This is not your parent’s career. You know, the one where they stay in the same job and retire with the gold watch.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that most high schoolers today are going to have at least 10-15 jobs across their entire lifetime.

Personally, I think that is a really low number. With millennials, I think we are talking 20-30 jobs… or a whole lot more than that.

Some of that number will involve holding multiple jobs concurrently.  Part-time work is becoming more prevalent, and people might have to work 2-4 part-time jobs at the same time just to pay the bills.

But the reality of how millennials think and how employers are evolving is that people will be changing jobs.

A lot.

The biggest career challenge that millennials face is keeping a focus on the present.

They are so inspired to make change that when companies don’t shift as fast as they like, millennials wants to move on.

Additionally, the next generation has a knack for rapid-fire acquisition of knowledge combined with a media-inspired age of shorter attention spans, so they get BORED. While they are impatiently tapping their feet.

Add in the fact that there are so many different choices and pathways… and things get pretty overwhelming and detract from the job seeker’s ability to stay focused in the present.

So it’s like yelling the proverbial “Squirrel!” which usually gets people off track.

It’s ok to have multiple different career paths, as well as loads of jobs.

But one of the biggest career challenges that millennials face is sticking with something long enough to have some type of focus and gain skill sets at the present moment, while being open to the possibilities of the future.

Will they do the same job for their entire life? Odds are they they won’t. Will the millennial even be in the same career for their entire lifetime? Not likely.

But they need to have enough presence in the moment to fully comprehend and understand the concepts that they are mastering. And to be open to the fact that there is some wisdom through experience.

That way, millennials are better prepared to move on to the next job armed with more “street smarts” as well as applicable experience which will help them find their dream job. And they have just overcome the biggest career challenge that millennials face.