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Gen Z Learning and Skilling for the Future
594 Plays9 months ago
Forget textbooks and lectures - Gen Z is redefining workplace learning and AI is a big part of that. Tune in to this episode featuring a conversation with Sanne Fouquet, founder of Melon, and Sydney Santos, a Gen Z learner and marketing professional. We discuss:
- Fresh learning trends: What makes Gen Z different in their approach to learning and leveling up?
- Melon's innovative platform: How is Melon empowering Gen Z learners?
- Actionable hacks & tips: How can you inspire Gen Z learners in the workplace?
Learn more about Melon here: Melon AI.
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Transcript
Introduction to Generation Z
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome, this is Hashtag Gen Z, a podcast that explores Generation Z, who they are, how they're different from other generations, while also being an incredible blend of those who came before them. We explore what they think is cool, what moves them, and why they do what they do. I'm your host, Megan Grace, and it's so nice to have you here.
Gen Z's Learning Motivation
00:00:33
Speaker
As we continue to explore Gen Z in the workplace, I think it's a perfect time to dive into career learning and professional skilling. Workplace learning is not necessarily a new concept. I mean, even the earliest economies had apprenticeships, but today we're seeing that Gen Z is heavily motivated by learning and gaining new skills in the workplace. A study conducted by LinkedIn found that 76 of Gen Z professionals believe that learning is key to a successful career, which is more than any other generational cohort included in their study.
00:01:02
Speaker
Some may look at learning and skilling as a way to explore a new role or potentially leave their current company. But that same study from LinkedIn found that nearly 70% of Gen Zers are using learning opportunities to expand in their current role. And they spend 12% more time on LinkedIn learning compared to other cohorts. Clearly, there's something in the water with Gen Z when it comes to a desire to learn and gain new knowledge and skills.
Guest Introductions: Sana Fouquet and Sydney Santos
00:01:29
Speaker
To explore this further, I had a great chat with Sana Fouquet and Sydney Santos. Sana is the founder of Melon, an artificial intelligence platform designed to help Gen Z upskill and emerge as thought leaders in today's digital age. Prior to starting Melon, Sana held roles at the AI company Palanateer, as well as with the financial institution Goldman Sachs. Sydney is a Gen Z marketer and content creator with a passion for driving growth for brands through content strategies.
00:01:57
Speaker
She's experienced in both B2C and B2B sectors and has worked with teams in the e-commerce space such as Peach & Lily, Thing Testing, and Taito.
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:02:59
Speaker
It is a great day. We've got two wonderful guests today to be talking a little bit more about this Gen C mindset around skiddling, professional learning, and how there's kind of an evolution in what that looks like for today's youngest generation.
00:03:13
Speaker
I've got Sana and Sydney here and couldn't be more excited to share about their story. So welcome Sana and Sydney. I'm so excited to have you here.
Sana's Career and Melon's Creation
00:03:21
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you for having us. There's so much that we have to talk about, but I think what's always helpful is that our listeners get to know a little bit more about you. So Sana, can you tell me a little bit about, you know, who you are and we'll then we'll kick it over to Sydney to learn a little bit more about her.
00:03:37
Speaker
Absolutely. And first of all, thank you so much for having me on the podcast. Really excited to be here. So I'm Sanne. I'm originally from a village of 60 people in Sweden. Currently, I'm living in Paris after having spent eight years in London. And my academic background is in engineering. And throughout my career, I've been following a very non-linear career path, which is something I think I share with many Gen Zs.
00:04:02
Speaker
Even though I'm actually not a Gen Z myself, I'm a few years off from that. And I initially moved to London from Sweden after university to work in finance on the trading floor of GOMISX. Quite quickly realized that I wanted to work in tech, so I pivoted to the AI company Palantir.
00:04:18
Speaker
Over time, I held a lot of different roles there. And now, for the last one and a half year, I've been using that experience of career pivoting, constantly upskilling and learning to build Mellon, which is my startup. We are building an AI brain twin designed to help ambitious gen Cs to upskill, learn and develop thought leadership.
00:04:39
Speaker
So for any listeners that were like an AI brain twin and you were very intimidated by that statement, don't be. I've already played around with Melon. It is super cool. And I know that Sana is going to share a lot more about that, but we've also got Sydney here. And I'm so, you know, this is such a cool opportunity to have both the creator of such a cool platform and then an end user and being able to talk about the impact of that. But before we get into that Sydney, tell us a little bit about you and how you came to be a part of this chat today.
