When my grandfather was dishing out good career advice, ‘getting a job in a big company and staying there, and working your way up patiently’ would have been a theme he’d have followed. In fact my father didn’t stray much from that kind of thinking. But sitting next to an obviously talented 25 year old (and some may argue that at 25 there surely can’t be much talent evident at 25) on the plane last night didn’t surprise me that he’d recently left his first job in a very large blue chip consultancy after just 3.5 years, to join another large blue chip company.

The world has changed. Approaches to companies and your career has changed along with it. 25 year olds with talent can expect to have had several jobs in various industries before 35. In fact that kind of work experience is a sign of talent rather than a sign of lack of focus and commitment.

So how do you attract and retain yojur young talent today? The 25 year old I sat with thought it was a simple task, but this from someone who was onto job number two in industry number 2 in year number 4. Clearly he hasn’t seen any evidence that anyone’s got it right yet.

The world has changed, and any company taking a traditional approach to attraction and retention is in for a big surprise. But this is not news, this is their reality.

Nuf Sed