Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

More parents showing up in children's job search
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | March 19, 2006 | Sue Shellenbarger

Posted on 03/19/2006 9:23:08 PM PST by Graybeard58

In interviews with a job candidate last year, Deborah D'Attilio, a recruiting manager in San Francisco for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, was surprised when the young woman brought a companion: her dad.

Saying ''he was interested in learning about the work environment,'' the father sat in the lobby during the interview, D'Attilio says. She didn't hold it against the candidate and wound up hiring the young woman.

Hovering parents are going to work. From Vanguard Group and St. Paul Travelers to General Electric and Boeing, managers are getting phone calls from parents asking them to hire their 20-something kids. Candidates are stalling on job offers to consult with their parents.

''It's unbelievable to me that a parent of a 22-year-old is calling on their behalf,'' says Allison Keeton, director of college relations for St. Paul Travelers. Like most employers, Keeton handles such encounters diplomatically. Some employers, however, are also adapting by altering some parts of the hiring process, sending parents copies of offer letters or including them in recruiting sessions.

General Electric made an offer to one recruit last fall, only to get a call the next day from the recruit's mother trying to negotiate an increase in pay, says Steve Canale, manager of recruiting and staffing services. GE didn't rescind the offer, but ''we didn't give in to Mom'' either, Mr. Canale says. Rich Hartnett, director of global staffing for Boeing, says one hiring manager was surprised when a recruit brought his mom right into the interview. Enterprise's D'Attilio says the mother of another recruit joined a phone call between her and a candidate and began grilling D'Attilio about benefits.

Some employers play along

Figuring they can't beat the trend, some employers are joining it. Ferguson Enterprises, a Newport News, Va., building-supplies distributor, last year started offering to send a copy of recruits' offer letters to their parents, says Denise Francum, director of recruiting; ''more than half of them say yes.''

Some young adults will resent parental hovering. An online poll of 400 students and young adults last year, by Experience Inc., a Boston career-services firm, found 25 percent said parents were ''overly involved to the point that their involvement was either annoying or embarrassing.''


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: dependent; employment; helicopterdad; helicoptermom; helicopterparents; hover; jobs; nervouskids; wussification
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-43 next last

1 posted on 03/19/2006 9:23:13 PM PST by Graybeard58
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

I can't imagine hiring anyone who needed one of their parents to attend the interview. That would be a terminal black mark.


2 posted on 03/19/2006 9:29:20 PM PST by inkling
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

Translation: "I am sick and tired of this brat living with me, so please, I'm begging you, give him a job."


3 posted on 03/19/2006 9:32:12 PM PST by LdSentinal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

You mean this is REAL?

I thought it was Scrappleface when I read it.

"Mommy, tell this scary man to hire me".

I'm gonna barf. The first time I got fired, my mother WAS the axeman! And I deserved it!


4 posted on 03/19/2006 9:33:45 PM PST by Don W (Stoneage man survived thousands of years of bitter-cold ice. Modern man WILLsurvive global warming.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Don W
You must have been really bad for your own Mother to fire you.
5 posted on 03/19/2006 9:37:40 PM PST by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Sgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

Like I said, I deserved it. Learned from it, too.

Not to worry, though, I can still be an insufferable jerk. ;-)


6 posted on 03/19/2006 9:45:42 PM PST by Don W (Stoneage man survived thousands of years of bitter-cold ice. Modern man WILLsurvive global warming.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58
When I graduated from university I discovered that my father had lined up a job for me with Eastern Airlines, boy was it battle royale when I told him I didn't want it.

He kicked my ass for that till the day they were liquidated - damn near 15 years.

I don't think there is anything new or remarkable about this,

7 posted on 03/19/2006 9:49:07 PM PST by Energy Alley
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58
Part of me wishes that this was fake. That it hasn't gotten this bad.

Childhood extending into 20's. Were these people breastfed till age 10? I can't wait until I need to acquire permission slips from the parents of 35 year old employees to attend an out of town workshop. They are cultivating a generation of worthless, dependent, crybaby boobs.

This is f'ing pathetic. I can see it at age 13 or 14, fine. When I was 16 and applied for a job, my parents didn't interfere in any way. I told them, "I'm applying to work at Spetty Pond Landscapers," gave them the phone number and address, and I biked off. Oh, well, I guess my dad made me change my shirt...but still!

My uncle emigrated from Europe to Canada at age 16, alone. It was hard times in the homeland, and he wanted to set up an anchor and establish a foothold so my grandparents and my mother could follow later and not have to sleep on the floor.

