What YPs Need to Know About Compensation at Work IRL (Part 2 of 3)

Reality #2: It takes 10 years to get 10 years’ experience. There are no shortcuts.
This series arose after an experience I recently had with a fellow YP – or young professional that I think we all could benefit from discussing. Check out Part 1 for the back story.  The quintessential young professional value of the 21st century: Pay me for output, not for input! 

​This value is at the root of our core desires for flexibility and compensation regardless of work experience. After all, as a young professional, I can take a massive open online course for free and polish up my new knowledge on anything with a few YouTube videos. That makes me feel like I have microwaved what took 10 years of experience to learn into 1 year of education and on the job training.
 
However, consider your time in the workforce, however long that is. Shouldn’t that time make you a more valuable employee? If your input of time makes you valuable, then recognize that other people and organizations feel the same way. Experience is not just about cranking out widgets on the job either. It’s about relationships with internal and external customers, familiarity with the culture and cycles of your company, and the value of having learned a few things through the school of hard knocks elsewhere that make experience invaluable. Education can elevate experience, but it cannot replace experience. It’s just the truth.

I’m not saying that your 2-5 years of experience isn’t valuable, but IRL: YPs don’t qualify as “senior” anything, yet! Regardless of your education, workplace experience is just as much about relationships as it is the tasks, and the time it takes to build those relationships on the job IS input.

​Don’t hate this! Embrace it, because sometimes those relationships are worth more than money can buy. ​

Watch for Reality #3 next week!

We want to hear from you!  What are your IRL compensation questions?

---

YP: IRL 
​Young Professionals: In Real Life

I get it. I am a young professional facing the same realities and challenges as you. But, I am also an HR professional.  So, I have learned a few lessons about the realities of the workplace in the real world, and I’m here to help you get it, too. The sooner you can bring your expectations back to planet earth, the sooner you can really hit the ground running.  That’s why I am writing YP: IRL. 

---

Contributed by Brooklyn Stabile

Building bridges, removing roadblocks, and meeting business needs by inspiring people to do their best work.  Passionate about organizational behavior, people development, & dessert.  Get to know Brooklyn.
​

---