hese are Western Cultural Generations.

Japan and Asia and portions of Europe

will have their own generational definitions based on major cultural, political, and
economic influences.
Births Births Youngest Oldest Age (*if still
Generation Name alive
Start End Age Today* Today*
today)
The Lost Generation -
1890 1915 103 128
The Generation of 1914 Note:
The Interbellum Generation 1901 1913 105 117 Dates
The Greatest Generation 1910 1924 94 108 are
The Silent Generation 1925 1945 73 93
Baby Boomer Generation 1946 1964 54 72
Generation X (Baby Bust) 1965 1979 39 53
Xennials - 1975 1985 33 43
Generation Y -
The Millennials - 1980 1994 24 38
Gen Next
iGen / Gen Z 1995 2012 6 23
Gen Alpha 2013 2025 1 5
approximate and there is some overlap because there are no standard definitions
for when a generation begins and ends. See the section below about why this
overlap.

Notes on Each of the Latest Cultural Generations

iGen / Gen Z: Born between 1995 and 2012

As of 2017 most of these folks are still too young to have made an impact.
However the older ones might be fighting our war in Afghanistan. The younger
ones are hopefully still in school and planning on careers and jobs that will have
strong demand and generate new opportunities.
I'm personally optimistic about the iGen'ers.
According to Jean Twenge PhD., author of "iGen, Why Today's Super-Connected
Kids are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy ....", iGens are
different in these respects:

(Jean Twenge's writings on generations differs from others. She uses historical surveys and 1 on 1
interviews, rather than just theorizing and speculating. She is a serious researcher, and a professor at
San Diego University)
iGen'ers are:

 Much more tolerant of others - different cultures, sexual orientations,

races
 More cautious, less risk taking
 Less drinking and drug taking in high school
 Less likely to go to church
 More likely to think for themselves and not believe authority figures in
church or government
 Delaying having serious romantic relationships
 Less teen pregnancy
 Fewer run aways
 Delaying driving, and fewer teen driving accidents
 Less time spent in shopping malls
 Less likely to go out to see a movie
 More likely to use Instagram than Facebook

Whereas Millenials were raised to think they were special and that they could
become anything they dreamed of, and then after graduating they found that
Boomers had let millions of jobs slip out of the country, iGen'ers have seen this,
and are far more cautious and less optimistic and maybe less naive.
Our free personality test will help you understand what careers are a better
match for you. It will also show you how to understand people better.

On the potentially negative side, iGens are known for:

 Less "in person" and "face to face" contact with others due to more time
connecting via smart phones
 Heavy use of gaming
 Less reading of books, and newspapers
 Grew up more supervised, more protected than prior generations
 Less experience with teen jobs and earning money in high school
 May stay up till 2 AM using smart phone and social media
 Possibly more depressed than prior generations
 Feels more lonely, and not needed
 Possibly a higher suicide rate

Careers for iGen'ers - You Need Either Skills or Education

If you are iGen and looking for a career, please pick a major in fields where there
will be plenty of jobs and avoid fields where the jobs are limited. Unless of course
you are so different and truly one of a kind like: Michael Jordan, Prince, The
Beatles, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian (just kidding).
You have two choices - pick a trade or get the right college education. Low skilled
jobs will continue to disappear and you can not raise a family on the income from
a low skilled job. You either need skills or education.
Healthcare and high tech are the booming fields now and that will continue for
decades.
Thus careers in science, engineering, software, and medicine are a good choice.
There won't be many jobs for people who major in English, history, philosophy
etc. Sorry.
If you want help choosing a new career, or making those big career
decisions, check out my career counseling services.
Electrical Engineering and Software Engineering look really good. As does
nursing, and being a family doctor.
Civil Engineering offers very few jobs since we are not building a lot of bridges
and buildings. So avoid that.
Automotive engineering is tough. Not many US jobs except in the electric car
field.
Jobs that must be done in person such as plumbers, electricians, barbers,
beauticians, should still be in demand, although lower paying than jobs requiring
a college education. The trades are more stable than many other careers.
Sales jobs will continue to shrink. Retails sales jobs are disappearing as shopping
malls close and as Amazon takes over the world. Sales people are usually just
middlemen. Who needs them? Sorry... However, sales people that do business
development and find new customers are a different story. But the days of
being a shoe salesman in a mall store are gone.
Business development and marketing are still good fields, but will see some
unexpected changes.
The auto mechanic field is going to go through interesting changes with the
growth of electric vehicles and self driving vehicles. EV's have less moving parts
and fewer fluids to replace, but they still need tire changes.
Taxi driver jobs and truck driver jobs will start to experience less demand as
automated vehicles take over. However, as of 2018, the demand for truck drivers
is booming.
As automated electric vehicles take over, the need for individuals to own a car
will be reduced. It will become more simple, less expensive, and more efficient to
just walk outside, call up an app, have a driver-less Uber pick you up and take you
to wherever you want to go. As long as a car can show up in 5 minutes or so, that
will be the way to go. Owning your own car is not efficient, nor a good
investment. Cars sit around doing nothing for 98% of their existence. They take
up space, they consume your money on insurance and repairs even while they are
just sitting doing nothing. How this will affect jobs, careers and the workplace will
be interesting, and iGen'ers will be the first to experience this.
Space flight related jobs will pick up as we focus on getting people to the moon,
Mars, and space stations.
Geology jobs, especially related to finding minerals on other planets should see a
rise in demand.
Virtual Reality related jobs (whatever those are?) will pick up as VR technology
becomes ubiquitous. Probably creating VR experiences will be popular.
The generation after the iGen'ers will be the ones who grow up thinking virtual
reality is normal.

