You made it to the interview, you’ve got your smartphone to remind you of your stellar GPA and past work experience, but — oops! — you forgot to put on deodorant, or you forgot to brush your teeth. According to a recent CNBC article, this might kill your chances of getting a job.
The 2014 Trends in Consumer Mobility Report released by Bank of America Monday features statistics that all point to the fact that Millennials are attached to and dependent on the technological geniuses in their pockets known as smartphones.
In fact, the youngest of this group of Americans (ages 18-24) actually rate their mobile phone as most important in their daily lives ahead of a toothbrush and deodorant. Specifically, 96% of these young respondents say their smartphone is very crucial, while 93% said the same of a toothbrush and 90% of deodorant.
Yet, this isn’t the case for all Americans. Among all of the adult respondents, 95% said a toothbrush is important, while mobile phones and deodorant tied at 91% and are thus of less importance. This means that, while the Millennial interviewing for the job might not care about freshly polishing his or her pearly whites, the person doing the interviewing likely does.
Currently, young Americans ages 25 to 24 are facing a 6.7% unemployment rate, and a steep 11.1% of those between 20 and 24 are not getting hired. Both statistics are above the overall unemployment rate.
Yet, the Bank of America report should be taken with a grain of salt. The numbers don’t show that Millennials don’t want to brush their teeth. In fact, a solid 93% think it’s very important that they do. It just means that, when he or she is late and running out the door, a young American will sacrifice a blob of Colgate in order to grab hold of the iPhone.