00:05:05
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for having me on, Megan. My name's Sydney. I'm originally from the Philippines. My friends and my peers sometimes refer to me as the marketing killer from Manila. I'm someone who's very passionate and creative in and out of work. So as you can imagine, Mellon has been a huge tool for me in and out of my career, you know, picking up new skills, upskilling outside of work, and also just in terms of meeting new people.
Melon's Impact on Professional Growth
00:05:30
Speaker
The community is great.
00:05:31
Speaker
First of all, your friends are hilarious. We probably have an offline chat about that. And I imagine, Sydney, we'll get more into the platform and how you're using it. But working in marketing is, I feel like the beast that is that industry changes all the time. And so having something like Mellon alongside as your learning partner has got to be helpful. Because I just feel like there's a flood of things that come out in the marketing industry that you've got to stay on top of.
00:05:57
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. I had a chat with Sanneh about this not too long ago, but I also outside of work just started going in deeply into like personal finance and stuff, which is obviously one of the things that those of us in our early 20s are kind of trying to learn a little bit more of these days. But yeah, in addition to that, as it relates more to work in terms of marketing and how things are changing all the time, a lot of graphic design or SEO and, you know,
00:06:27
Speaker
Content optimization and all of those things are really kind of technical, but also super fun to learn. And I feel like Mellon has really just improved that entire experience in a huge way. It's been super helpful to me.
00:06:40
Speaker
I can't wait to learn more about that. I've even just like barely scratched the surface and using it. So, Sana, I know we've like kind of danced around it a little bit. This really is, I don't, you called it your brain twin, but like it is your brain child and you shared a little bit more, or you shared a little bit earlier about the, kind of a little bit about the inspiration, but give us the full journey, really. What is melon? What's its purpose?
00:07:05
Speaker
And how did it come to be? Because it's fascinating and so helpful. And I think listeners definitely want to learn a little bit more about that. Yeah, absolutely. And it's quite a personal story, to be honest, because the idea behind Mellon came from my own experience. As I mentioned before, in the first five years of my career, I pivoted a lot. I went from finance to tech. In tech, I had a lot of different roles as well. And
00:07:32
Speaker
I had to constantly learn an upskill to actually be ordered to take on those new roles successfully. And I did so by learning from others, for Twitter, for LinkedIn, for podcasts like these, reading articles. And as a bit of an organization freak, I would say, I always tried to structure those learnings in like Notion databases or fancy apps. But after doing so for years, I quite quickly realized that it didn't matter what fancy apps I was using or how well-indexed my Notion database was,
00:08:02
Speaker
I still struggle to apply what I had learned effectively. I try to communicate it and I try to remember all of those insights I've been learning and actually use it in my day-to-day life. And a lot of times I just felt quite overwhelmed in my brain. I felt like it has so many ideas, so many impressions, so many stats.
00:08:20
Speaker
But I was just struggling to condense them and make something out of it.
Gen Z's Learning in Daily Life
00:08:24
Speaker
So when Generated AI entered a scene, I saw the perfect opportunity to create a platform that doesn't only simplifies the way we consume and organize information, but actually enhances our thinking and intelligence again. So what Mellon offers our users to do is the ability to construct their own brain twins, which is true, maybe sounds a bit intimidating, but it's actually really, really easy. It works in the way that you just
00:08:49
Speaker
feed your brain with everything that you're learning from. It could be a personal note, it could be a podcast, a TikTok, a LinkedIn post. And then using generative AI, this AI brain twins of yours will actively help you to recall conclusions, help you connect the dots across everything you're learning, summarize your learning specific topics, and for some users even using that to write educational content like newsletter or LinkedIn posts.
