My observations on mentoring 20 somethings.

[MarathonMike]

I recently returned to work part-time after retiring. I work mainly with young engineers teaching them how to think their way through problems that arise during integration or production. They are generally bright and very nice but I see a lack of motivation to really take ownership. They seem to want to know just enough, "just their piece" without wanting to know the big picture. I keep telling them the true value of an engineer is knowing the entire system at least well enough to know all of the pieces involved and what is doing what. So far I get head nods but nobody stepping up. Oh well.

The other thing that I see is this new group is REALLY social to the point that it distracts from work. A couple of them have their own coffee club with their own bean grinder and coffee machine and have gourmet coffee breaks mid morning. These breaks often extend to 20 or 30 minutes and are quite distracting to other people in the area. I can just imagine if I had brought in a bean grinder and coffee machine when I was a young engineer Whoo boy! That would have lasted about 1 day and the department manager would have called me in on the carpet to ask questions like "Are we not giving you enough to do? Do we pay you to throw parties?"

I guess it's so hard to hire and keep 20 something engineers these day the company bends over backwards in it's tolerance of the new generation. But so far I have to say I don't like what I see.

 

[BlackFlag]

I recently returned to work part-time after retiring. I work mainly with young engineers teaching them how to think their way through problems that arise during integration or production. They are generally bright and very nice but I see a lack of motivation to really take ownership. They seem to want to know just enough, "just their piece" without wanting to know the big picture. I keep telling them the true value of an engineer is knowing the entire system at least well enough to know all of the pieces involved and what is doing what. So far I get head nods but nobody stepping up. Oh well.

The other thing that I see is this new group is REALLY social to the point that it distracts from work. A couple of them have their own coffee club with their own bean grinder and coffee machine and have gourmet coffee breaks mid morning. These breaks often extend to 20 or 30 minutes and are quite distracting to other people in the area. I can just imagine if I had brought in a bean grinder and coffee machine when I was a young engineer Whoo boy! That would have lasted about 1 day and the department manager would have called me in on the carpet to ask questions like "Are we not giving you enough to do? Do we pay you to throw parties?"

I guess it's so hard to hire and keep 20 something engineers these day the company bends over backwards in it's tolerance of the new generation. But so far I have to say I don't like what I see.

Shake your cane at them until they leave you alone

 

[MarathonMike]

I recently returned to work part-time after retiring. I work mainly with young engineers teaching them how to think their way through problems that arise during integration or production. They are generally bright and very nice but I see a lack of motivation to really take ownership. They seem to want to know just enough, "just their piece" without wanting to know the big picture. I keep telling them the true value of an engineer is knowing the entire system at least well enough to know all of the pieces involved and what is doing what. So far I get head nods but nobody stepping up. Oh well.

The other thing that I see is this new group is REALLY social to the point that it distracts from work. A couple of them have their own coffee club with their own bean grinder and coffee machine and have gourmet coffee breaks mid morning. These breaks often extend to 20 or 30 minutes and are quite distracting to other people in the area. I can just imagine if I had brought in a bean grinder and coffee machine when I was a young engineer Whoo boy! That would have lasted about 1 day and the department manager would have called me in on the carpet to ask questions like "Are we not giving you enough to do? Do we pay you to throw parties?"

I guess it's so hard to hire and keep 20 something engineers these day the company bends over backwards in it's tolerance of the new generation. But so far I have to say I don't like what I see.

Shake your cane at them until they leave you alone

Marathon runners don't need canes.

 

[Erinwltr]

Interesting. We recently hired a bunch of 20 somethings and my experience has been the opposite. They are honest to a fault, driven and try to anticipate our managers needs. Anyway...

 

[BlackFlag]

I recently returned to work part-time after retiring. I work mainly with young engineers teaching them how to think their way through problems that arise during integration or production. They are generally bright and very nice but I see a lack of motivation to really take ownership. They seem to want to know just enough, "just their piece" without wanting to know the big picture. I keep telling them the true value of an engineer is knowing the entire system at least well enough to know all of the pieces involved and what is doing what. So far I get head nods but nobody stepping up. Oh well.

The other thing that I see is this new group is REALLY social to the point that it distracts from work. A couple of them have their own coffee club with their own bean grinder and coffee machine and have gourmet coffee breaks mid morning. These breaks often extend to 20 or 30 minutes and are quite distracting to other people in the area. I can just imagine if I had brought in a bean grinder and coffee machine when I was a young engineer Whoo boy! That would have lasted about 1 day and the department manager would have called me in on the carpet to ask questions like "Are we not giving you enough to do? Do we pay you to throw parties?"

I guess it's so hard to hire and keep 20 something engineers these day the company bends over backwards in it's tolerance of the new generation. But so far I have to say I don't like what I see.

Shake your cane at them until they leave you alone

Marathon runners don't need canes.

Then don’t blame me when they start making out next to your desk

 

[MarathonMike]

Interesting. We recently hired a bunch of 20 somethings and my experience has been the opposite. They are honest to a fault, driven and try to anticipate our managers needs. Anyway...

That is interesting, what is your industry may I ask?

 

[Auld Phart]

Interesting. We recently hired a bunch of 20 somethings and my experience has been the opposite. They are honest to a fault, driven and try to anticipate our managers needs. Anyway...

That is interesting, what is your industry may I ask?

