Last week, a friend sent me a link to 12-year-old Adora Svitak’s TEDTalk. And I was thoroughly impressed. In fact, the talk seemed much more eloquent, poignant and focused than many of the talks by the older generation speakers. The world, she says, needs to believe in the possibilities of Utopian ideals as kids do.

A few years ago, I worked at a small technology company in Manhattan and I distinctly remember discussing with my boss, the Chief Operations Officer, something about getting more responsibility myself. I wanted to run the operations team on a day to day level with a team of people underneath me. “You’re too young,” she said (I was 23). I reminded her that a colleague my age was operating our entire London office, that the San Francisco office had been opened by a 23-year-old and that the company was founded by a 20-year-old. “That’s different,” she said. What she meant was, they were men and I wasn’t. Discrimination is a common issue in companies, so I had to find another strategy. In the coming months, I created a Powerpoint presentation detailing the business need for a larger office management team as well as the thousands of dollars saved because of my budgeting. Within four months, I earned a 46% raise and hired two employees.

Recently, one of my students asked how they should respond if someone tells them they are too young (sometimes called “too junior”) to complete a job, a task or earn a raise. Here is my advice.

1. The Heart of the Matter

When someone uses age as a factor in decision-making, particularly in a corporation, often the real issue isn’t being addressed. The issue is whether or not you have the skill set to complete some task, freelance gig, whatever. This is why I encourage younger humans to have websites…it gives them automatic experience in something, and tangible evidence to prove it. It also builds confidence, so when someone tells you that you’re too young, you can point to your portfolio and ask, “What’s missing here?”

It is important, though, to understand why someone would use age as a factor. There’s fear of lost jobs, fear of being out of touch, fear of becoming unmarketable and fear that a young person really doesn’t know what she’s doing. However, you can assuage these fears by responding politely, professionally and with a plan. Some questions you might ask in response:

• What’s missing from my skill set/portfolio/etc. needed to complete this task?
• What’s at risk if the idea fails?
• Is there someone accessible who is better for the job?
• Is the issue perceived in the same way by both sides?

Go into a situation and have it in the back of your mind that nothing is impossible and there’s no reason for you not to be able to get the job or task. You just need to be on the same page with the boss or client.

2. Speak the Language

Every industry has it’s own language and buzzwords come and go like wildfire in corporations. It’s pretty hilarious and you can pick up on words from blogs and newspapers almost daily. After moving over to the Business Development team, I’d use these words around the office and in meetings, and they worked. Words like dashboard, roadmap, platform, and game changer. (Here are some more, for the curious.) Employing the vocabulary of a company indicates that you’re all in the same playing field (sports references are really popular), that you understand what’s happening in the industry and you can use the same language to get from where you are to where you want to be.

When you create a proposal, then, to pitch to your boss or potential client, you need to find the appropriate language demonstrating that you understand your practice and skills, and that you also understand how communicate your ideas.

Like any saleswoman, you need to tell yourself the right story. Really think about what you’re saying and what you hope to achieve, and internalize the dialogue. Interview yourself aloud (seriously) with questions that might be asked of you and how you’d answer them. By having your bottom-line (buzzword!) goals internalized, it means you believe them. And if you believe something, you can talk about it with ease and generally persuade others to enter into your perspective.

3. Propose a Solution

As a means of demonstrating your capacity to develop creative solutions to important problems, you’ll need to start with a well-considered plan, again in the appropriate language. The proposal should be a part of the conversation and the level of development of the proposal varies depending upon your position and goals. For instance, if you are meeting with a client for the first time and she asks you to come up with design proposals, you need to figure out your stance on spec work. In this case, your portfolio is your proposal, probably. And you don’t want to work for free.

But if you’re working in a corporation, Powerpoint presentations are probably your platform (buzzword!). Come up with 3-10 slides identifying the problem, a solution, the reason for the solution, and the roadmap to achieving this proposal. Make sure that the amount of time and company resources spent on the problem are warranted…meaning that you really do need to be on the same page with your superiors. You can also listen to Seth Godin and screw Powerpoint.

4. Be Prepared to Leave

One of the best, most immediate ways to boost your confidence is to have other options lined up. Like any relationship, it’s easier to walk away if you know there are others lined up and waiting outside your door. Before I got that raise at my company, I was interviewing elsewhere and had other job options on the table. If I hadn’t got the raise, I would’ve left and gotten it elsewhere.

This can seem a bit extreme, particularly in the examples given, but corporate environments can be extreme. They want to make the most amount of money in the most efficient way possible. And you, as an employee, want to make the most money you can while gaining the best, most purposeful experience. Competition is fun though and it’s the name of the game. So, if you feel your goals are compromised because of the lack of responsibility given to you, or perhaps this is coupled with a low salary, then look around and see what the market is.

Again, I want to stress that you shouldn’t leave after one or even ten “No”s, but you have to draw a line in terms of what you’re willing to accept. Think about where you want to be in five years, what skills you want to have and whether or not the company is helping you with that mission.

5. For Jollies, Here’s a Short Short List of Remarkable Humans Under 30

Mikey Burton, designer/illustrator
Frank Chimero, designer/illustrator
Ryan Healy, co-founder and COO of Brazen Careerist
Jonah Lehrer, whose latest book is How We Decide
Matt Mullenweg, creator of WordPress
Jake Nickell, creator of Threadless
Adora Svitak, writer and public speaker (e.g. in the video up top)
Rebecca Thorman, of Alice.com and Modite (and who just spoke at the Web 2.0 Expo)

Also check out:
CNN’s List of Young People Who Rock
Art Director’s Club Young Guns
Inc.’s 30 Under 30 (from 2009)

Who would you add to the list?