There is always difficulty when you try to paint an entire generation with one broad stroke.  This fact is prominently on display in two different articles from RecruitingTrends.com.  The topic is Gen Y.

Here is an excerpt from the first one (my emphasis):

The millennials share a generational personality that is highly misunderstood by preceding generations, who often misinterpret their motivation as impatience and their enthusiasm as narcissism. Employers who manage millennials need to understand their generational footprint in order to keep this tech-savvy, plugged-in group of employees engaged in their work.

Here is an excerpt from the second one (my emphasis):

So how do you supervise, lead, and approach this next generation of high potentials? In our experience, many are particularly bright and ambitious, but also have a “spoiled brat” mentality. Technology is very much in their DNA. They seek instant gratification and thrive on challenging much of what their older peers believe to be best practices.

A particularly unique characteristic of this group is their command of technology and the fundamental belief that anyone who doesn’t embrace the absolute bleeding edge of technology will simply be left behind.

I’m probably splitting hairs here, but those two takes caught my fancy when I read the articles back-to-back.  Gen Y gets categorized many ways and most of them are accurate, at least in terms of generational descriptions.  However, this enthusiasm vs. spoiled categorization appears often.  I’m not sure which one is more accurate, I simply see this topic frequently.

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