Halfway through a job interview during a grueling search, Tori Romo grew concerned. As she answered questions about her strengths, weaknesses and goals, it hit her. “I had no idea what product this company actually made,” said Romo, who is 26 and lives in New York. “Then they asked me this one question about it. I took literally five minutes to answer it, and what I said wasn’t coherent.” The employer never called her back.
Why wouldn’t Romo take the time to Google the company’s name? “Job interviews give me anxiety,” she said. Well, sure, they do for us all. Forced small talk, uncomfortable work clothes, prolonged eye contact … job interviews are stressful. But the youngest members of America’s workforce are especially floundering. As Romo put it: “Gen Z is a little awkward.”
The New York Post reports that a recent survey of 800 US managers, directors and executives who are involved in hiring found that gen Z candidates are failing interviews. One in five employers reported that recent college graduates come underprepared. Issues with making eye contact, dressing for the job, and asking for unrealistic salaries topped the list of complaints. Nearly 40% of respondents said they were more likely to hire an older candidate due to gen Z’s behavior in interviews.
Some recruiters – and clickbait headlines – might tell you that gen Z is full of inherent slackers. TikTok trends like “lazy girl jobs” and “quiet quitting” enforce the stereotype that, to quote Kim Kardashian, “No one wants to work any more.” Jodie Foster recently told the Guardian that younger workers were “really annoying” and lacked professionalism: “They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am,’” she said.
Are young people really the corporate crybabies that older generations make them out to be? Or are they resisting a brutal grind that isn’t working for anyone?
Interviewers’ expectations clash with gen Z candidates
The hardest parts of interviews for Caicee Harrigan, a 25-year-old who works in advertising on Long Island, are what she calls “the bullshit questions” – such as “describe yourself in three words” or “identify your biggest weakness”.
“It feels like we’re being judged off of something trivial,” Harrigan said. “Gen Z as a whole doesn’t like that. It’s a question that puts you in a box based off your answer.” Instead, younger applicants would rather take the time to answer questions directly related to the job they’re applying for.
In the 1920s, Thomas Edison reportedly invented a “test” to assess the intelligence of applicants to his lab. As part of this test, Edison asked applicants to eat soup in front of him. If they seasoned the soup before trying it, they were immediately cut: he didn’t want people he employed to make assumptions.
The soup quiz died out, but generations of workers have accepted the ritualistic quality of most job interviews, especially in the corporate world. You must dress up. You must pretend that project management, or data entry, or telemarketing is your life’s one true passion. You must have an answer for obtuse questions such as: “If you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be and why?”
It’s a flawed system. A 2017 study found that 73% of applicants say looking for a job is one of life’s most stressful experiences. But it is the system gen Z must navigate nonetheless.
“Gen Z views job interviews as a two-way street,” said Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, the CEO of Her Campus, an online publication for college women. “They’re looking to hear from employers about why they should want to work for a company, and they want to see a baseline level of respect afforded to them, rather than feeling like applying is running a gauntlet.”
For its part, Her Campus sends job applicants a list of interview questions beforehand so that candidates can prepare thoughtful answers. “An interview shouldn’t be unnecessarily scary or difficult, and it shouldn’t intentionally trip anyone up,” Lewis said.
Gen Z’s soft skills might seem stunted to interviewers too, which makes sense since many gen Z workers had their first office experiences working from home. They’re also a generation dealing with elevated rates of anxiety.
“People know that gen Z won’t use corporate speech, and they may struggle with eye contact, body language, fidgeting or not holding their phones,” said Lewis. “I think employers are becoming used to a lower level of professionalism, sometimes.”
It’s a give and take. “We really do push against tradition. Gen Z’s moving things forward,” Harrigan said. And Lewis and other hiring managers say they’ve seen awkward interviewees blossom into sharp workers. As long as they nail the interview – no small task if HR managers have gen Z-phobia.
Small talk remains a sticking point
No one really enjoys small talk (and anyone who says they do is either lying or the type of person you hope isn’t seated next to you during a long plane ride). But researchers know that indulging in idle chat can lead to personal connections, which plays a big part in office politics.
Romo dreads the unchoreographed parts of job interviews the most, though she finds small talk easier during video interviews. “With a screen, there’s a bit of a barrier,” she said, “but in person, I suck. The boss will ask how I am, and I’ll be like, ‘Good …’ and not have anything else to say.”
Jack, a 27-year-old who lives in the Bay Area and is looking for work in the video game industry (and asked to use his first name only), refuses to engage in watercooler conversation. “Not to be rude, but I really don’t want to know how your day has been going,” he said.
Human resource workers say they’ve noticed a frostiness among younger applicants.
“People will be pretty open about it and say that they don’t enjoy small talk,” said Najah Lamis, who works in HR for a Chicago-based education technology company. “But that’s a skill you’re going to have to have to build relationships with people.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in November that more college professors are “teaching elementary chitchat skills to students who are woefully behind in the basics” like writing cover letters and calling people by their names when speaking to them. They hope the courses on professionalism will help bridge the generational gap.
Gen Z can roll with the punches – and prepare
You might scoff at gen Z’s interview gripes, believing it’s yet another adult responsibility they’re trying to skirt. But first consider that these kids, who came of age during a global pandemic and unprecedented political tumult, could stand to be cut some slack.
Recently, a college student landed her first in-person job interview after years of remote calls. She felt confident – until she strode into the office and realized that she didn’t know what to do with her hands. Fold them in front of her? Reach out and shake her interviewer’s hand? Did people still shake hands after Covid? Things got more difficult when the pair went to lunch, and the applicant realized she’d forgotten basic table manners.
The student had used the online job board Handshake, which is geared toward young people, to help her get the interview. Christine Cruzvergara, chief education strategy officer at Handshake, heard about her interview experience afterward. “It had been so long since she had a chance to eat with other people,” Cruzvergara recalled. Ultimately, the applicant decided to mimic exactly how her prospective boss ate, as it felt like a safe bet. She got the job.
One very boomer suggestion for making job interviews easier: practice beforehand! “I’m the designated HR person for my friends, so when they need help with an interview prep, I always set up a mock interview so we can really go for it,” Lamis said.
Or not. “I can look up a company before the interview, but that’s the furthest I would go,” Romo said. Why not ask a friend for help? “That seems really scary,” she answered. “I don’t want them to see me be like, ‘I have no idea what the fuck to say.’”
But even if a gen Zer nails down a job offer, they’ll still face diminished work-life balance and wages that can’t keep up with inflation; a bloodletting of layoffs is also a rite of passage for young workers in the 2020s. Maybe gen Z sucks at interviews because there’s not as much to be excited about once they get the gig.