00:09:14
Speaker
Um, so that's kind of the story behind melon and how it started as someone who I think I just was naturally. Yeah. So I realized some people don't have it, but like naturally gifted and being able to be like, let's take this
00:09:25
Speaker
thing and organize it appropriately. I've got the most organized personal Dropbox and my Google Drive. I just have always been like that. I know that when I started using it just to play around with it, I was like, I don't have to organize this. This is fantastic. It just did it for me. And I realized that not everybody's like that. And so in this world where we just have so much information that we have to navigate and I think people innately want to learn. It can feel like there's an overwhelming amount of things that we have to navigate through and then recall and master
00:09:54
Speaker
um in in life let alone in professional spaces and so i think that that's certainly present for older generations as we're still doing professional learning but for the younger generation for gen z this being really the the first foray into uh professional full-time careers for many of them this is the only thing they've ever known you know this might be a
00:10:17
Speaker
a part question for Sana, part question for Sydney, who is a member of Gen Z, but many of the Melon users are Gen Z. Why do you think that is? And then when it comes to learning and skilling, what is Gen Z looking for? So I think when it comes to why we have so many Gen Z users in Melon, I would say there are two trends. One of the trends is something that applies to all professionals, I would say, which is that
00:10:44
Speaker
Currently, the job market is changing very rapidly. The world is changing very rapidly, especially in the last one year due to AI. And according to a report by Dell Technologies, 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 actually haven't been invented yet. So there is this huge pressure for all professionals, but especially young professionals and agencies.
00:11:05
Speaker
to constantly learn and adapt to succeed in today's world. And one of the reasons why I think DNC truly are embracing this learning is because it's an extremely ambitious generation, not only looking for a safe job and earning money, they're also striving for fulfillment, variety, a purpose. And as a hungry generation growing up fully internet native, I think it's very natural for this generation to learn on the go through platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and so on.
00:11:35
Speaker
which makes something like melon fit into that habit and they used to lifestyle pretty well. Now, Sydney, as a member of Gen Z, even with not even just thinking about melon, but like your professional journey and the learning and skilling that came along with that, what do you think Gen Z is looking for? Obviously just speaking to what Sanu mentioned about, you know, how everything in our lives kind of
00:12:02
Speaker
We learn a lot of that from the internet and I've obviously experienced firsthand how a lot of this information has just suddenly been democratized. And in addition to that, I feel like a lot of people in my generation specifically are a little bit more open and there's a lot more excitement when it comes to sharing information that we've just found out.
00:12:22
Speaker
And as that relates to how that has kind of benefited me in my career so far, I think I mentioned earlier that I like to be creative in and out of work because I work in marketing. I have that kind of luxury to apply a lot of like my own creative taste and creative flair when that comes to my work. And I feel like a lot of like my best projects have come from that. I think when it comes to learning and skilling, Gen Z is trying to find the kind of happy medium between
00:12:50
Speaker
what they think will progress them further in their career and leveraging what they can learn from mentors or, you know, older peers or people who are a few steps ahead of them in kind of in tandem with what they are looking to express creatively. I see that a lot, not just in, you know, like the marketing field, but also a lot of my friends who may work in more technical roles, which is super interesting, especially because historically I think those have kind of been
00:13:19
Speaker
a little siloed, if not divided.
Challenges in Gen Z's Career Paths
00:13:21
Speaker
So that's the pattern that I'm seeing with a lot of my peers now. Sydney, that's so helpful to kind of get a perspective of Gen Z learning and in this training and development space. I know in my nine to five job, I work in training and development and it always feels like professional learning feels like a luxury, like it's like an add on. But that just feels counter to how Gen Z goes about
00:13:47
Speaker
developing new skills and new knowledge base within the professional space, because it sometimes feels like, oh, well, you don't get to develop a new professional skill until we hold that training as a team, or you don't get to learn about this until you have the free time to do it. And that just doesn't feel like it is jiving with where
00:14:06
Speaker
Gen Z's at and looking at fulfilling that aspect of what they want to learn and how they want to learn. So you might be able to kind of touch on this. You know, we've started to paint the picture of how Gen Z what they're looking for in learning and professional skilling. How does Mellon fulfill that interest and desire that Gen Z professionals have? Yeah, 100%. And I very much agree with you when you say that.
00:14:31
Speaker
Let me rephrase that. When it comes to GNCs, we see the pattern that learning is not a separate thing that they do on a specific time of the work. Learning is becoming extremely integrated in our day-to-day life. We're learning in the morning when we scroll on TikTok, we're learning on Instagram, the educational content on social platforms has just been peaking over the last few years. And that
00:14:58
Speaker
I would say that that land that we have today between our private and professional lives and expectations to not only learn at set times, but learning for your friends, learning for your peers, learning for others, especially on social media. That's something that Mellon is really trying to play into and enhance that everyday learning.
00:15:17
Speaker
experience and that's why I think so many of our users have really embraced Melon as a tool we use on a daily weekly basis because it's so tuned into their digital habits and the way that they're learning currently. Yeah, I feel like if you are human in the world that uses even just any form of social media, it's impossible not to learn something because so many people are willing to share their knowledge.