 

[rightwinger]

I recently returned to work part-time after retiring. I work mainly with young engineers teaching them how to think their way through problems that arise during integration or production. They are generally bright and very nice but I see a lack of motivation to really take ownership. They seem to want to know just enough, "just their piece" without wanting to know the big picture. I keep telling them the true value of an engineer is knowing the entire system at least well enough to know all of the pieces involved and what is doing what. So far I get head nods but nobody stepping up. Oh well.

The other thing that I see is this new group is REALLY social to the point that it distracts from work. A couple of them have their own coffee club with their own bean grinder and coffee machine and have gourmet coffee breaks mid morning. These breaks often extend to 20 or 30 minutes and are quite distracting to other people in the area. I can just imagine if I had brought in a bean grinder and coffee machine when I was a young engineer Whoo boy! That would have lasted about 1 day and the department manager would have called me in on the carpet to ask questions like "Are we not giving you enough to do? Do we pay you to throw parties?"

I guess it's so hard to hire and keep 20 something engineers these day the company bends over backwards in it's tolerance of the new generation. But so far I have to say I don't like what I see.

How are they technically

 

[rightwinger]

Things change

I remember when I was a young engineer and the older engineers wore pocket protectors and still used their slide rules

 

[Erinwltr]

Interesting. We recently hired a bunch of 20 somethings and my experience has been the opposite. They are honest to a fault, driven and try to anticipate our managers needs. Anyway...

That is interesting, what is your industry may I ask?

Healthcare accounting. The young people I was referring to are actually "scribes."

 

[MarathonMike]

Things change

I remember when I was a young engineer and the older engineers wore pocket protectors and still used slide rules

Right, but do you remember the environment? I recall a very non mentoring even hostile environment towards young engineers. There was very much a sink-or-swim attitude towards us and zero tolerance for anything social during work hours.

 

[MarathonMike]

I recently returned to work part-time after retiring. I work mainly with young engineers teaching them how to think their way through problems that arise during integration or production. They are generally bright and very nice but I see a lack of motivation to really take ownership. They seem to want to know just enough, "just their piece" without wanting to know the big picture. I keep telling them the true value of an engineer is knowing the entire system at least well enough to know all of the pieces involved and what is doing what. So far I get head nods but nobody stepping up. Oh well.

The other thing that I see is this new group is REALLY social to the point that it distracts from work. A couple of them have their own coffee club with their own bean grinder and coffee machine and have gourmet coffee breaks mid morning. These breaks often extend to 20 or 30 minutes and are quite distracting to other people in the area. I can just imagine if I had brought in a bean grinder and coffee machine when I was a young engineer Whoo boy! That would have lasted about 1 day and the department manager would have called me in on the carpet to ask questions like "Are we not giving you enough to do? Do we pay you to throw parties?"

I guess it's so hard to hire and keep 20 something engineers these day the company bends over backwards in it's tolerance of the new generation. But so far I have to say I don't like what I see.

How are they technically

There are a couple who are straight up whizzes the rest I would call decent but not outstanding technically.

 

[rightwinger]

Things change

I remember when I was a young engineer and the older engineers wore pocket protectors and still used slide rules

Right, but do you remember the environment? I recall a very non mentoring even hostile environment towards young engineers. There was very much a sink-or-swim attitude towards us and zero tolerance for anything social during work hours.

Doesn’t mean it was better by a long shot. More structured and not conducive to original thought

I do like the idea of those coffee breaks. Gives them a chance to interact

 

[MarathonMike]

Things change

I remember when I was a young engineer and the older engineers wore pocket protectors and still used slide rules

Right, but do you remember the environment? I recall a very non mentoring even hostile environment towards young engineers. There was very much a sink-or-swim attitude towards us and zero tolerance for anything social during work hours.

Doesn’t mean it was better by a long shot. More structured and not conducive to original thought

I do like the idea of those coffee breaks. Gives them a chance to interact

I agree that hostile environment isn't anything to return to, but like a lot of things the pendulum has swung too far the other direction IMO.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I recently returned to work part-time after retiring. I work mainly with young engineers teaching them how to think their way through problems that arise during integration or production. They are generally bright and very nice but I see a lack of motivation to really take ownership. They seem to want to know just enough, "just their piece" without wanting to know the big picture. I keep telling them the true value of an engineer is knowing the entire system at least well enough to know all of the pieces involved and what is doing what. So far I get head nods but nobody stepping up. Oh well.

The other thing that I see is this new group is REALLY social to the point that it distracts from work. A couple of them have their own coffee club with their own bean grinder and coffee machine and have gourmet coffee breaks mid morning. These breaks often extend to 20 or 30 minutes and are quite distracting to other people in the area. I can just imagine if I had brought in a bean grinder and coffee machine when I was a young engineer Whoo boy! That would have lasted about 1 day and the department manager would have called me in on the carpet to ask questions like "Are we not giving you enough to do? Do we pay you to throw parties?"

I guess it's so hard to hire and keep 20 something engineers these day the company bends over backwards in it's tolerance of the new generation. But so far I have to say I don't like what I see.

Yep....
The Wife works with interns in the banking/accounting industry and she's experienced the same thing,as I did with new hires in machining.
They had no idea why they should learn manual machining first so they could understand why a tool is doing what it was doing which of course makes it easier to understand the application of CNC's.
And of course they all thought they should enter the industry at top dollar despite knowing jack shit.

 

[RandomPoster]

Our culture has moved away from asocial nose to the grindstone work and dedication. Most innovation does not come from groups of cackling hens. It comes from dedicated individuals and is not typically the result of spontaneous flashes of brilliance. We build on the ideas of others, except we typically get most of our work done when we stop socializing and get to work.

"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." - Thomas Edison