For young people in the United States, finding a career path after college can be exciting, daunting, and frightening. For one, it bears with it the question of whether all the time and money spent on education was worthwhile. Additionally, many young people feel that getting out of school and into a “real” job serves to legitimize them as adults. Millennials struggle with feeling trapped in a delayed childhood as they seek to fill the shoes of previous generations, and finding a job on a serious career path serves as a milestone for millennials to feel that they have begun to tangibly achieve adulthood.

Weighing in on the importance millennials place on their post-college careers, Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene’s article ‘Are Non-Profits the New Go-To Choice for Altruistic Jobseekers?’ identifies a rivalry of sorts between the public sector (government), the private sector (corporate business), and nonprofit organizations when it comes to winning the hearts of jobseekers entering the workforce fresh from the university. They cite a study by Deloitte Consulting stating that among young people, sixty percent decide on a workplace based on whether it gives them a “sense of purpose”, such as improving communities by improving education or aiding the homeless. This interest in prioritizing altruism clearly leads many millennials away from the private sector, leaving the service-oriented options of the public sector and the nonprofit sector. Between the two options, many young people find non-profits the more favorable one. Barrett and Greene outline several reasons for this, one of the most prominent being a growing distrust in the government.

Nonprofits today would do well to take note of the trend. Young jobseekers want to commit their time and energy to work that matters, and by marketing themselves and maintaining visibility, nonprofit organizations can provide the perfect niche for those jobseekers.

Bak, Carrie-Ann. ‘Business needs to reset its purpose to attract Millennials’. Deloitte. 27 June 2017. Web. 15 January 2015.

Barrett, Katherine, and Richard Greene. ‘Are Non-Profits the New Go-To Choice for Altruistic Jobseekers?’ Governing. 27 June 2017. Web. 20 April 2017.

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Last updated on August 1st, 2017 at 02:02 pm