00:15:39
Speaker
Um, I know that it can feel like there's an abundance of things and you're like, okay, that's so interesting. I need to put this somewhere because I don't need it right now. I think that it's like you found this acorn and you want to like save it, but you don't need it right now. And I think that having played around with your, with the platform a little bit, it certainly helps with the place to store it when you need to save it for whatever it might be.
00:16:02
Speaker
Um, and I know that that it's like a little bit of a peace of mind moment of being able to be like, well, that was so interesting. I'm so glad I watched that, but I'm not going to be able to use it for a little bit of time. I think if anything, it is helping to navigate the abundance of information that is in the learning space for Gen Z professionals. And it does, it feels like it's a partner just fits right into their natural consumption habits when it comes to learning content.
00:16:26
Speaker
Learning in today's day and age is not just sunshine and rainbows, right? There are still challenges and tensions. And anytime the world evolves a little bit, there's also this focus of how are there challenges that exist? And so I might, if you don't mind Sydney, I might have you jump in on this question. What do you think are some of the challenges that Gen Z professionals face when it comes to career planning, skill development, and workplace learning?
00:16:52
Speaker
I've actually had a couple conversations with a lot of my peers who are working in, you know, similar verticals or similar industries and roles. And we talk a lot about like the challenges that we're all currently facing. I think one that is especially, I would say relevant to, you know, the current times would be, I would say like the gaps in our resumes when it comes to years of experience. I think a lot of people know now that, you know, the job market has
00:17:22
Speaker
been a little bit difficult, especially for those of us who are early in our career who may not necessarily have those years under our belts or, you know, be super well versed in all of these things that, you know, roles are requiring now. And I don't think that is, you know, something wrong in our part. It's just, you know, something that's going on right now currently just with how the market is and everything. But
00:17:48
Speaker
I think that that is one of the main things that a lot of people my age, at least that I've spoken to, we're struggling with right now is just, you know, how do we stay competitive with the experience that we have so far. Another thing is kind of in terms of career trajectory, we spoke earlier about, you know, nonlinear career paths. This is something that is still relatively new, something that Mellon is trying to, you know, help my generation with in a big way.
00:18:17
Speaker
And I think that's something that we're all kind of still figuring out. There's no blueprint to that. I think that's what kind of makes it so special is the fact that we kind of get to write our own career path now, like just because I studied marketing in university and have done it for a couple of years now doesn't mean that I'm going to be a marketer in 10 years, you know, or maybe in five years from now. And being able to kind of understand that it's okay to
00:18:43
Speaker
you know, change our minds again and again. I think that's something that my generation has really learned a lot in the last few years. And, you know, kind of just staying true to
00:18:54
Speaker
what we think might be great and good to learn. I think what I see with Gen Z, and please feel free to confirm or deny this, is there's also this element of caring about your work, but not letting work be your whole entire identity and your whole being. And I think that the nonlinear career path aids in that.
00:19:15
Speaker
as well that where your happiness and where your passions can take you might evolve who you are and right like you might not be in marketing 10 years from now you might be I don't know you might be doing something completely different you might be running an art gallery I don't know like who knows where that's going to take you but I think that what we're seeing that's a little bit different with this generation is not attaching the whole human being to
00:19:40
Speaker
of a job or specifically one industry. It's a part of who they are, but it's not their whole part. And so I think that that could be driving a little bit of this, like why we see the nonlinear career path, where it's like, I am struggling with an identity perspective that like, if I ever left what I do, I would really struggle because it's a part of who I am. And I trained so hard for it for so long. I wonder what I'm not trying to leave my job, but like, what my life would be like if I didn't work in educational consulting. If I was in a completely like, how would I
00:20:10
Speaker
thrive, you know? And I think that Gen Z is very nimble to saying, well, yeah, I might be marketing now, but in five years, I might be doing operations for a logistics company, right?
Career Flexibility and Diverse Interests
00:20:21
Speaker
Something very different. Do you feel like that resonates a little bit as well? Yeah, that definitely does. And not only does it resonate, but it kind of gives me comfort in a way like I feel lucky that
00:20:32
Speaker
you know i am part of a generation that is able to you know with their whole chest say like hey like i don't know what's going on right now but these are the things that i'm passionate about this is what i want to learn more about and.
