Parents often experience frustration as they agonize about their son or daughter’s employment situation. These tips will help you to move from helpless bystander to constructive partner as you help your child get situated with an internship or post graduate job.
- Avoid empty nagging about what your son/daughter plans to do with her life. Make specific suggestions about productive activities which will move her job search forward.
- Maintain a positive tone, if you project a sense that your son is a hopeless case, they are likely to internalize this view and use it as an excuse for inactivity.
- Emphasize the value of networking with personal stories and anecdotes about your friends. Encourage you son/daughter to conduct informational interviews with people working in interesting fields or organizations.
- Share your own contacts to get them started. If they are interested in marketing, set up an informational meeting with a colleague or friend who works in the field.
- If your charge is a college student, check out the webpage for their college career office and look for networking events and resources. Many colleges have a network of alumni volunteers who will meet with your daughter to share information and advice. These meetings can lead to job interviews.
- Encourage your son to explore the possibility of shadowing individuals with whom they have productive meetings. This will provide them with a more concrete view of that field and give them greater visibility with a prospective employer.
- Help your daughter to evaluate their credentials for fields of interest and determine if they need more experience before qualifying for entry level jobs. If so, encourage them to do internships to enhance their candidate profile even if they are unpaid.
- If cash flow is an issue, pairing a part-time job with an unpaid internship is worth considering.
- For the unfocused son/daughter help them to identify resources to research careers. Read along with them and discuss their reactions.
- Set weekly goals with them for career related activities i.e. research 3 careers, apply for 8 jobs/internships, conduct 2 informational interviews.
In the end evaluate your son/daughter by their level of engagement in activities like these and not whether they have landed a job. Provide positive feedback for productive steps and if they are not engaged, let them know that constructive activity is a requirement for continuing the free rent program at home!
