Y is that they want the top job on day one. Managers tell me all the time, "These Gen Yers show up and they want my job! Gosh, when I was young, I showed up on day one on my job and I thought, 'I'm brand new here, I'll keep my head down, I'll keep my mouth shut, I'll do as I'm told, I'll sit tight, I'll get a feel for the place. I know nobody is going to take me seriously until I've been here for a couple of years probably.'"

"But these Gen Yers show up and it's like they want my job on day one!"

So what's the truth?

They don't need the top job on day one, but they do want to hit the ground running on day one. Gen Yers are in a hurry to start earning and they're in a hurry to make an impact.

Here's what they want:
-They want to identify problems that nobody else has identified.
-They want to solve problems that nobody else has solved.
-They want to invent new things, they want to make existing things smarter, faster, and better.

But they will do the grunt work. They just want to know that they're making an impact and they're getting credit for what they're doing.

They do not want to spin their wheels. They do not want to sit tight and get a feel for the place. They want to hit the ground running.

BONUS MANAGEMENT TIP - HOW TO MANAGE GENERATION Y
IN LOCO PARENTIS: PLANS, CHECKLISTS, AND ACTIVITY LOGS
Help Gen Yers keep track of their own work by using self-monitoring tools like project plans, checklists, and activity logs. Gen Yers can monitor whether they are meeting goals and deadlines laid out in a project plan, make notations within checklists, and report to you at regular intervals. Activity logs are diaries that Gen Yers can keep, noting contemporaneously exactly what they do all day, including breaks and interruptions. Each time he or she moves on to a new activity, the Gen Yer might note the time and the new activity. By using these tools, Gen Yers can document their own hard work every step of the way and build their own track record of success.