00:20:46
Speaker
even though that has nothing to do with my career path right now, maybe this is something I can do later on. And yeah, I think that's beautiful. It's really fun having conversations with other people my age about this type of stuff. Absolutely. And I think that what it does, it's almost like you all are giving yourselves permission to be more well-rounded in your interests and let your singular focus does not just have to be work. And I think that's a very healthy perspective, but I could also see that being
00:21:14
Speaker
a cultural shift that creates challenges with older generations where I'll be honest, like we do, we create so, especially in the US, like we create so much of our self-worth from the work we do, what company we work for, and we work long hours. And so it's like the only thing we know how to talk about. And so the robustness of life, I think is much more present with Gen Z, which I think is a good thing. And I imagine Mellon is kind of feeling some of that for its users as well.
00:21:40
Speaker
Sana, I would love to get any takes that you have on this. I know that while you're not a member of Gen Z, you're very closely acquainted. You're a big supporter like myself. Do you see any challenges that emerge? And this is not a Nokia Gen Z, but some of the challenges that Gen Z professionals are facing, especially among your users when it comes to career planning and skill development and the workplace learning environment.
00:22:01
Speaker
Absolutely. And I think this is going to lean in very much to what you said, Sydney and Megan, as well, is that in today's world, we have a lot more opportunities. It's not like, you know, 50 years ago when you became a doctor and then you had to be a doctor for the rest of life, you became a marketer and then you were working at the same place for 20 years and having more opportunities and more path that you can go down.
00:22:23
Speaker
is, of course, super exciting, but it can also be a bit scary because you feel like you constantly have to choose to navigate while it's easier to be an autopilot and just, you know, stay at your job for four decades. So I think leading to what you both said is both a huge opportunity, but it can also be a challenge and it can make, you know, it just adds more pressure on you to like choose your path and constantly revisit that.
Education vs. Job Market Needs
00:22:47
Speaker
And I think another challenge is because of the world changing so quickly,
00:22:53
Speaker
that a lot of graduates especially feel like the degree that you're getting is not really applicable to their career. And there is a big gap between what we've been formally taught at university, for example, and what the market wants. And I struggled to be in the universities for this as well, because the world is changing so quickly. Like a social media manager was a job that didn't exist five years ago. So how could we have a degree that's taught people five years ago that profession? That's a challenge. And I see how
00:23:22
Speaker
a lot of employers now are looking beyond paper qualifications and focus more on the skills that people have and the ways they can demonstrate that to hire. And I think that's a trend that we need to see more and more in order to just navigate the world life we're living in and getting the best talent for the jobs that are out there. So that's a really great segue into kind of the question that I have is while individual employees and people like in the workplace have some
00:23:50
Speaker
the responsibility of navigating challenges, not all the challenges are individually driven. So what are ways that organizations can help address some of these challenges that Gen Z professionals are facing, especially when it comes to professional learning, whether that's entry into the job, onboarding, or continual learning? But what can organizations be doing to address the challenges and really help navigate those challenges? For me, one of the biggest thing is to embrace skill-based hiring.
00:24:18
Speaker
and focus really more on the skills than just the paper qualifications or CV. I think that's super important. And then the second part would be to help their employers to learn. One of the biggest challenges I see right now, for example, is to make sure that you employees are embracing AI and using different AI tools to learn and use those AI tools in the work to be more productive.
00:24:43
Speaker
And of course, someone who's really embracing AI is a big passion of mine, but I am quite convinced that AI won't take over jobs, but people using AI to become more productive, more creative, and better at their jobs will outpace those who don't. So if you look concrete today what organizations can do to help the employees upskill and stay relevant, I think one of the biggest things that we need to work on is helping employees to embrace AI and productivity tools.
00:25:11
Speaker
And that's also what we see now in a lot of big corporates and smaller companies as well, working quite a lot on that.
