Mass. Exodus - Is it Only Massachusetts?

Scott Kirsner published an article in The Boston Globe today that focused on a couple of key topics near and dear to my heart. The first is something that’s been written about for the last 10 years, the exodus of talented college graduates to other states after they receive their degree from a Massachusetts-based college or university. The second point is what the state and industry can do to change it

There are a lot of variables that have contributed to the decline of the 25-34 year old population in Mass. including the out-of-control cost of living and the completely inflated housing market. That along with lousy weather and long suffering Boston drivers make me wonder why I still live here. That said, the cost of living and housing markets are even worse in California which continues to grow in population.

Scott suggests campaigning college students to keep them where they are after college.

“Every year, students at local business schools fly west for the annual "Tech Trek." They visit companies like Genentech, Google, Apple, Boeing, and Starbucks, getting tours of the headquarters and an opportunity to question senior executives about strategy. Amazingly, only the Sloan School of Management at MIT organizes a tech trek of Massachusetts companies, visiting businesses like Bose Corp., Boston Scientific, and Zipcar. Why don't student groups, profs, local companies, and trade associations get their acts together to create opportunities to drop in on Massachusetts businesses, either during a single concentrated week, or throughout the academic year?”

I agree with Scott that the state needs to do more but I also think employers and schools in Mass. (and nationwide) can be doing more as well. Employers need creative recruitment practices give students the opportunity to experience the company brand, facilities, culture and more in real-time. If that sounds like too much, remember it can be a one-day event or once-a-quarter event. Also, if you have the budget to travel to on-campus events or post nationwide job listings than you can probably relocate some of it to educate great candidates in your community on what you do and why they should join your company.

Schools should be working with employers to drive these programs on campus. It won’t cost them anything to do it and will only help their student base find amazing internships, work-studies and jobs.

My soon-to-be husband is a Texan who stayed in Mass. after graduating from Northeastern because of a girl (not this girl). It didn’t work out with the girl but it worked out with Mass. and he stayed long enough for us to meet. (I lucked out :) However, you can’t count on love to retain great candidates. State government, employers and schools should all be doing there part to keep great candidates in state after graduation.

Some will leave anyway but many will stay if they are given solid reasons for doing so.
As for me, despite that I'm New Englander (born and raised) I may leave eventually because I’m still not used to the weather!

Gen Y and Financial Services

In today's Marketing Daily from MediaPost, there's an interesting article on Generation Y and their need for financial guidance. According to "Gen Y Is Going To Need Financial Guidance More Than Most," people born between 1977 and 1994 make up only about 5 percent of financial advisors' client base. Millennials (generally speaking) have more student debt than previous generations, continue to rack up credit card debt and do not put money away for retirement or other savings. Less than a third who are able to participate in a tax-deferred retirement savings plan are doing so, even though they are the generation most in need of financial planning.

It wasn't until I was 30 (and engaged) when I sought professional assistance in my personal financial planning. As a 20-something in the 90s, I was always conscious of the need to save. I opened up IRAs, 401-Ks and the like. But it wasn't easy and I know I could have done more. Aside from helpful parental advice and my Rookie's Guide to Money Management book, I was on my own. And I imagine college-educated people just starting out in their careers today are in similar positions: they'll just figure it out as they go along.

I don't remember there being any financial services counseling at my undergraduate career services center while I was a student. In hindsight, I'm sure I would have benefitted from even basic advice. Does your school offer counseling of this nature? Managing money is of course a vital part of career planning, but I have a feeling this "real world" counseling may inadvertently fall by the wayside while the heat is on for students to graduate, find jobs and get started with the next chapter of their lives.

Photo by Rob Lee

Are Social Networks for Socializing or Networking?

I confess, in late 2002 I joined Friendster at the behest of a friend and in 2003 I was wooed away from Friendster and introduced to Myspace by the man I will marry in four months. So when Facebook opened their membership to the general public, I put my foot down and declared a ‘social networking profile creation’ moratorium. My resolve lasted about five weeks when in the dark of the night I found myself once again typing ‘The God Father I and II’ under ‘favorite movies’ in my new Facebook profile.

No, I'm not a shameless narcissist who has to be everywhere. My sole motivation was to keep in touch with family and friends on the three sites. (Actually two since nobody I know uses Friendster anymore). At first, I logged on nightly to update my page and to also look at everyone else’s. Then the novelty faded and now I check them occasionally to see if anything new iss happening with friends and family.

Anyway, the media has covered the issue of employers using Facebook to ‘get to know’ potential candidates and rescinding offers as a result of these fact finding missions. There has also been a lot of press coverage about Gen Y’s feelings about employers intruding on what used to be their turf and their turf only.

So, I was surprised when I read a story in the New York Times that reported how people are using Facebook as a means to find a job. Say what? Since when?
Everyone I know uses Facebook and MySpace to post photos with clever captions, maybe make plans, but most of the time just kill an hour voyeuristically perusing the pages of people they don’t know (the latter is not possible on Facebook, just MySpace).

Well, when you get to heart of the story it's revealed that people are finding the ‘connections’ necessary to find a job, but not the actual jobs on social networks. I’ll give them credit for taking a ‘by any means necessary’ approach to networking, but it seems like an odd choice given that social networks have people from age 10-100 whose primary purpose for logging in is to ‘socialize’ which is a very different from of networking in my book.

Furthermore, there are many alternatives like Linked In (or our own Experience Connections if I might shamelessly plug it) that offer the same networking opportunities in a professional environment (and where the sole objective is professional networking). I mean would you go to the Mall of America to buy a new toothbrush? It just seems like a convoluted strategy for job hunting when there are so many other options that are not only more direct but have a proven record of connecting candidates to employers.

Maybe I’m just an old Gen Xer, but I don’t believe that ‘finding employment on Facebook’ is a trend now and I don’t believe it ever will be.