About this episode

Suzy Welch discusses the challenges faced by Gen Z in the current job market with two members of her team.

Jannah had a spreadsheet with 340 job applications — organized by posting date, job type, and application portal — because it was the only thing that made her feel like she had any control. Kevin applied to hundreds of jobs, got so beaten down by rejection that he stopped entirely, then made himself start again. Both went to elite universities. Both did everything right. Both will tell you: it was brutal out there. This week on Becoming You, your host Suzy Welch sits down with two employed Gen Z-ers on her own team, and pulls no punches about what's actually happening in this job market, why it's happening, and what you do about it. Suzy drops data that reframes everything: 60% of 2026 graduates are pessimistic about their careers. 70% ended up in fields unrelated to what they studied. And only 2% of Gen Z has the values hiring managers are actually looking for. They get into the worst career advice ever given, the red flag no one warns you about in job interviews, and the one thing you can say to a hiring manager that will stop them cold, in the best possible way. And Jannah asks the question underneath all of it: how do you plan a career when you can't see what's coming? Take…

People in this episode

Host: Suzy Welch

Guests: Jannah, Kevin

Topics covered

• job market
• career planning
• Gen Z employment
• job applications
• rejection
• career advice

Keywords

• job applications
• Gen Z
• career advice
• job market
• rejection
• employment
• career planning

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NYU, Becoming You, Becoming You newsletter, PIE360 Feedback tool

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