Quarter-life crisis: Careers experts share advice for Gen Z workers and jobseekers
Young Australians are struggling to find meaningful work and second-guessing their chosen career paths. Careers experts share their best advice for jobseekers and graduates.
SmartDaily
Don't miss out on the headlines from SmartDaily. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Young Australians are in the grips of a quarter-life crisis, struggling to find meaningful work or second-guessing their career paths entirely.
They are entering the full-time workforce among a “perfect storm” of downsizing businesses, the automation of entry-level roles, a lack of soft skills and under-researched career choices.
But careers experts have told SMARTdaily there are key steps younger workers can take to stave off a 20-something slump including seeking advice from older colleagues about the ups and downs of a lifetime at work, developing ‘soft skills’ that cannot be automated and realising that you have to contribute to the business from day one.
New survey findings from human skill development company MaxMe reveals 29 per cent of university graduates aged 21 to 28 are working in an industry completely unrelated to their qualification.
Another 27 per cent are in their chosen industry but not in the area they had planned.
MaxMe founder and chief executive Renata Sguario says 20-somethings are starting to realise the workforce is “not quite what they imagined”.
“Only one out of five are feeling really good about the role they are in,” the former National Australia Bank senior executive says.
“It goes back to the lack of life skills, human skills and work readiness training.
“You come out (of tertiary education) and you have the technical knowledge … and you land in an organisation and want to give it your all because you are young and ambitious but you realise quite quickly that you don’t have what you need to be successful.”
Sguario, who created the Hodie app to teach human skills in bite-sized sessions, says Generation Z workers face different circumstances to young people in the past.
“Our workplaces are becoming more complex,” she says.
“Twenty years ago, there was plenty of simple stuff to get on with so you had time to get used to the environment and people you work with.
“Now, because we are working at a faster pace with technology, only more complex work is left behind for humans to do.
“Because businesses are downsizing, they have fewer people to do the same work so young Gen Z workers don’t have time to get their feet under the desk – they are expected to start contributing.
“The unique combination of that more complex work environment and not having the skills to thrive in that environment is a perfect storm, and will continue to be.”
The Careers Department founder Samantha Devlin agrees the quarter life crisis is a real problem among Generation Z.
She blames misleading university marketing and a lack of research by prospective students.
“(University marketing materials say) ‘Do an exercise science degree!’ and there is a picture of someone running on a field so students think it’s a pathway into sport,” she says.
“People do criminology and think they are going to work in forensics.
“They pick courses based on names without looking at the reality of them.”
The Careers Department, which is one of 40 recipients of The AMP Foundation’s annual Tomorrow Fund grants, offers virtual work experience modules to high school students so they can gain a genuine sense of career options from the people working in them.
The goal is to highlight the breadth of roles available and showcase what day-to-day work actually involves.
Devlin says school leavers must do more research before choosing a career path and not just rely on their parents’ advice.
“They need to be able to list companies and list roles (in the industry),” she says.
“It’s hard for parents, many don’t know where to start with their children – they don’t know what a UX designer is or what a data scientist would do.
“There are so many industries that are new and emerging.”
Dana Thomson, 25, admits she suffered from a “quarter life crisis” after graduating from her Bachelor of Business (Events Management and Marketing) in 2017.
She did not struggle to find work but instead over-committed herself in an effort to set up her career as quickly as possible.
“I was trying to get as much experience as I could get in the events industry and then after about a year working two jobs plus volunteering on the side I kind of burnt out,” she says.
“I overworked myself but also felt those steps were necessary to get into this industry because they are looking for unicorns every step of the way.
“I ended up taking a break and gave a month’s notice and travelled overseas for about three months.”
Thomson returned to Australia with a fresh perspective on her goals and is now working for digital agency LittleBig Marketing and PR.
“(My advice to others is) try to get as much information as possible on roles you are interested in,” she says.
“Ask people what they love about their job, what they do every day and what they see as changes to the industry.
“A job description itself doesn’t give all the information.”
TOP TIPS FOR YOUNG JOBSEEKERS
STOP AND TAKE A BREATH
Get to know yourself.
What are you good at? What are your strengths? What is your purpose?
If you don’t know what is important to you, you can’t talk about it and convince someone else to hire you.
WORK YOUR NETWORK
Some Gen Zs have lost their ability to connect but people hire face-to-face so you have to learn to not be shy and be more bold.
Reach out to people in the working world.
Ask your mum, dad, brother, cousin: “Who can I connect with that is already in the area I am interested in?” then have a conversation with them.
DON’T SIT AND WAIT
There is nothing more depressing than waiting for people to respond to applications.
Get a volunteering role.
You can gain practical experience for your CV and referees that can speak positively about the work you have done.
MASTER YOUR MINDSET
You have to stay positive and strong and be able to rebound from rejection.
Ask yourself: “What more can I be doing? What more can I find out? What more can I learn?”
You will learn something from every set back but only if you choose to learn from it.
CAST A WIDE NET
Don’t be wedded to one way of doing things.
Say yes to opportunities and take risks.
Do your best with any opportunity you get because it will then lead to people appreciating you or wanting to go above and beyond for you.
WORK ON TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
Without these skills, it’s difficult to make career moves and people become boxed in.
That’s when the stress starts to hit home and they don’t know what to do next.
SOURCE: MaxMe founder and Hodie app creator Renata Sguario
MORE NEWS
Shark Quiz: Test your general knowledge
The Shark’s tips on how to be a quiz champ
Borrowers to save thousands as interest rates slashed
Originally published as Quarter-life crisis: Careers experts share advice for Gen Z workers and jobseekers