[Guest Post] Productive Y Generation

Editorial: Y Generation, who is now still in college, working at a company or developing the business will play an important role in industrial development in the next 5-10 years, Joseph William Widjaya as a part of a university (lecturer) have an interesting view for this condition and also opinions about how to raise up a generation Y to be a productive generation.

Are you a Y Generation? Yes, if you were born in 1980 to 1995, and at least have the following characteristics:

• You are more receptive to change, because you are more 'open minded' and have a high desire to learn new things.
• You have more confidence to perform in front of the forum and express opinions.
• You are always connected online through a computer, a laptop, smartphone or other electronic media to work or communicate with others.
• You do not really like things that are detailed and considered working while sitting in a Starbucks Café with a cup of coffee was normal.
• You have an incredible passion for an idea and innovation.

Short said, Y Generation is a generation that grew along with the development of mass communication and Internet.

If we look further, then the Y generations nowadays are the ones who are currently attending college or starting and developing businesses or working in a company to pursue a career.

I agree with the opinion of many people that this generation that will become the backbone and plays an important role in the decisive developments in the industry within the next 5 -10 years in a country.

This will also happen in our own country of Indonesia, which currently also undergoing major changes, those changes include marked by four major pillars namely:

1. Income per capita in Indonesia which touched $ 3,000 (spending power).
2. The numbers of mobile phones close to the population, and 50% of them have the capacity to access social networking.
3. The strengthening of symptoms freemium in business.
4. The emergence of a fast-changing new generation because it is connected to one another.

This four pillars effect on consumer behavior and the conduct of business (business behavior) and becoming the entrepreneurial activities support in Indonesia.

How can a Y generation harness these opportunities? This may be an equally difficult question with the question 'jackpot' in TVShows "Who wants to be a millionaire?" Agrees with Wiku, I believe the answer is not easy, because it takes research and the right strategy, because the answer is certainly not only in the form of an idea, but how the idea could be executed and can provide a good business model.

Apart from the ability of someone skill when it wants to establish a business or a startup, I believe that the ability to see gaps, opportunities and the facts of what happened and needed in Indonesia and execute it is no less important in building a startup.

Probably things like this that aren’t many from someone who has just graduate from college have. So many newly graduated students try to find work experience prior to building a business. And of course this is not a wrong decision.

On the campus where I teach, I often encourage my students not only to follow the competitions and events about technology updates but also a variety of seminars, events, or activities related to the startup and "How to be an Entrepreneur". So they not only have the skills, but also equipped with knowledge of business aspects. And actually these are the things that will stimulate and motivate a person to develop and become a productive "pioneer".

One of the regular events which held on my campus was an event called 'CEO Speaks' in which leaders of the upper class company in the industry could share his experiences in terms of business, strategy, and management which lead and bring it to become a successful and growing company like they are now.

In closing, I will ask again "Are you Y Generation who want to rise up and become productive?" Complete yourself and let us join hands together to build our beloved country.

Josep William Widjaja is a lecturer at Bina Nusantara International University. In addition for having reading magazines or books related to the IT world and listening to jazz as hobbies, Josep interest is in the implementation of IT in business and marketing, web and mobile development, network / infrastructure.