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: Chinmayee Mayya (24), senior media executive

The non-millennial: Rayan Hajjar (34), client managing director

Most important factors in a job:

Mayya:

• Job role. A dynamic role that allows for growth and learning
• Quality of work environment. Treat well and be treated well while being able to create a shareable life experience
• What we take home. Whether we admit it or not, the remuneration we receive is at the heart of the matter

Hajjar:

• Good company reputation
• Attitude and personality of the people I work with
• Opportunity to grow within the organization to stay motivated

Best way for a company to retain you:

Mayya:

Show appreciation, which translates to giving me opportunities for growth and providing a challenging environment. Being an ambitious millennial, the moment I feel like I have “been forgotten,” I start to think about the next course of action

Hajjar:

Being fair to its employees and keep paying me more.

Your driving force in this job:

Mayya:

Working hard and successfully seeing something completed to fruition is almost addictive at this stage, which has become my driving force. Moreover, as an anthropologist, this field appeals to me as I get to work in an office with colleagues, clients and consumers from diverse cultural backgrounds. In addition, this is turning out to be great subject material for my book.

Hajjar:

The enjoyment and fun during all those late hours and overnights with my colleagues.

Expected frequency of appraisals:

Mayya:

Appraisals are something I expect regularly, at least mid-yearly, based on me having made considerable progress since the last appraisal. However with promotions, based on what I see and hear, is something I expect regularly.

Hajjar: 

I’d expect an appraisal every year. It’s one of the key things that help with motivation and productivity. I’d also encourage performance feedback on a regular basis – monthly or quarterly – rather than wait for a yearly appraisal to kick in.

Career goals:

Mayya:

Short term: To become an expert in Mobile. While this may evolve to become a long-term goal or include more factors, or expand or shrink to something more defined, this is where I chose to begin.

Long term: As clichéd or ambitious as it sounds, run a company. I can’t have Indra Nooyi as my idol and not want to be like and her. While I am still deciding between a media agency and a surf shop, I want to be able to be at the helm of a company heralding change

Hajjar:

At the beginning of my career, my goal was to get promoted ASAP. I achieved that by getting promoted every year up until a few years ago when I became a director then client managing director. Once you hit that senior level, the pace naturally slows down or else I would’ve been appointed CEO a couple years ago.

Right now, my short term goal is focusing on objectives set by my management, but in the long term I would like to run a company.

Work-life balance:

Mayya:

It’s something I had to consciously work toward as this job has the tendency to consume you and you step out of the office only to spend the next 12 hours thinking about the things you want to do the next day. After a few months of unsuccessfully navigating that, I began to put in effort to stop and move on to something different during the day in order to give my brain a chance to breathe – something that helps me be more efficient at work as well. As far as weekends go, I am trying to avoid checking my mails, even though sometimes I am really curious if I am waiting for a particular response. On the whole, it just feels like I am putting something off that I will inevitably have to concede to if I want to stay ahead.

Hajjar:

It is important to have that balance but, to be honest, I find it hard to apply and disconnect… I guess old habits from my earlier years. Yes, I do check my emails on weekends and after working hours just so I don’t have a bunch of emails to go through first thing in the morning or on Sunday. If it wasn’t for my family I think work-life balance wouldn’t exist, so I’d like to thank my wife for helping me disconnect from time to time.

What would motivate you to switch jobs:

Mayya:

Learning potential as I always want to be able to learn something new.

Hajjar:

If any of the factors mentioned in question one would change drastically, it would be a sign to start looking .