Chapter 2. Great Expectations

When Gretchen Neels, a Boston-based consultant, was coaching a group of students for job interviews, she asked them how they believe employers view them. She gave them a clue, telling them that the word she was looking for begins with the letter e. One young man quickly shouted out, "excellent." Not that "e" word, she said. Soon other students chimed in with "enthusiastic" and "energetic." Not even close. The correct answer, she finally said, is "entitled." "Huh?" the students responded, surprised and even hurt to think that managers are offended by their highfalutin opinions of themselves.

"What is it with these girls? It's like generation Y gave way to generation I.D.—I Deserve," Zoe Burden told her husband on ...

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