I love hearing from grads, especially successful grads earning their living in PR. In recent weeks, I’ve heard from several, either via Facebook, in person or through regular e-mail.

An e-mail note from a grad of about 10 years ago (who now works in PR in the U.S.) got me thinking: have times really changed?

She writes: “This morning, I spoke with the woman who manages our internship program. There are so many graduates who have zero experience. As an agency, we run pretty lean and don’t have a lot of time to teach (yes, teach!) how to write a news release. I can’t get over how much Centennial’s program taught me. It’s amazing to see the difference in academic quality.

Of the interns we have had, there has been so much push back from them if you can believe it. There’s this sense of what we’re calling “corner office entitlement” where they think putting together a media list is beneath them and that they should be engaged in higher-level strategy and account direction.

She and I were just reminiscing about the “old days” when it was you, a bound media directory and the phone book and had to actively seek out your contacts as opposed to logging on to Bacon’s (Bowden’s) and running a quick search.

Times have changed (and in what a short time!)”

From my perspective, times haven’t changed that much.

Students with a “what can you do for me?” attitude instead of: “how can I help?” were the same in 1988 as they are in 2008. Students who begin internships with the idea it’s all about shining a light on them, rather than them helping to shine a light on their boss, client or organization are bound to get a rude awakening from supervisors like my grad.

So, employers out there: have times changed that much? Are you experiencing new hires who exhibit “corner office entitlement?”