Mentorship and AI Tools
00:25:17
Speaker
Sydney, from your perspective, I mean, if you could give advice to organizations on how they could help learners and professionals of your generation navigate some of the challenges, what would you like to see happen if you had that chance? Because now is the chance. Yeah, obviously, I am in total agreement with Sanay about, you know,
00:25:37
Speaker
organizations and employers really leaning further into AI as not just a tool to improve workflows and such, but also to optimize processes when it comes to maybe dealing with more people on a team. But basically what I'm trying to say is giving Gen Z
00:25:57
Speaker
more chances to exercise independence and autonomy in the workforce. And I think AI is a tool that we can leverage better in order to do so. Another thing that I personally think would be super beneficial moving forward for Gen Z in the workforce or in the workplace
00:26:15
Speaker
is also mentorship programs. I feel like one of the main things that have really helped me learn a lot and progress in my career thus far are the mentors that have been generous with me in terms of giving me time throughout the week to kind of sit down and talk to me about
00:26:33
Speaker
their own career trajectory. Sometimes we don't always want to be told what we should be doing or what we can be doing, but we also want to learn from you. And that generosity has really helped me a lot in terms of figuring out what I want to do for myself and really just understanding what's possible and what's out there. And also finding comfort in knowing that I have someone who I can kind of speak to or lean on whenever I feel really confused or just dejected or
00:27:02
Speaker
really unhappy with where I am. So I feel like that kind of human touch to progression and learning and kind of figuring out our career paths is super beneficial. And I feel like organizations can lean further into that as well.
00:27:18
Speaker
I think that that is such an interesting dichotomy that you just threw out there, because so many people say, well, AI is just going to replace all the humans. We're not going to be necessary anymore. But you said, well, now it's a tool that you can use to leverage it to be faster, or you can optimize it to be more creative. Fill in the blank terms for business. It's helping you from a tool perspective. But then you frame it with this idea of,
00:27:45
Speaker
But we still need mentors. We still need guides. We still need humans in our life that we're not trying to get rid of everyone. And even with tools like Melon, there's still an abundance of things and issues that humans are navigating and younger generations are navigating. And the guidance and the wisdom
00:28:04
Speaker
of a mentor can still be incredibly helpful. I thought that was, I don't know if you meant to do that, but I was really masterful saying that really that we've got a lot out there that can help us learn and that Gen Z can be learning, but we can't replace that human interaction. That's so necessary as
Gen Z's Collaborative and Ambitious Nature
00:28:22
Speaker
well. I think that's a really important point. And a lot of people think that having a mentor is like some really big formal, important thing that you gotta like decree to the person, the mentor, you gotta have a formal mentoring program, but really, I mean,
00:28:34
Speaker
Sometimes the people that I've mentored in the past is just past students that wanted to get coffee and catch up. And we might only talk once a year over Zoom, but it's those sorts of things that transfer of, I think, human knowledge is also really important.
00:28:49
Speaker
I've got one last question for you both. It's something I ask every guest. What is your favorite thing about the Gen Z professionals that you work with? I know, Sana, you're not Gen Z, but we will lump you in there for the time. But you spent a lot of time with Gen Z professionals as they're kind of your main user base for Mellon. What are some of the favorite things that have emerged for you? And then we can hear from Sydney. I love how Gen Z's
00:29:10
Speaker
are both very ambitious but also very open to share what they're learning with their peers. And I think that's why we see Thought Leadership having such a boom right now on LinkedIn, on Twitter. There are a lot of people out there sharing experiences with the world and inviting others in to learn from that. And I love that because I think it's created a world where
00:29:32
Speaker
It's not only men in suits at McKinsey or Bain who tells us what to think about an industry. We can now see that anyone can develop expertise and share it with the world, which I think is really, really cool to see how agencies are not only ambitious, but also not gatekeepers. They want to invite others to learn from their experience, which is quite unique.
00:29:53
Speaker
Absolutely. I am constantly amazed by the Gen C that I a lot of times I'm working with students and they'll be like, can you like they have a thirst for knowledge, but then I'm like, so what are you studying? And they're like, uh, nuclear biology. And I was like, huh, they'd like balance this thirst for knowledge with a great deal of expertise, even at a young age and their willingness to share. I think it's, it's very, and I don't want to say it's like humble, but it's almost, I think it's like, they're very giving with their knowledge. And I think that that's something that is so
00:30:23
Speaker
great. I think that they give that knowledge because they want us all to be a little smarter or better at our jobs or more peaceful or just a better society. I don't know what it is, but I thank them for that because I learned a lot from Gen Zers that are like, hey, did you know? I'm like, I did not know. Thank you so much. And I think maybe because I did my my first internship, but it was in finance, like all my sex. Yeah. And I remember my internship class, you know, everyone were taking notes. No one was sharing the notes with others because everyone wanted themselves to shine and they wanted to
00:30:53
Speaker
be competitive compared to the rest of the internship class, which is so different from the behavior I'm seeing today amongst Gen Zs, especially on social media.
