A bakery owner has revealed the surprising statements Gen Z put on their CVs.
Amy Gastman, owner of a plant-based bakery in North London, took to TikTok to explain some of the applications she received after advertising an assistant position.
The business owner was looking for her next barista, so she posted a job ad asking potential employees to submit their CVs.
But when she received requests from younger generations, she was shocked to find that they had written statements she didn’t understand – for example, that they were having a “spoiled girl summer”.
The video racked up more than half a million views, with people adding their experiences of hiring Gen Z employees in the comments section. One said: “They called me bro in the interview. I didn’t give him the job.”
Amy Gastman (pictured) took to TikTok to reveal the surprising statements Gen Z put on their CVs
On TikTok, Amy explained: “There’s nothing more humiliating than getting a ton of requests from Gen Z as a millennial and just not being able to understand any of them or even understand why you would do some of the things they do.”
Amy explained some of the strange requests she had received since she sent out the job posting.
She said: ‘For example, there are no capital letters anywhere. So if the sentences say, “I like to eat toast,” there is no capital I instead of I.’
“Another girl said to me, ‘I’m having a spoiled brat summer.'” Amy asked her, ‘What? I don’t understand. What do you mean, you’re having a spoiled brat summer?’
‘I don’t know what brat summer is. I mean, I know it has something to do with Charli XCX… but why do you have to put that on your CV?
Singer Charli XCX described the brats’ aesthetic to the BBC as: “Trashy. Like a pack of fags and a Bic lighter. And a white strappy top. No bra. That’s all you need.”
Amy continued: ‘I’m so confused that I got one that said, ‘I hate working because I’m just a girl.’
Reflecting on her findings, Amy said: “I feel so old, all this has made me feel old.”
The baker, who owns a shop in north London, said she needed a translator to understand some of the requests.
The North London baker added in the caption: “Send help, I need a translator.”
The video caused a stir online, with others taking to the comments section to share their thoughts and experiences on hiring Gen Z employees. One said: “Summer of a brat on a CV is madness.”
“I interviewed one person and asked if there was a gap on their CV. I asked them what they had been doing and they said ‘just chilling out’,” another person added.
A third wrote: “It’s because they’re trying so hard to be quirky and different but they’re achieving the opposite effect.”
A fourth viewer added: “Someone put ‘high school prom queen’ on their CV.”
I got one that said, “I’ve never had a job but I think it would be nice because I was in Ibiza for a week and didn’t even sleep,” said another.
Viewers took to the comments section to share their thoughts on the video and many were shocked.
This comes after a recruitment expert revealed the reasons why Gen Z struggle to land jobs and gave tips and tricks on how to stand out from the crowd when applying for positions.
Ursula Colman, head of recruitment at Cambridge and London-based Zetter Recruitment, said Gen Z has higher expectations than previous generations, adding that they expect to be able to work from home and receive a generous salary.
She said her company often sees young graduates applying for senior positions because they expect to be given their “dream job” without being prepared to undertake work experience first.
“There is an attitude that you should get the life you want and get paid for it. This has made the internship seem old-fashioned,” she told MailOnline.
She said factors that discourage young candidates include employers who “want someone full-time in the office” or that “the salary may not be considered high enough.”
“Before, this was a phase of leaps and bounds, but now there is a real desire for ‘I want it here and now’. It’s a sense of entitlement,” he said.
The recruitment expert, with 22 years of experience, said there is a desire among Generation Z to travel rather than apply for jobs.
However, when they return, they find a huge gap in their CVs, which is unattractive to recruiters because they are older but still lack experience.
Moreover, today higher education is not enough to distinguish oneself from the rest.
“Having a college degree is almost normal, whereas before it was something that many companies considered a good way to filter,” Ursula explained. “Nowadays, it’s really more about experience and what you’ve done than just the college degree.”
‘The amount of money people are willing to pay has definitely changed. We often have entry-level positions and Gen Z says, “No, I’m not getting paid enough, I’m looking for more.”
He said Generation Z sets a high standard when it comes to the working conditions they will accept.
“We’re seeing more and more Gen Zers wanting to work from home, and historically, those early career roles are roles that require travel and long hours,” she said.
‘But we’re getting graduates who will say, ‘I want to work from home, I don’t want to be in the office every day, the salary isn’t enough,’ in a way we’ve never seen before.’
Ursula revealed her top tips on how Gen Z can stand out from the crowd and land highly-skilled jobs straight out of college.
“Experience is the best way to stand out,” he said. “A lot of people who are good at it end up finding paid work. Plus, it gives them a lot of confidence.”
The recruitment expert said the way people apply for jobs affects the impression they make.
To stand out among hundreds of applications, Ursula said picking up the phone and calling the company to introduce herself and talk about her background will help stay top of mind for potential employers and is a more personal touch than applying online.
She also said that going to their offices for an interview instead of opting for a video call also makes a big difference, because it shows the employer that you have gone the extra mile.
Ursula added that participating in additional sports clubs at university or societies can highlight skills such as being a team player to employers.