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November 13, 2002

Odds are you are either a member of the baby boom generation or the following demographic wave, now so poorly named generation X. The baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) are almost 80 million strong. Generation X (born between 1964 and 1984, depending on which sociological expert du jour you listen to) is roughly half that number. Together they represent a huge segment of the population moving through the US timeline like a pig through a python.

Baby Boomers tend to have the following ingrained world-views:

Saving is better than Spending (from Depression Era Parents).

Hard work leads to recognition/promotion (again, from D.E. Parents).

To a greater extent, these views are being supplanted by:

Investing is better than saving (Ten years of increasing Stock Prices).

Self-promotion is critical to career survival (Ten years of Corporate Downsizing).

Gen X'ers are known for self-righteous individualism, and their leitmotif might be:

"Lying is smart, as long as you get away with it." Their list of 'Shining Examples' is too long to cite in it's entirety, but Ollie North, Ronald Reagan, O.J. Simpson, & Bill Clinton come to mind immediately.

These are, of course, crass generalizations for entire classes of people. Stereotypes are occasionally accurate descriptions for small segments of particular groups, and tend to lose their accuracy as the sample size is increased. What the aforementioned generalizations hint at is a working population that can easily rationalize getting ahead in life by whatever means are necessary. These tendencies have been documented by a number of authors (e.g. D.C. Feldman, Christopher Lasch, N. Lear). The ramifications for HR managers are frightening. Just as the Labor market for Industry specific Job candidates is tightening, Jobhunters are getting more accustomed to sprucing up their curriculum vitae with assorted half-truths, lies, and polished niceties. If the hiring manager seems dubious about your recent accomplishments, don't take it to heart. They're in a position akin to the house detective, rooting out undesirables before they cause any trouble. Be prepared to take tests, because screening out potentially bad Employees via new technologies is the HR Dept's next gimmick.

-Carrie Baggs