In a recent post, my colleague George Leef pointed out how sensitive our college students have become not only to “hurtful” language, but also to “microaggressions” — small slights that are not even intended by the person doing the slighting. They’d better toughen up.
According to a recent New York Times article, Amazon employees are stressed to the breaking point on a daily basis — having to be on call 24/7, encouraged to feed negative comments to each other’s bosses, tear apart each other’s ideas in meetings, and told that when they “hit the wall” — to then “climb the wall.” As one former employee stated in the article, “nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”
I spent 30 years working in corporate America, and an additional dozen on the faculty of a small liberal arts college. While Amazon may be an extreme case, I’m here to say that college students better toughen up for what lies ahead.
Their success in corporations will depend on a combination of substance and form, both vital to career success.
Regarding substance — chemistry majors better be able to balance an oxidation-reduction equation, business majors to do regression analysis and calculate returns on investment, and so forth. College students today are too interested in “will it be on the test”; what they need to do is to focus on learning skills that will be demanded of them after graduation, and get them down cold.
Form is just as important — be on time, dress properly, use professional and respectful language, be highly engaged in meetings and always exhibit a positive, collegial attitude. Too many of today’s students are late with assignments, passive in discussions, wear hats and ripped jeans to class, and generally look like they have no idea what they are trying to prepare for.
It is tough in these corporations. Not only are employees competing in the marketplace against other companies, they are competing with each other. The organizational pyramid narrows quickly, and those who want to rise to higher levels have to be the best of the best, exhibiting deep substance and perfect form. The college years fly by — students have no time to waste.