Chapter 10. Dream Jobs

What would be the ultimate dream job for the millennial generation?

Well, it would definitely have to provide unlimited career opportunities, plenty of praise and rewards, flexible work hours, a casual and fun atmosphere, and, of course, a meteoric rise to the executive suite. But when it comes to specific companies and industries, the millennials are much less of one mind about the perfect job.

Management consulting and accounting firms, innovative technology companies, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies certainly rate high on this generation's wish list. Some millennials seek the stability of established and reputable companies like General Electric Co. and Procter & Gamble Co., while others favor small and medium-size businesses where they believe they will enjoy greater access to senior executives and take on major responsibilities from the get-go. Alternatively, a growing number of young people are bypassing the corporate world entirely and striking out on their own to satisfy entrepreneurial passions.

Of course, after a few months on the job, millennials may not be so starry-eyed. This exploratory generation is likely to bounce from one seemingly dreamy job to another before finally settling on a long-term career. But at least while they're still students, they believe they know which jobs will be just right for them.

Teenagers are thinking mainly in terms of careers rather than specific employers. Business careers are most popular with male teenagers, whereas female teens most want to become doctors and teachers, according to a survey by Junior Achievement, an organization that helps prepare young people for the workplace (see accompanying table). More than half of the survey respondents said they are motivated mainly by their passion for a particular vocation, and only 12% said money influences their career choices.

At the college and graduate school level, millennials are more experienced and have very definite notions of their ideal employers. They clearly favor companies with cool images, most notably technology pioneers Google Inc. and Apple Inc., both of which received very high scores in student surveys conducted by the research firm Universum in 2008 (see accompanying tables).

Students see Google, which placed first in the rankings, as a fast-growing, visionary company. They also like its unconventional office environment and youthful, multicultural workforce. From gourmet cafeterias and hair styling salons to massage therapy and video games, Google piles on the perks and lets employees blend their work and personal lives at its Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California. Among the top 10 reasons Google gives for joining the company: "Work and play are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to code and pass the puck at the same time."

Google also has a philosophy of valuing ability over experience—a definite plus with millennials, who much prefer a meritocracy to a seniority-based workplace. Young people also warm to Google's inclusive, nonhierarchical culture. "We know that every employee has something important to say and that every employee is integral to our success," the company states on its jobs Web page. "And where else can a newbie unabashedly and unflinchingly skate over a corporate officer during a roller hockey game?"

Universum has detected growing undergraduate interest in nonprofit organizations and government agencies, including the U.S. State Department, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Peace Corps, and Teach for America. Such employers may prove to be a good match for the millennials because of their desire to perform meaningful work and make a contribution to society. Undergraduates also aspire to work at the major accounting firms, banks, and consumer goods companies.

M.B.A. students, in contrast, are aiming more for high-paying jobs and favor a different mix of employers. Consulting and investment banking firms perennially dominate the top spots in Universum's M.B.A. rankings. "The firms whose people are its product—investment banking, consulting, and professional services—are doing the most outstanding job in attracting this generation of M.B.A.s," says Claudia Tattanelli, CEO of Universum USA. "But M.B.A. students today also have become more interested in some of the big consumer-brand companies like Nike and Walt Disney."

Many millennials hope to work for companies they respect and consider to be solid corporate citizens, such as Target Corp. and Starbucks Corp. This idealistic generation witnessed the wave of corporate scandals that began with the collapse of Enron Corp. in 2001, and want to steer clear of any employer with a checkered past. The public relations firm Hill & Knowlton surveyed M.B.A. students at 12 international business schools in 2007 and found that about three-quarters believe that corporate reputation is highly important in choosing an employer. An additional 20% consider reputation fairly important. In rating specific industries, the M.B.A.s gave negative reputation scores to oil, pharmaceutical, chemical, alcoholic beverage, and tobacco companies and said they would have little interest in working for them.

Some millennials prefer large employers like GE and Johnson & Johnson because they promise a wealth of job opportunities at their many business units around the globe. Millennials also find the financial strength and stability of such corporate titans reassuring. "When this generation grew up, the world order was crumbling around them, with terrorism, Enron, and the Catholic Church scandals," says Kaye Foster-Cheek, vice president for human resources at Johnson & Johnson. "So young people are looking for stable companies that have stood the test of time in terms of their values and financial performance. Millennials find Johnson & Johnson's Credo statement of values, which has been guiding us for about 65 years, very appealing, but at the same time, they want to be sure that the Credo doesn't make us stodgy."

Some young people are intrigued by jobs that give them freedom to try out different roles. For example, two-year rotational programs are popular with business school graduates because they get a chance to do stints in different departments without locking themselves into a particular role.

Matthew Cromwell didn't start out in a rotational program, but he did take a job that allows him to explore his options for a little while longer. As manager of corporate administration for Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield in Rochester, New York, his job changes from day to day. "I'm not confined to finance or marketing or any other function, so work never feels dull," says the M.B.A. graduate from the University of Rochester. "I work frequently with a number of different senior managers and get the chance to investigate a lot of areas of the company to see what I'm most attracted to."

Before he joined Excellus, for example, he didn't realize that he enjoyed making presentations and doing other communications-related assignments. "I always thought I would end up in something more mathematical like finance or accounting," he says, "but I find that I really like learning different ways to communicate a point to a specific audience."