The Interview: Heather Huhman, Gen Y Expert & Founder of Come Recommended

Full disclosure: I work with Heather as the external relations director of GoodieRecruit.

Heather Huhman is your typical over-achieving, type A, never sleeps, always connected, fully loaded, energizer bunny. At twenty-seven years old she still falls into the category of Gen Y, but her resume reads more like someone twenty years her senior.

Huhman is already an accomplished public relations professional, owner of her own business (Come Recommended), an experienced hiring manager, author of one eBook and one book being published in early 2010, and mentor to many recent college graduates looking for a job. In her free time she writes a column for examiner.com, blogs over at Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog, and tweets about entry-level PR jobs.

I spoke with Heather about her often misunderstood generation, the Millennials

Come Recommended connects entry-level job seekers (millennials) with hiring organizations. Why did you start Come Recommended?

As a hiring manager, I saw some major flaws in the system. Namely, I would make it through two rounds of interviews with a candidate, only to call references and find out they looked great on paper, performed great during the interview, but would disappoint on the job. It’s important to note this problem is not limited to Millennials.

There are so many misconceptions about Gen Y, which one frustrates you the most?

Unfortunately, the few ruin it for the many, as there are members of our generation that fully embody every single misconception out there.

Personally, the one that irks me the most is age = unqualified. I once lead a client account for more than a year at a PR agency, completely turning around their presence in the media. They went from approximately five placements per year to more than 100 – and they became regular spokespeople for a number of hot local topics. Despite all that, when the client found out my age, I was removed from the account altogether. Period. No discussion.

You speak to Gen Y audiences, as well as the older generations hiring them. Which misconception(s) seem to frustrate Gen Y the most?

The idea that Gen Y often acts “entitled” seems to stir up the most conversation on both sides. Gen Y was raised differently than Gen X and the Baby Boomers, and every generation is misunderstood about something. In my opinion, Gen Y isn’t entitled (for the most part, anyway!) – they want to work hard and prove their worth, fast.

Do you find the same stereotypes that frustrate Gen Y job candidates, also frustrate the hiring managers?

It’s all about creating ongoing conversation and managing expectations. Gen Y knows their supervisors think they’re entitled, so they should talk about their goals within the organization and create a plan for getting there – together. Employers believe Gen Y is entitled, so give them prompt feedback – for better or worse – on a regular basis.

You’ve recently started The Classroom to Cubicle Project to document recent college graduates on their journey to finding entry-level work. What do you hope to accomplish with this project?

So many students and recent graduates falsely believe they have everything it takes to land an entry-level job. How can they possibly know something they’ve never been taught? It’s not taught in college, and very few students visit their career centers.

Each week, all 16 participants (a mix of December 2009 and May 2010 graduates) are given career advice they must apply to their own situations to share with readers. I’m hoping they truly learn from the experience, and document their actions for others.

Do you believe The Classroom to Cubicle Project will help dispel some of the stereotypes surrounding Gen Y?

Perhaps. Some of the participants have amazing backgrounds! And we didn’t pick people based on their current résumés – it was first-come, first-served. But dispelling stereotypes was definitely not the first goal.

When you put on your hiring manager hat, what qualities do you look for specifically in Gen Y candidates? Do you like to put them in mock scenarios to see how they respond to a situation?

There are three qualities I tell students that stand out no matter the position for which I’m hiring: passion, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.

“Behavioral interviewing” – when you put candidates in mock scenarios to see how they respond – is very popular now, and I’m a big believer! I put candidates in situations that very well might arise on the job, and have many times eliminated candidates based on their answers.

Is this why you started GoodieRecruit, a service of Come Recommended?

Not entirely, although I do believe the half- or full-day on-the-job experience we put candidates through gives them an opportunity to shine – or not – in those three areas.

Do you believe there is a unique way that Gen Y needs to be managed in the workplace?

There are so many books out there about managing Gen Y. And yes, there are definitely certain techniques, such as giving them freedom in many areas (what time they start, what time their day ends, where they work from, etc.). However, in my experience as a hiring manager, every needs to be managed in a slightly different way. This was probably the hardest thing for me to learn when I first became a manager. There’s just no one cookie-cutter approach.

What do you think of recent stunts that some young job candidates have pulled to gain attention (video resumes and so on)?

I’m actually not one for stunts. Like most hiring managers, results matter most to me.

How relevant do you think recruiting sites like Monster.com and Career Builder will be five or ten years from now?

According to all the statistics, these sites keep growing. I don’t fault the job boards – I fault the lazy hiring managers. In my opinion, job boards simply don’t produce quality candidates. Or, if they do, they’re somewhere in an endless pile. That’s just not the way to go about hiring the best and brightest.

What types of online recruiting will give those sites a run for their money?

Social media, for one. The future of recruiting is in one-to-one conversations and handpicked candidates.