How do Gen Y make decisions about their careers? In our most recent survey, we found one significant influence - role models. 72% of Gen Y would have chosen different schools, majors or careers if not for their role models - underscoring the influence that role models have on Gen Y.

Sixty percent said their role models influenced them in “selecting career paths and opportunities, while 45% said that role models helped them with “choosing a major.” Other areas where role models played a part were: “undertaking a project or challenge” (32%), “decision to attend college” (30%) and “choosing college courses to take” (30%).

Role models, drawing upon their own experiences, clearly have the ability to shape and guide Gen Y through a period of their life where major decisions are being made.

Most Gen Y had role models who they had frequent contact with. Many cited ”teachers or professors” (46%) or “parents” (41%) as role models. Less common role models included “friends” (19%), “family members” (15%) and “manager from job/internship” (15%).

Employers, for tips on how to support the Gen Y guidance process, download the whitepaper.

Continuing on the Career Influences survey from last post, I also wanted to share what the 1100 students and grads said about what had the most influence on their majors and careers.

• 37% said the information they were exposed to (specifically industry info) had the most impact on their choice of majors
• 41% said school, work or other experiences (specifically internships) had the most impact on their choice of careers

I also found out that 60% of students believe they have majors that are directly aligned with their preferred career (good for them!).

32% (the largest group) want to learn about possible career paths from employers through experiences - project work, competitions and internships. They want to “experience” what it is like to work for a particular employer - even if it is just sampling the kind of work that the company does. We do some of this with employers through our Exclusive Experiences program, but there are so many ways this can be done, from mini-competitions to problem-solving challenges.

Perhaps even more importantly, 51% of respondents want to be inspired (people, goals and challenges associated with career paths) AND be informed about careers (information about growth opportunities and career paths). Employers, listen up: remember to keep both in mind (e.g. marry the eloquent speaker with some interesting facts) when creating career outreach programs to maximize the appeal of your career opportunities.