My Gen Y Life

I love my day job. I review and comment on my company's websites, looking for ways to make the sites more user-friendly and up to design standards. Call it a gift or a curse, but now I look critically at almost every website I encounter. I recently came across possibly the worst website ever, so bad in fact that I refuse to use their services in person anymore.

One evening my DH and I were lounging around the house when we thought it would be a brilliant idea to order pizza online. My laptop was conveniently within arm's reach so we figured it would be easier than getting up to grab the telephone or using our precious cell phone minutes. We typed in www.dominos.com and found what we thought was a really interactive Gen-Y-geared site. They even list 68 creative reasons why you should order online. Homepage is good - engaging, easy buttons, quick.

Once you click on the order page it's a totally different ballgame. First they require you to enter in your full address - not just your city/state or zip code. I don't see why when it just brings up a list of stores to pick from. So you pick one and then it tells you need to sign up. The site doesn't even remember the information you've already given them.

So fine, I enter in my address and my e-mail and proceed to the sixth page of pre-ordering sign-up screens. Then it tells me "Sorry, you're store is not currently available for online ordering." Give me a break! I just gave you all this information about my name, my address, my e-mail, my preferred store location, and all I get is an error screen? Can't you at least give me the number to call my order in? Uggh.

Oh, and if they do serve your area, the site gets even worse. You have to indicate how you will pay (why the heck does it matter when I'm gonna go pick it up) and if you change your mind it will erase your whole order. Bad implementation Domino's!

Note to websites trying to tap into the Gen-Y market - the site better be pretty slick or it could quickly discredit not only your site but your brick-and-mortar store too. We frankly don't have enough time to sit around waiting for slowpokes to figure out technology - we'll go to the place that has.

Most companies don't use the word "secretary" anymore - companies have become more creative with terms like "administrative assistant", "client service representative", and my favorite, "project coordinator". I don't care what they call it, it means you're going to be answering calls, setting up meetings, doing paperwork, filing, and copying. If that's you're calling in life - great, we can't live without you. If the sound of doing that the rest of your professional life makes you cring, read on.

You know in college when they chanted the alumni phrase: "Once a [insert mascot here], always a [insert mascot here]." Now insert "secretary" into that blank. I received sound advice from a former employee who told me not to take a secretary job for the company just to get in. Big mistake, she said, because from that time forward everyone thought of her as the go-to person for completing the daily administrative duties regardless of what her job description said. She was even turned down for other jobs because of her perceived limited abilities.

Thankfully to her, I passed over the secretary jobs and waited for the right opportunity to come up. It took me interviewing for 4 positions before I was offered a job as a web specialist. It wasn't my ideal job (who's first job is?), but it was something related to my skills that would teach me a lot and open up more opportunities.

Unfortunately, I still had to fight the label as the secretary of the group. I don't know if it was because I was young, blonde, or sat in a cube outside a conference room, but people would ask me where the manager was, ask me to setup meetings, and assumed that I knew how to fix the copy machine. After feeling a little peeved at first, I would tactfully respond with the name of the actual secretary for the manager and send them on their way.

Luckily, over time, people took the hint, I focused on my real job, and did work above and beyond. Proving that I could handle project management, write well, and think outside the box were key in distinguishing me from any previous perceptions people had about me. My manager was also my champion, and would include me on projects that would give me greater exposure in the company. Now I feel that I have created a good persona for myself and it shows with the promotions and projects that I've been given.

Your first year or two in the company in crucial for developing your persona, and if you do it well you will be rewarded. Do yourself a favor and don't make secretarial duties the main focus of your job - let the real secretary do what he/she does best.

This is the view that I perceived of Americans when traveling in Europe recently, and I can't say it's completely false. I wish all Americans had the chance to go abroad and see how other people lived and take a minute to look at themselves.

 Americans are fat

We all know there is an obesity problem in the U.S. We see it on TV ("Biggest Loser" reality show), in the news about all the obese children, and all the fad diets that are perpetuating in the media. An outspoken German woman on the flight over to Europe spelled it out simply - all the processed food we eat. You see, in Europe (and many other areas of the world) you go to the store more than once a week so you always have fresh fruit, vegetables, and bread. You would be hard-pressed to find much "light" or "fat-free" Healthy-Choice-type food in their supermarkets, yet they're not gaining weight like Americans are. It's because they eat food in moderation, and likely, because the food is fresh and doesn't contain all the preservatives. They also sell most things in small packaging, meaning that you either will have to use less of it or come back frequently. Either way, you'll probably shed some calories.

Americans are fake

A European friend of mine once it explained it to me like this: Europeans are like Oranges - they may be rough on the outside, but are sweet on the inside. On the other hand, Americans are like Peaches - they seem nice and friendly on the outside, but are hard on the inside. I liked this because it's true - in capitalist America we try to be the most customer-friendly people but really we are just trying to up our profits. In our views and actions too - we say that we are eco-friendly if we own a recycling bin and buy energy-saving appliances.  But we forget that we also drive around gas-guzzling SUVs, don't sort our own recycling (in Europe they have four standard bins in public places), and continue to build huge homes and have huge appliances for all our huge Costco-size food.

Americans are uncultured

You probably know this already, too. Most Americans' only exposure to foreign cultures is high school Spanish class. Granted, we are not surrounded by very many other countries (I counted two), but we are also ignorant and expect when we go to other countries that they will speak English and cater to Americans. I was not surprised when I saw a sign at an Italian restaurant that said "No Tourist menu. Locals only" spelled in English of course. Listen to the news or watch a TV show and you will notice that we rarely ever mention anything that is not related to the U.S.