Believe It or Not, Parents Are Accompanying Their Gen Z Adults to Job Interviews

We’ve all heard of helicopter parents who do their teens’ homework, write their college essays, track their every move, and micromanage their high school schedules.

But accompanying their adult kid to actual job interviews? That’s the shocking reality for over half — 51% — of Gen Z adults, according to the results of a recent survey.

And that’s not the only way parents are getting involved with their young adult’s job search, found the Resume Templates survey of 1,000 Gen Z job seekers ages 18 to 23.

In addition, 75% of recent Gen Z job seekers say a parent submitted their job applications, 65% say their parent completed at least one candidate test for them, and two in three employed Gen Zers say a parent has communicated with their manager on many occasions to discuss scheduling, promotions, or workplace accommodations.

Young men consistently reported the most parental involvement, with 70%, for example, admitting their parents applied for them vs. 59% of young women.

In a separate poll of parents by the career service company, 71% said their adult kid requested the help, often because of anxiety, inexperience, or challenges of a difficult job market.

“Parental involvement in early-career job searches isn’t uncommon,” said Resume Templates chief career strategist Julia Toothacre in a press release. “Most high schools don’t teach career readiness skills, and while colleges have career offices, those resources are often underused, especially in the early years. In that gap, parents often step in to provide support.”

However, she adds, “many parents are crossing the line from support into over-involvement.” Because while it’s appropriate for parents to review resumes, explain how the job search works, or offer feedback on applications, she said, they should not be taking over or be present in the process.

In fact, a recent study found that being over-involved in your young adult’s life may negatively impact their ability to launch — specifically when it comes to their burgeoning careers.

Speaking with the College Fix, Toothacre added, “When I was doing career development at the college level, we would see parents come in to talk about majors and sometimes career choices, but they weren’t sitting in on interviews or communicating with managers.” She suspects it’s greater anxiety among youth and over-involvement patterns held over from the pandemic that are to blame.