Gen Y: "The Millennials" Born between 1980 and 1994

The Millennials grew up and began their careers in a time when:

 Almost every home (except 3rd world countries) had an internet connection
and a computer
 2008, the largest economic decline since the great depression
 911 Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
 The effect of 20+ years of offshoring of American jobs is finally felt
 Enron - energy trading scams and corporate fraud on a national level
 Global warming becoming obvious with unusually severe storms, hotter
weather, colder weather, more droughts etc
 President G. W. Bush, Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney deceived the entire nation
about weapons of mass destruction of the nuclear and biological type and
the subsequent invasion and occupation of Iraq
 The explosive growth in online companies such as Google, Facebook,
SalesForce.com, LinkedIn, EBay, PayPal
 A revolution in the way we work, including widespread acceptance of flex-
time, work from home, freelancing
 The US is divided 50:50 with different and opposite fundamental beliefs and
values
 Way too many crazy people are shooting their fellow Americans with
weapons of rapid destruction
 Congress becoming dysfunctional
 Housing prices growing beyond most young people's reach

Looking for career advice and direction - that's what our Career Coaching offers...

Xennials
The cohort known as "Xennials" are composed of the oldest Millenials. This is a
"crossover generation."
Born roughly between 1975 and 1985 plus or minus a few years.
The idea being that Xennials are more like the preceding Gen X than they are like
Millenials.
According to Australian Sociologist, Dan Woodman, "The theory goes that the
Xennials dated, and often formed ongoing relationships, pre-social media. They
usually weren't on Tinder or Grindr, for their first go at dating at least. They called
up their friends and the person they wanted to ask out on a landline phone,
hoping that it wasn't their intended date's parent who picked up."

Gen X: Born between 1965 and 1979

According to WikiPedia, Gen X was originally called "Gen Bust" because their
birth rate was vastly smaller than the preceding Baby Boomers.
Gen X'ers were the first generation to experience:

 The highest level of education in the US to date

 The 1976 Arab Oil Debacle and the first gas shortages in the US
 The price of gold soaring to $1000/oz for the first time
 The fall of the Berlin Wall and the splitting apart of the Soviet Union
 MTV and the rise of Disco
 China's momentary flirtation with personal freedom and the tragedy of
Tiananmen Square
 Fighting in the first Gulf War
 NAFTA where President Bill Clinton paves the way to give away millions of
American jobs
Baby Boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964
Baby Boomers are defined as being from the huge population increase that
followed World War II, and the Great Depression.
They grew up in a time of prosperity and an absence of world wars. They were
the Flower Children, taking LSD and protesting the war in Vietnam.
Unlike their parents who grew up during the Great Depression, Boomers became
the great consumers. They became famous for spending every dollar they
earned.
This was the first Western Generation to grow up with two cars in every garage
and a chicken in every pot.
Baby Boomer spending and consumerism has fueled the world economies.
The Baby Boomers fought for environmental protection.
Baby Boomers were the first generation to experience:

 A time of unparalleled national optimism and prosperity

 The Cold War, fear of a nuclear attack from Russia, bomb shelters and hiding
under a desk at school
 The assassination of President John F. Kennedy
 The assassination of Martin Luther King
 The confidence building from putting a man on the moon
 The incredible waste and destruction of the War in Vietnam
 The Civil Rights Movement

The Silent Generation: Born between 1925 and 1945

Those of the Silent Generation were born during the Great Depression. Their
parents were mostly of the Lost Generation.
They grew up expecting a hard life. This was the era when a Christmas present
might be a orange or a full meal.
They are called the Silent Generation because as a group they were not loud.
They did not protest in Washington. There were no major wars to protest.

The Greatest Generation: Born between 1910 and 1924

Those of the Greatest Generation grew up during the Great Depression and
probably fought in World War II. They are also known as the GI Joe Generation.
They are the parents of the Baby Boomers.
They were named the Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw, famous News
Broadcaster. Brokaw said they were the greatest because they fought for what
was right rather than fighting for selfish reasons.
They certainly made great self sacrifices, fighting to protect people in other
countries from the likes of Hitler, Mussolini and Japanese Kamikaze suicide
bombers.
Makes one wonder what they will call those bankers and insurance company
executives who fought only for personal gain thus creating the 2007-2009
financial collapse.