Embracing New Experiences
00:31:02
Speaker
So it's really comforting also to see the world developing in that way. They're a good bunch. Sydney, what's one of your favorite things about your Gen Z professional peers?
00:31:11
Speaker
Thank you so much. It's just so cool to hear you guys talking about our generation like that. You know, in addition to us being so open and non gatekeeper with everything that we've learned, I think that one of the best things or like my favorite things about
00:31:30
Speaker
my generation is our willingness to really try a ton of different things. You know, we have kind of that thirst for learning, but also just, you know, experiences and, you know, in and outside of just building identity capital. And I think we mentioned earlier about how that kind of
00:31:53
Speaker
Is what employers and organizations should be looking at moving forward but I think that kind of presents a really exciting opportunity and Kind of I guess outlook on the future that the kind of people that are going to be You know in management or in leadership or starting new businesses or you know running the world are going to be people who are not just very open-minded willing to learn but also very multifaceted and
00:32:22
Speaker
And yeah, I think that's just something for all of us to be excited about. And, and like, melon is a great tool to kind of facilitate all that learning and keep it and share it. And yeah, I love that. Well,
00:32:41
Speaker
Sana, Sydney, this has been so wonderful to have you both here and share about, um, really like this new wave of skilling and development and learning and kind of this self-guided nature that Gen Z is very comfortable with. Um, but if people want to stay up to date with kind of the stuff that you're working on, what's the best way that people can connect with you and, um, you know, stay tuned in. So when it comes to Melon and myself, Melon is an Instagram under the tag join Melon.
00:33:11
Speaker
and I'm on LinkedIn with the name Santa Fouquet, and I love to share my learnings and the progress of Melon there, so I'd love to connect. Yeah, so for me on LinkedIn, I'm Sydney Santos, and if you do end up signing up for Melon after this episode, you can find all of my collections on share.joinmelon.io slash Sydney.
00:33:38
Speaker
I am on my way, Sydney. I cannot even, I'm so excited. I'm like just a baby user right now. And I feel like I could learn so much from you. So everyone, if you are listening, being sure to check out Melon, even if you're a little scared of AI, which you shouldn't be, it is so user intuitive. It does, it's just pleasant to use. Sana and Sydney, thank you so much for being here.
Conclusion and Future Episodes
00:34:03
Speaker
It's been so wonderful to spend time with you. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
00:34:13
Speaker
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00:34:43
Speaker
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00:35:16
Speaker
Thank you again to Sydney and Sana for joining me in today's episode. We had a really fruitful discussion on Gen Z's career path and the importance from support from mentors, but also the ways in which Gen Z is looking at career learning and workplace skilling in different ways in previous generations.
00:35:33
Speaker
So I want to thank Sana and Sydney for sharing the expertise on AI. I know artificial intelligence is something that can be a little bit scary and intimidating, but many in Gen Z are seeing it as a way to help become more independent and have autonomy over their work and their skilling.
00:35:48
Speaker
So whether you are Gen Z or you are curious about learning more about AI, I definitely suggest you go check out Melon. It's a really friendly way to get acquainted with learning that is intuitive to the things that you're already interested in. But thank you again, Sana and Sydney, for sharing a little bit more about the importance of career learning and looking at learning within the workplace beyond just onboarding. The many ways in which professionals in the Gen Z cohort are going about taking ownership of the ways in which they're learning.
00:36:16
Speaker
We still have some great new episodes ahead in season five with fantastic guests that are going to share their stories and insights. You really don't want to miss it, so we're going to continue to explore Gen Z in the workplace. If you haven't yet, go ahead and hit subscribe so you can get notified when new episodes become available. And while you're at it,
00:36:33
Speaker
Go ahead and share this with a friend, a colleague, someone that really needs to learn about Gen Z learning. This is a more the merrier kind of podcast, so all are welcome. As always, you can reach out to me with any suggestions for topics or guests that you want to learn from and about. I can be reached on my website, meganmgrace.com, and you can find me on Instagram, threads, and LinkedIn at Megan M. Grace.
00:36:55
Speaker
And a thank you to the team that helped bring this episode together. Pre-production support was provided by Jessica F. Stafios and editing was supported by Leah Kramer. Thank you again for stopping by for this episode and the season so far. Let's continue this conversation. We'll chat soon.