Who the hell do you think you are? (or the 'Get over yourself' rant, Part I)

Is it me or is the collective influx of new agency hires (junior level) a bunch of whiney, lazy jackasses?

Sorry, I had to get that off my chest. I'll be more polite from this point on. Or at least I'll try to be.

I have a lot of friends that work at different agencies across the country and lately I've been hearing the same thing over and over again- mainly that new hires, usually the ones at the intern and AC levels, seem to think they're more important than they really are.

I know what it's like to be an AC. Believe me, at that level, leaving at 9:00 pm was a good thing. I got thrown the most crap (and the least appreciated) projects every day. I will admit, I've grumbled under my breath, I've cried at work and even considered quitting to work at Starbucks. At that point in my life I thought that anything had to be better than the special hell called work that I had to endure.

But you know what? Though I may have complained outside of the office (usually with a bottle of wine and a few good friends), within the sacred walls of the agency, I worked my ass off with nary a complaint. I listened, I watched, I learned. I shut my mouth and held my breath when I was a millimeter away from bitching about how much and what kind of work I did because I just didn't feel it was professional of me to do so at my level. I knew that the people above me knew more and had more years behind them and I respected that.

It seemed like the people I came in with had the same point of view. They worked hard and they sucked it up and moved on when things were going bad.

Now it seems like these new hires think they're far too good to create a media list or track coverage. I don't know if it's a generation gap thing or just plain stupidity but I have heard the most ridiculous things come out of the mouths of babes.

A few come to mind:
"That's not in my job description."
"I feel I can do more strategic work on this account than just a coverage report."
"When I wrote a press release for my PR class, it looked like this and my professor really liked it."

Sometimes it's amusing but most of the time I feel the need to hit these people over the head with my headset. It doesn't matter what school you graduated from or what type of PR experience you got in class. It's like these people don't realize that school and the so-called 'real world' are two different places.

In school, you paid to be there and so your hand was held. Gently. Lovingly. In the real world, even your hardest class is a cradle compared to a day at an agency. An irate manager might just fire you if you tell her that tracking coverage is not in your job description.

Guess what my friend, you're right- it's not in your job description because you don't work here anymore! Surprise!

Is this sense of entitlement truly a result of the dot-com boom? Do these kids, fresh out of college, truly believe that they can move up in an agency as swiftly as they go through levels in a World of Warcraft campaign? I don't get it. The people I moved up with were professionals. They knew how to learn from their experiences- they were willing to learn. Now it seems like the new breed of PR hires aren't willing to learn and they expect that everyone should recognize their genius.

Let's just put this out there once and for all- you're expendable. We all are but those junior levels especially. Interns and ACs are easily replaced. See that young buck walking through the door with stars in their eyes and sporting a new suit?

That's your replacement.

-Signing off from Seattle