Real Relationships in a Virtual World

Handshake, the job site for current college students, just released survey results (October 2021) about Gen Z's views on building professional relationships. Four key points stood out to us:

• 8 in 10 agree that it’s easier for them to learn about a career they’re interested in and make a wider range of professional connections than was possible in their parents’ generation.

• Nearly 7 in 10 job seekers believe that they do not need to meet in person to forge a meaningful professional connection.

• 87% of job seekers believe that messaging with an employer may lead to a job.

• 92% of alumni would pay it forward by helping a fellow alumnus find a job.

Their reasons for connecting virtually made good sense: psychologically safer, offers more privacy, accessibility, and convenience.

This perfectly matches key points in our book, our programs, and coaching!

It was also interesting looking at the preferences on the preferred ways to initially contact. This was no surprise to us:

• 92% Email

• 82% Short Calls

• 77% In-person Meetings

From the Handshake study

We expect some to point out the report’s focus on the Gen Z age group, versus a larger age range. But as Handspring also pointed out, in several years, Gen Z will be 30% of the workforce. They were born in 1996, making the oldest 25, but according to Pew Research they are also better educated than other generations at this point in their lives:

They are less likely to drop out of high school and more likely to be enrolled in college. Among 18- to 21-year-olds no longer in high school in 2018, 57% were enrolled in a two-year or four-year college. This compares with 52% among Millennials in 2003 and 43% among members of Gen X in 1987.

Our Takeaway: reaching out with a well-structured message, and a clear request via LinkedIn and other online sites is a key to job search - and career success. In our book, we have a proven reach out model, along with frameworks for a meaningful discussion.

We also went deeper, by breaking out three different reasons to reach out - and the message for each.

It’s time to strengthen your reach out and relationship building skills - it’s more likely people will reply!