My brother’s girlfriend is an accountant for a public firm here in Atlanta. Even though she is a Millennial herself (just 27 years old), she helps manage two interns. Now I don’t know the interns, but they are giving me (and Millennials everywhere) a bad reputation!
Brother’s girlfriend told me that one of the interns was checking his Gmail at work, and when asked to stop he had the nerve to talk back to his boss. The other intern told brother’s girlfriend that he was “too busy” to do the project she assigned to him. TOO BUSY? Seriously? You are an intern, the only thing you are too busy to do is take a break!
I wonder if this poor Millennial behavior has to do with the fact that these two interns are accounting majors? As a public relations major I was constantly being told to mind my personal brand and manage the reputation of the company I work for. Maybe accounting majors are too busy learning how to use excel and organize balance sheets that they never learned the proper etiquette for work.
Regardless, these Millennials are giving me a bad rep! I say it’s time for these Millennials to step it up, big time.
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Accountants need to respect work etiquette, but at the end of the day their personal brand means much less to their career than someone in pr. Well, let me rephrase, if they brand themselves as dishonest and a cheater – then they will be affected (but that’s another story). My experience shows that firms, to a certain extent, put up with this behavior. Because at the end of the day, while we’re blogging and commenting about their lack of taste, they will be working 80-90 hour weeks auditing or doing taxes. It all evens out in the end.
Hey Casey,
Thanks for your comment. I think you make a really good point. And while it may be true that accountant’s personal brands matter less, I also think with the competition to get full time jobs that these interns should be a little bit more concerned.
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