‍My generation feels lost. As many studies show, there has never been a generation as anxious as Generation Z. I've experienced it myself in the past, and I see it all around me; the vast majority of my friends feel lost, insecure, and completely drained of energy. Hardly anyone knows what to do after graduation, and most fear the time they are done with their studies.

How did all of this happen? In this article, I show three trends I observed which are large contributors of Gen Z's (career) anxiety, and explain why there is still hope for my generation.

1. Instagram (and other social media) - a generation fueled by extrinsic motivation

Gen Zers are the first generation to be born in a world with internet, smartphones, and social media. We cannot remember or imagine a world without social media. This was made abundantly clear to me when I saw my 9-year-old niece posting selfies on her brand-new Facebook account. The most anxiety-creating network, however, is another network in the Facebook family: Instagram.

Scrolling through Instagram is basically like entering a fake, virtual reality; on the platform, Gen Zers watch millions of influencers pretend like their lives are always amazing, meaningful, and interesting. This doesn't end with influencers: almost every single active Instagram user is trying to portrait a utopian image of themselves, and if this doesn't work out perfectly, it leads to insecurities. Do you only have 10 likes an hour after posting a picture? That means you're not good enough; that your life isn't interesting enough, not worthy of other people's attention. This leads to Gen Zers leading a life that isn't true to themselves, with the primary focus on getting as many people to like and follow you as possible.* No wonder the majority of my friends feel anxious, insecure, or exhausted.

In fact, when I dug deeper into the numbers, I was astonished by the effect Instagram has on my generation's mental health. The graph below depicts (1) a measure of serious psychological distress among 18 till 25-year-olds, and (2) the number of Instagram users. Before Instagram blew up, the mental health indicator was relatively stable for years. Once the user count of Instagram started rising rapidly, so did the number of young people with mental health problems. Of course, Instagram (and other social media networks) isn't the only reason for this crisis, but it certainly is a large contributor.
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*Instagram recognizes the issue and is trying to combat it, but I doubt whether it will be enough.

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2. They told me I could be anything, so I became lost

When I ask my mother or my grandpa why they chose their particular career paths, they always tell me that they didn't have many options to choose from. My grandpa worked in the regional coal mines, which was what his father did, too. Therefore, the choice was simple - no need to stress about it. The world of Gen Zers (and Millennials) is the complete opposite of this: we can be anything we want to be. Want to become a coder? Sure, just take a course online, and you're a coder. Want to be an entrepreneur? Make a website with Webflow or Wix.com, and *poof*: you just started your business. Do you want to be a YouTuber, like 34.2% of Gen Zers and Millennials? You just need your phone - you're ready to start today. This tsunami of options paralyzes Gen Zers; an effect that is widely supported by research as well.

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3. A world of abundance - why traditional systems can't ease Gen Z career anxiety

The world of Gen Zers is vastly different than previous generations. Gen Zers live in a world of abundance; they've got everything they need, right in front of their eyes. Want to listen to some music? Open Spotify. Thinking of checking out that new movie? You can stream it on YouTube. Hungry? Uber Eats has got you. In a world of abundance, Gen Zers expect everything to be at their fingertips. Everything that isn't, doesn't exist for them.

The problem is: the world and behavior of Gen Zers is vastly different than that of previous generations, but the systems that are supposed to help Gen Zers progress in their careers are still stuck in the stone age.

One thing that didn't adapt to Gen Zers, next to the university system (don't even get me started on that), is career coaching. Do you have career-related fears, problems, or do you simply need some help with figuring out your next steps? Great! Then pay 1,000 bucks (yes, seriously), travel for an hour to visit a stranger's office, fill out endless tests on an old computer, and talk about your deepest fears and personal issues to someone who you just saw for the first time. Definitely sounds like a Gen Zer would enjoy that, doesn't it?

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The systems that are supposed to help Gen Zers progress in their careers are still stuck in the stone age.

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Previous generations simply don't understand the needs of Gen Zers, and I don't blame them for that; I mean, how can they understand it if they grew up in a completely different world? And it's not just that the world Gen Zers are born in is different; it's changing faster than ever, too. Previous generations can't save Gen Z from anxiety - it's up to us to do that ourselves. We are the only ones that understand our needs and our behavior.

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Why there is Kibo (noun, “hope” in Japanese)

There is hope for my generation, though. Despite the manifestation of anxiety and uncertainty in this generation, being born in the world of internet has upsides for Gen Z, too. We are blessed with a superpower: with one click of a button, we can reach and activate millions of people. We see examples of this every day: take Greta Thunberg, one girl, that can reach and inspire millions of Gen Zers to march for our climate. Gen Z is also a generation known for being progressive, and willing to fight for a better world.

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The reason why we called our start-up 'Kibo' (which means 'hope' in Japanese) is because we believe that if we can give Gen Z the guidance we require, we can be one of the most impactful generations in centuries. We do that by reinventing the way career coaching is done; we think everyone should have access to the best career coach out there, and therefore we built a friendly virtual career coach (Kibo). With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), we provide the right coaching at the fingertips of all Gen Zers. No need to pay thousands of euros. No need to go out of your house. No need to book appointments. You simply open the app, talk to Kibo, and get excited for the future again.

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With the help of artificial intelligence, we provide the right coaching at the fingertips of all Gen Zers.

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For us, the next step to make Kibo available to millions of Gen Zers, is raising funding. We're looking for investors who can help us take Kibo to the next level, and empower my generation to live a joyful and meaningful work life.

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