Much has been said about millennials and what they want from their personal and professional lives. If popular notion is anything to go buy, it seems that they want travel, technology, and bean bags. We decided to find out what it is they really seek in their professional lives – and in the process dispel some rumors – and draw a comparison between what their more senior counterparts seek as well. Turns out, their aspirations are not always quite so different.

As part of the series, we interviewed a millennial and non-millennial from several leading agencies in the region. This article features:

The millennial: Clare Fearon (30), associate director of programmatic operations

The non-millennial: TJ Lightwala (age undisclosed), head of performance Mindshare MENA and head of programmatic GroupM Connect MENA

Most important factors in a job:

Fearon:

  • Culture
  • Ability to change quickly
  • Challenges

Lightwala:

  • A culture that fosters collaboration and openness in communication for it inspires stretching the limits and when the going gets tough, you can lean on a sense of camaraderie and team unity
  • Leadership with strong people skills and vision that clarifies an individual’s impact and contribution towards the corporate goals and in a way that helps define a career path for each
  • Diversity. One of the best training grounds in my career has come from learning from people from varied backgrounds, industries and faculties

Best way for a company to retain you:

Fearon:

Keep it interesting, hire people smarter than me, embrace new technology and keep the sweet cupboard stocked at all times

Lightwala:

  • Involvement in strategic projects even if it’s not necessarily part of my current role
  • Constant training in not just functional fields but also soft skills
  • Shadow programs and mentor assisted development programs

Your driving force in this job:

Fearon:

I love digging into the data and finding key insights and trends. The beauty of real-time campaigns is that when you do find those wins, you can make changes and see a difference almost straight away and that’s really satisfying.

Lightwala:

My leadership consists of big picture thinkers who and are willing to test a spectrum of ideas and projects, yet with conscientious focus on developing the ecosystem. I was hired by someone I had great work chemistry with in this region and now, it’s working alongside executive leadership who bring in different perspectives that feed my thinking even more.

Expected frequency of appraisals:

Fearon:

I’d expect official appraisals at least once a year but it’s important to me to receive feedback on work consistently, in a timely manner. Promotions are different as they can be linked to the company’s growth and need for that position as well as the individual’s growth so I can’t put a time frame on it.

Lightwala:

Annual is a fair expectation on appraisals.

Career goals:

Fearon:

Short term: My current career goal is to continue to work with GroupM Connect building our programmatic offering and team. We’re only nine months old so it’s an exciting time.

Long term: It is my dream to have my own business some day.

Lightwala:

I am not limiting myself to goals (smiles). The most important element is to have fun and keeping yourself challenged, whilst being recognized. The rest takes care of itself.

Work-life balance:

Fearon:

I love my job but obviously, I love my family a lot more. It’s important to me to spend quality time with family and friends so when possible I don’t work on weekends. If I have to work weekends, it comes with the job. It doesn’t happen too often thankfully, I plan my weeks and days as best I can to ensure I don’t take work home with me.

Lightwala:

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. It really depends on the week ahead or the nature of meetings and deliverables. Either way I relish both

What would motivate you to switch jobs:

Fearon:

Any of the three points mentioned in the first question changing drastically resulting in me becoming unhappy in my job

Lightwala: 

Lack of mobility in career or work mix. The other factors like culture, fringe benefits, work-life balance, are what I would consider ubiquitous.