The Soft Pitch

I’ve heard the talk about Gen Y – about how they act as though they believe they’re privileged or entitled and want to jump right in and take on major responsibilities.  I’ve heard the complaints, which to me at times sound more like whining from those of us who are in the boom years.  Jump right in and take on responsibility? What could possibly be wrong with that? Sounds like an eagerness to make a contribution, and I say bring it on!  I love what I’ve seen of Gen Y employees coming in: they are energetic, bright and full of fresh ideas. If anything, I’ve found they challenge my own thinking and have helped me explore new paths of my own.

Take, for example, our summer interns. Used to be a summer internship meant you got to hang around the “real workers” and maybe stuff envelopes or file. That’s all changed.  These interns WORK. They’ve been recruited from some of the best schools across the country.  Most have some sort of supply chain or technology background.  A few participated in Avnet’s recent Avnet Tech Games. So we sent them through orientation, gave them some training, and put them into real jobs. But most interesting to me is that they are helping us to shape our intern program themselves.  Why? Because they are part of Gen Y, they have great ideas and who better than they can help us understand what it will take to recruit the best of the best of their generation?

Last year, we took their desire to make a contribution from the beginning to heart and designed a program that put them into regular contributing jobs after a short training program.  That class let us know, that as much as they like having a regular job, they also wanted to learn more about how the company functions overall.  So this year we built in more time for them to learn about technology distribution and Avnet in general. Plus, this class of interns will be helping with some community projects. They like to make a contribution, remember?  So participating in a community project is right up their alley – plus it supports Avnet’s value of community involvement. So this summer, in addition to the training classes and their job responsibilities, they will participate in a project for several non-profit community organizations that Avnet supports. Michelle Chung leads this program for Avnet, staying in touch with the students through a blog and guiding them through the 10-week program. She’s a great one to talk to about internship programs and what makes them work for both students and employers.

The best part?  We hired several interns from last year’s program and they’ve jumped right in and are working hard to make a difference. Thank goodness, because we need them for us to stay competitive in the future.

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