Uncrossing the X
Tap into the future of the young professional generation

I am a part of the generation born between 1964 and 1980 referred to as Generation X. This generation is now a strong part of the workforce, and we are trying to make our mark on the world. As we advance in our professional lives, we look to the Baby Boomers ahead of us for guidance.

It took me many years to admit that I am indeed part of Generation X. I resisted the label for as long as I could. That big X just gave me the feeling that my peers and I were blank, empty, and without an identity.

However, as I make my way in the professional world and get to know my peers, I realize that maybe the X can be a good thing. It is blank, which means we can make what we want of it. It can be almost as good as no label at all and that allows us to carve out our own place.

The Lexington Young Professionals Association and the Young Professionals Association of Louisville are two fine examples of how we Gen Xers are doing exactly that – carving out our place. Both LYPA and YPAL, and other organizations like them, bring Gen Xers together to groom future leaders and provide our members with opportunities to network, both with our own generation and with established leaders and professionals. Most of the people I have worked with in these organizations are talented, intelligent, and motivated to make a difference. Who wouldn’t see that as positive? Now, the trick is to get Baby Boomers to see us that way.

According to an article by Bettina A. Lankard, Gen Xers are the only generation since the Civil War to come of age unlikely to match our parents’ standard of living. We place little faith in job security because we often saw our parents laid off without cause. We tend to see every job we take as a stepping stone to something better, or at least something different. We believe that job security comes from the transferability of skills to other jobs, and job-hopping builds skills that make us more marketable.

Lankard goes on to say that individuals in Generation X have higher levels of education than those in previous generations. A recent survey of LYPA members shows that 42 percent hold bachelor’s degrees and 31 percent hold graduate or professional degrees. Lankard also cites our real asset in the workplace as our knowledge of technology and an ability to concentrate on more than one task at a time.

Gen Xers are also comfortable with, if not accepting of, change. We have seen job prospects go from excellent to bleak. We have watched our parents lose or change jobs due to company downsizing and restructuring. Forty percent of us were raised by divorced or separated parents and we look to our professional superiors for the communication that we may have missed with our parents. In many ways, according to Lankard, we are more emotionally suited for today’s career realities.

The characteristics described above have bred a generation of independent-thinking, self-reliant multi-taskers who can easily adapt to change and learn new skills. We grew up with technology and computers, and we have a lot of talent and potential to tap. We have a high education level, which gives us more formal training in the types of skills used in today’s professional world.

Many of us have just enough experience under our belts that we know the working world, but not so much experience that our attitudes are ingrained. We can still be molded and shaped. We offer a career-minded group of people to mentor and pass your knowledge on to, which has the side benefit of giving you the good feeling that comes from helping someone else.

With the understanding that comes from reaching across the generation gap, perhaps we Xers can find a little certainty and you Boomers can cultivate the types of successors you want to leave your world.

Jennifer Kustes is a columnist for The Lane Report and also a member of the Lexington Young Professionals Association.
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