8 posted on 03/19/2006 9:54:11 PM PST by M203M4
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LdSentinal

Yep. Doing anything to complete the launch sequence.


9 posted on 03/19/2006 9:55:50 PM PST by ItsForTheChildren
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: LdSentinal

That was my take on it, too!!!!


10 posted on 03/19/2006 9:59:34 PM PST by cajun-jack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

helicopter parent n. A parent who hovers over his or her children. Also: helicopter mother, helicopter mom, helicopter dad.

Mommy Dearest
"I've got some bad news - the millenials are coming, and the job of recruiters in placing this coddled generation might be too much for you to take."

http://www.recruiting.com/recruiting/2006/02/mommy_dearest.html

Do 'Helicopter Moms' Do More Harm Than Good?
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=1237868&page=1


11 posted on 03/19/2006 10:12:33 PM PST by endthematrix (None dare call it ISLAMOFACISM!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: M203M4

I interviewed a guy one time who brought his wife to the interview. Actually, it was more the other way 'round, and she did most of the talking in the interview.

I didn't hire the guy, naturally, and I asked the wife to stay behind for a moment. I told her she wasn't doing her husband any favors by coming along to the interview, and recommended that hereafter, she stay in the lobby and let her man either sink or swim on his own.

Either that or interview for the job herself. I think she got the point.


12 posted on 03/19/2006 11:44:58 PM PST by John Valentine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58
Well, as an educator, I find this is just the next step in the process. We have parents demanding less homework, or more; We have parents hovering and coddling nearly all the miscreants. Today's parents are still living in extended adolescence, so they are certain their kids are not ready to go it alone.
13 posted on 03/20/2006 12:23:00 AM PST by Shery (S. H. in APOland)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

Next it'll be employees bringing their parents to their annual reviews to defend them.


14 posted on 03/20/2006 12:29:11 AM PST by Cementjungle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: M203M4

To actually bring a parent into the interview is just unbelieveable to me. Bringing a parent along to see a law school or a medical school seems fine, but it's a given that the parent is going to disappear when anything official begins to transpire.

I will say that I still involve my parents in pretty much every major decision I make, but it's come to the point where they consult with me over major decision they make, too. I like it this way. Even though we live separately, the family still functions as a unit on more important issues. I guess that will change when I'm married and have kids, but as for now, I'm happy with things.


15 posted on 03/20/2006 1:35:50 AM PST by CheyennePress
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: CheyennePress

To bring a parent seems to miss the point of having a job in the first place - independence!


16 posted on 03/20/2006 2:39:27 AM PST by thoughtomator (Symmetry Inspector #7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

Those Army commercials that show young people talking with their parents about going into the military walk a very fine line in my view. In my opinion, no one thinking about going into the military should involve their parents or siblings in the decision process. (It would be ok to say, "I've made this decision, now ...".) It isn't a matter of independence, it is laying that "responsible for him/her going in" trip on them in case something happens.


17 posted on 03/20/2006 4:47:05 AM PST by LZ_Bayonet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Shery
Well, as an educator, I find this is just the next step in the process. We have parents demanding less homework, or more; We have parents hovering and coddling nearly all the miscreants.

And we have far too many young adults graduating from high school (and often college) with no "real-life" skills whatsoever. They are faced with the harsh reality that they haven't the slightest idea how to write a resume or interview for a job and they lean on their parents for help.

This trend doesn't surprise me in the least. For every parent that shows up to their kid's interview, I'll bet there are 10 that filled out his/her job application.

18 posted on 03/20/2006 4:59:53 AM PST by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: LZ_Bayonet
In my opinion, no one thinking about going into the military should involve their parents or siblings in the decision process.

Unless they are 17 years old, in which case they need parental consent.

19 posted on 03/20/2006 5:05:03 AM PST by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Sgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58
I have a different take on it than most. A parent, good friend, wife or mentor going on interview is a good thing. Many jobs / careers are very complicated these days and having a second set of ears listening might be a good thing.

Notice I said listening, not actively participating in the interview.

What do you all think goes on in college sports. LeBron James's mother was most active in his career up until he made the NBA.

I am 45 (self employed) and take my father along on many deals I am about to close on. His advice and insight have saved me a couple of times.
20 posted on 03/20/2006 5:06:08 AM PST by mr_hammer (They have eyes, but do not see . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-43 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson