If you’re a regular reader of this column, you know that I’m a manic advocate for networking. 

It’s a deal-changer for success in your current job, making a move to a new job, and even for visibility within management and coworker circles in your workplace. 

I never said it was easy.  

But no matter how bashful you feel you are, or think you don’t know how to get started, I’m certain most people can do it – that is, if they make the effort.

The people I worry most about are our young adult men, typically those between ages 16 and 28, because research data indicates they’re struggling like never before.  

According to Scott Galloway, the outspoken podcaster and NYU marketing professor, too many young men rely too much on social media as substitutes for personal friendships and professional relationships.

Among his favorite bits of freely given advice is “get off your phone” and put more effort into creating genuine friendships with real people instead of avatars.

He points to recent studies that indicates young men and women, but mostly men, who spend more than three hours a day on social media face a greater likelihood of dealing with mental health issues. 

Those issues tend to negatively impact their sense of self-worth along with their ability to get a job and make a living.

 

They have no close friends

During Galloway’s recent appearance on the “Today” show, he cited a few more surprising statistics: Nearly one in five men in their 30s still live with their parents, and 15% say they have no close friends. 

Well, I’m not in my 30s and I don’t live with my parents, but I couldn’t imagine my life without my close friends.  

They keep me alert, curious, and challenged, and add great value to my life.

While my friends and I do “talk” via text and email – who doesn’t? – we also spend lots of time talking to each other, a life skill that’s oddly missing from too many of the young men in their 20s and 30s whom I interview.

Recently, as a favor to a friend, I sat down with his newly graduated 22-year-old son, whom I’ll call Paul.

Either out of shyness or nervousness, he kept looking elsewhere, mostly down, as if he couldn’t wait for our one-sided job interview to be over. I felt the same way.

I’ve seen that same awkwardness from plenty of young men in their 20s and 30s who lack what’s known as “soft” skills, like being able to communicate in a professional setting.

No matter what their academic degree or resume says, their lack of interpersonal skills makes it much easier to pass them over for more socially well-balanced candidates. 

Meanwhile, I agree with the professor when he says that when young men face adversity, too many of them tend to go off-track. 

Every young man (and woman) can benefit from the gift of mentorship and guidance. This doesn’t need to be an official mentoring relationship. It can simply be a one-off over a cup of coffee or a beer. 

There’s always comfort in talking to a friend and/or mentor who knows the value of building self-esteem, empathy and a greater awareness that attitude, cooperation and yes, appearance, all matter.

Which leads me to another one of my job-related passions – internships.

Smart, successful co-workers

It’s not only about the kind of work interns do, it’s also about being around smart, dedicated co-workers, seeing them do their jobs well, and then talking about it as colleagues.

So, what’s the best thing you can do for a young person who may lack “soft” skills but seems to have potential? How ’bout hiring a few?

We usually have one or two interns at Manpower Staffing and we’re thrilled to see them go on to great success. 

Let’s make a greater effort to hire an intern (or two) and help our young men and women become better adjusted to the world of real, live people who actually talk to each other. 

It’s a long-term life changer.

Blair is co-founder of Manpower Staffing and can be reached at pblair@manpowersd.com.