But it's not just the Web. "There's a lot of new technology -- like agile software development and open source -- that young kids have picked up, whereas some of the older folks are still working on migrating," says Jeff Schuster, a recruiter at IT consulting company Halo Group.
Boomers are better known for their expertise in more traditional technologies such as IT infrastructure and operating systems. That's good news for FedEx, which is always on the lookout for IT professionals with the skills needed to support its largely mainframe-based package-tracking system. But that type of expertise can limit boomers' prospects elsewhere, Schuster says.
And it's not just about skills; attitude also plays a major role in who gets hired. For example, millennials' eagerness to adopt new technologies -- and some boomers' tendency to resist doing so -- may make recruiters think twice before bringing on an older candidate in need of extensive training.
"The boomer folks are a little more fixed in their ways and not as open to learning a new set of technology skills," says Aaholm. "That's the difference with the millennial generation -- they're willing to expand their skill base."
This eagerness to learn is giving many millennials a leg up on the competition. But there's a managerial flip side to consider. Young IT workers who are bold enough to take on new technologies are also more likely to be impatient with the constraints of traditional workplaces.
"There's an expectation on the part of millennials that the people who are managing them won't just see them as cogs in the machine but will be flexible with them and take their preferences into account," says Tom Clement, 54, an IT manager at application development firm Serena Software.
That kind of rugged individualism delivers enormous value to pioneering companies such as Serena, which is adopting innovative development trends, such as "business mashups" or composite applications, to stay ahead of the curve.
"It takes guts to build mashups, and that's what is great about the millennials," says Clement. "They've got the guts to go in and create a new application, whereas [boomers] aren't as emboldened."
Businesses that expect all employees to march to the beat of the same drummer, however, may have a tough time reining in millennials' more spirited work ethic and thirst for experimentation. And millennials' tendency to mix work with pleasure is another factor that could influence the hiring decisions of IT managers.