Gen Y: Seizing the Opportunities Around Me

In today's world, no matter where you are, either shopping mall, in the public transport or even at the roadside, you can see there are many technology geeks or we called as "phubbing". Apple just launched Iphone 5s and Samsung upgraded to Samsung Galaxy Note 3. We are now living in the technology world. Technology is something we cannot live without, especially the internet. Internet helps a lot in learning opportunity. For example, Google could help us search hundred or thousands of information by words or images that we ask for. Youtube, gives us information through the videos. There are various opportunities around generation Y that we should not let go.

As a generation Y, we have the opportunities to learn from internet, it is not only words learning but video learning. I believe that many people had faced the same problem when they come to self-learning. Most of us hardly understand the concept on some specific skills through words such as guitar fingering but we can learn the guitar fingering skill through Youtube to solve this obstacle on self-learning. Besides, generation Y also able to gain experiences on the campaigns and challenges organized by the professional institution such as accounting and finance student who can participate in Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Global Business Challenge, Deloitte Malaysia Tax Challenge and OSK Investment Challenge; for mechanical and electronic engineering student, they can participate Malaysia ABU Asia-pacific robot contest in order to gain experiences by seizing this opportunity. By participating the CIMA Global Business Challenge, we are able to learn communication skill together with teamwork and presentation skill. OSK Investment Challenge enables participants to experience the trading in real stock market. Furthermore, generation Y around the world can learn and have a great education without limits. Coursera offers a wide range of courses to the people who do not have sufficient fund to continue their study in university. Generation Y can seize this opportunity to improve themselves, master their skill, and get their degree in order to compete with others in career path.

Another opportunity which generation Y should seize is the power of social networking. Nowadays, with the help of social networking, people can connect to each other easily no matter how far the distance is. With only one smartphone or any devices which connected to internet, we can have a free call, text or even video call by using all the applications. We could contact each other anytime, anywhere. It makes us close to each other. Other than that, it gives the opportunity for us to earn money easily, especially for those who are still studying. Nowadays, most of the generation Y are seeking the easy ways to make money. Online marketing is one of the ways they choose. Online clothes store is familiar to generation Y today, however, some people earn the money through the clicking on the advertisement which they shared on their social media or blog, for example, ChurpChurp and Nuffnang are popular online social media advertisement company. As for the opportunity in social community, there is an interesting even had attracted me which I went for it. Nuffnang, the world's leading blog advertising community created Nuffnang FoodFest which is an event happened in October this year at the Sunway Pyramid, one of the well know shopping mall in Malaysia. It is a food festival that allow everyone go there to eat, even some are just small bites. They related the food festival with the internet of things. You just need to have a smartphone which connected to the internet, go to the vendors, scan their code, and you could get food to eat. Another way is by connecting with an online social networking and micro-blogging service, Twitter, here comes the social currency for you to ask for the food. As a business student, what I experienced in this event is the power of social networking in advertising business. Food stalls intend to become famous in social network by providing their speciality for free. Having a high fame in social networking such as Twitter and Facebook, could push up their revenue rapidly. Generation Y can seize this opportunity to improve their soft skill, for example, participate in those events to communicate with famous bloggers, public figures and sharing their experiences.

Internet of Things (IoT) is also an opportunity around generation Y where we can seize to improve our lifestyle and build our business in future. As a generation Y, we can download the application with connectivity options to our devices to track and monitor our daily workout. For adventurer and hiker, those applications can track your current location, distance and your fat consumption. Other than this, WeMo smartphone application allows us to monitor our plugged in device in our home across the world as long as you can access to internet. It reduces our electricity fee by eliminating standby power to conserve energy over time. For example, DHL Express provides tracking shipment services where we can monitor our global mail by key in our tracking number on DHL Express website. Internet of Things improve our lifestyle by making our life more convenient and efficiency.

I grab the chances for self-learning through online courses. Besides, I learn my guitar fingering techniques through Youtube video. On the other hand, I gained experiences through joining social media event and making profit in online advertisement clicks. My lifestyle had changed due to Internet of Things. Internet of Things improves my quality of life to more convenient and I hope all the generation Y can seize the opportunity. As a generation Y, I will make sure all these opportunities around me will not slipped away.


Irene