Voices of Gen Zs at the Workplace – Lessons from the Other Side of the Desk

At BCFAI, our blogs are more than words on a page. They are our way of giving

ideas a voice and reflections a shape. They extend beyond classrooms and

boardrooms, offering a personal lens on our collective experiences.

This year feels extra special! Our Fireside Chat Series – “Mind the Gap:

Academia and Industry in Conversation” has sparked thought-provoking

dialogues on how classrooms connect to careers, how skills evolve, and how

learning meets real-life challenges.

But the conversation doesn’t stop there. Our blogs keep the flame alive, a space

where students, educators, and industry voices come together to share stories,

insights, and reflections. Each post adds a fresh spark to one big question: What

does it really take to be future-ready?

We’re excited to share a new blog inspired by the series — “Voices of Gen Zs at

the Workplace” by Vanshika Pareek, a candid and relatable narration of how a

young professional created her own playbook, learning and adapting on the go.

-Jayasree Menon, Blog Coordinator

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Thrown into the deep end without a life jacket, I faced a world where training was a whisper, not a guide. With no map and all eyes watching, I stumbled, learned, and fought to find my voice. This is the raw truth of a Gen Zer’s fight to belong at work.

Walking into my first real workplace felt like opening the door to a world I had

only seen in passing. No, there weren’t neatly stacked training manuals waiting for

me, and no one handed me a “how to fit in at work” guide. It was a sink-or-swim

moment only instead of sinking, I dog-paddled my way through.

I didn’t undergo any formal training, which, at first, felt liberating. I thought,

“Great, no boring PowerPoint sessions.” But soon I realised that training isn’t

about sitting in a conference room listening to someone drone on; it’s about having

a soft landing when you enter a space where everyone else already knows the

unspoken rules. The lack of structured onboarding meant that I learned by

observing watching how seniors spoke to each other, how they responded to

emails, how they balanced deadlines without snapping in frustration.

One of the workplace’s biggest strengths was the way people trusted me with real

tasks right from the start. As a Gen Z, I crave purpose not just busywork and being

handed responsibilities that actually mattered felt empowering. There was no hand-

holding, but there was faith that I could figure things out. That trust pushed me to

research, to ask better questions, and to deliver work that I was proud of.

But here’s where the flip side shows up. Without proper training, I sometimes spent

twice the time on a task simply because I didn’t know the shortcuts, the preferred

formats, or the right point of contact. It wasn’t about intelligence; it was about

access to know-how. I often wished there was a simple crash course on “How We

Do Things Here” not just for processes, but for culture. How do you handle

feedback? What’s the tone of internal communication? What’s considered “urgent”

here? Those small details can make a huge difference in how quickly a newcomer

adapts.

One thing I would have loved to learn early on was navigating professional

boundaries. As Gen Z, we are used to blurred lines, school friends are Instagram

mutuals, and mentors can be people we text at 11 p.m. But the workplace has its

own rhythm. Sometimes I overexplained myself in emails, thinking it would make

me look conscientious, when in reality, brevity was valued more.

What surprised me most was how much learning happened outside “official” work.

In casual tea breaks, I picked up on negotiation tactics, crisis-handling skills, and

even small leadership moves like how to calm a heated discussion without making

it obvious. This was workplace coaching in its rawest form: learning by proximity,

by absorbing the invisible curriculum of how things get done.

If there’s one message I’d give educators, trainers, and workplace mentors, it’s this

Gen Z doesn’t just want training; we want relevant, experience-based guidance. We

don’t want to be overloaded with theory that never touches our day-to-day reality.

We want someone to tell us, “Here’s what you’re going to face, and here’s how we

deal with it here.” It’s not about hand-holding; it’s about giving us the map before

we start exploring.

Looking back, my workplace didn’t teach me in the traditional sense. But it trained

me resilience, problem-solving, and the art of figuring things out when answers

weren’t served on a platter. It wasn’t perfect and that’s exactly why I learned so

much. Because for Gen Z, every gap in training is also an opportunity to create our

own playbook for how we want to work, lead, and teach the generations that

follow.

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Vanshika Pareek is a 2nd year student of Journalism at SCMC Pune, passionate about news, writing, and storytelling. She enjoys exploring culture, media, and the

world of ideas through words. With curiosity and creativity, she aspires to tell stories that inform, inspire, and connect people, while constantly learning from the

ever-changing landscape of journalism and media.