Are campus snowflakes turning into champions at the workplace? The exciting news is that many young American workers seem to have ignored at least some of the lectures they received in college. Despite all the bad news about the political environment they experienced in school, it seems that a lot of millennials want to be challenged—one might even say triggered.

The Journal’s Kathryn Dill reports on the intriguing findings from a job-review website called Glassdoor:

Young workers were more receptive than older workers to tough job interviews, with accepted offers among candidates ages 25 to 34 rising 3.1 percentage points after more difficult screenings. Glassdoor parsed data from nearly 100,000 job candidates who used its website between January 2018 and November 2019, capturing their careers moves and asking them to rate their interview experiences.

Many millennial applicants want a tough process that evaluates them on their tangible skills. Ms. Dill reports:

Among candidates for professional and technical jobs, raising the interview difficulty by even one level, as rated by job seekers on a five-point scale, was enough to lift acceptance rates by 2.6 percentage points, Glassdoor data show.

Having candidates complete skills tests as part of the vetting process raised acceptance rates by 2.5 percentage points. In contrast, taking a personality quiz as part of an interview lowered acceptance rates by 2.3 percentage points.

It’s not clear which if any U.S. professional educators ever gave these young workers an appreciation for meritocracy along with their participation medals. But the millennials seem ready and eager to compete, according to the Journal report:

While many employers believe higher salaries and richer benefits are the chief way to entice more workers to join their organization, Mr. Zhao said tougher and more transparent interviews now appear to be a cost-effective route. Job seekers, especially younger ones, want the chance to perform and be assessed “for the unique skills they bring to the table,” he said.

Sure, it’s just one study. But it suggests that the American model of competition can work just as well for current generations as it has for previous ones.