Narcissistic College Graduates In the Workplace?

SpuriousLogic writes "I work as a senior software engineer, and a fair amount of my time is spent interviewing new developers. I have seen a growing trend of what I would call 'TV reality' college graduates — kids who graduated school in the last few years and seem to have a view of the workplace that is very much fashioned by TV programs, where 22-year-olds lead billion-dollar corporate mergers in Paris and jet around the world. Several years ago I worked at a company that did customization for the software they sold. It was not full-on consultant work, but some aspects of it were 'consulting light,' and did involve travel, some overseas. Almost every college graduate I interviewed fully expected to be sent overseas on their first assignment. They were very disappointed when told they were most likely to end up in places like Decater, IL and Cedar Rapids, IA, as only the most senior people fly overseas, because of the cost. Additionally, I see people in this age bracket expecting almost constant rewards. One new hire told me that he thought he had a good chance at an award because he had taught himself Enterprise Java Beans. When told that learning new tech is an expected part of being a developer, he argued that he had learned it by himself, and that made it different. So today I see an article about the growing narcissism of students, and I want to ask this community: are you seeing the sorts of 'crashing down to Earth' expectations of college grads described here? Is working with this age bracket more challenging than others? Do they produce work that is above or below your expectations of a recent college grad?" We discussed a similar question from the point of view of the young employees a few months back.

Comments

It's a non story.

[Samschnooks]

This is nothing but hyperbole based upon a few - that's assuming it's true. This is nothing new. I've had to deal with narcissists since I entered the workforce in the 1980s: programmers who thought they were brilliant and should be worshiped like Gods. This is just a news story that's a backlash against the perceived "self esteem movement"; which is backed up by a bunch of burnt out, cry baby teachers who have their own narcissistic tendencies (Oh look at me! I'm an overworked and underpaid teacher! I'm teaching YOUR CHILDREN! I'm more important than anyone!).

Yawn.

BTW, Teaching is a GREAT gig! Graduate from college at 22, work and get all the extra credentials needed and at 60, retire a millionaire! Guaranteed. The Teacher's Union will see to it - they don't like it when folks point that out. Yep, the profession that has the most retired millionaires is teachers. You won't have a private jet, but you'll be living much better than most retirees. Make sure it's a public school system, though.

Re:Precious Snowflakes

[bingbong]

While you're spending all your time in front of the keyboard becoming a non-provable top 5% (busy work is boring to you - but grades are important to employers), prob the rest of the class are out drinking, having fun and getting laid.

And by laid, I mean with actual 3d live humans who don't ask for a credit card number before they talk to you.

Re:They give you a false impression in school..

[pmarini]

he learned it fast indeed: dropped out of Harward (or whatever it was he was going), started using the $1 million fund set aside by his grandpa, and made a fortune by rewriting a BASIC interpreter using a computer he was supposed not to...