Our summer interns have been working with us here at Quosal over the past few weeks, in various capacities ranging from graphics art to entry-level development and design. They are all great to work with, a very gratifying experience as an employer.

I have long anticipated the generational shift that I now see happening before my eyes as the educated workforce that has never known a time without computers in every aspects of their lives comes to the fore. It’s amazing to watch the differences in how systems are approached.

For them, “learning” new aspects of the PC is so smooth and natural that it’s almost transparent. They don’t get hung up — period. If they need information, searching the Internet is a fast and effective way to keep moving forward. Their base level of understanding, their innate sense of how things work in a PC, is already an asset to their vocation.

What this means on a practical level for an employer is that these young people are amazingly productive immediately, making wonderful contributions, certainly beyond expectations. This bodes well for our future productivity in the information age — provided that we find the way to harness this almost unexpected capability!

Having worked with interns for many years, it’s a normal business practice (at least for me) to naturally utilize them in entry-level roles and functions. This innate capability of our next generation calls for a different approach — certainly not to turn the reins over to your summer help, but also to not limit their contributions and miss out on something great.

Working with our next generation fills me with hope and optimism for our future, in every way.