<p>Well, hovering has now moved into the job market:
<a href=“WSJ Jobs: Tips For Your Job Search During Coronavirus.”>WSJ Jobs: Tips For Your Job Search During Coronavirus.;
(The article was in WSJ in March, and reprinted in Seattle Times today)</p>
<p>I tried to do that for my son for a summer job, but then again, his major is Computer Science and I happen to be a 28 year veteran of IT recruiting with lots of contacts. I tried to contact only those companies I knew very very well. I just couldn’t resist. However, so far two companies decided not to hire interns, one to go. Does it make a difference if that’s what the parent does for a living…?</p>
<p>There is a gray area between connections and flat out interfering. My S took a class in law school whose focus was the law involved in H’s industry. S asked for H’s feedback on his final exam paper (the only assessment for the course). My H (who is not an attorney) referred him to two lawyers he was acquainted with in that profession for feedback on the paper. S made all the contacts, phone calls, and email without any interference from H. H deliberately stayed away from the entire matter. Two years later, one of the firms remembered his work, was looking for someone who had done research in that very area, sought him out, and has now hired him without so much as a phone call or email from my H. The ironic thing was that the law prof gave him a very poor grade on his research paper, while both attorneys in that field gave him enthusiastic thumbs up. And one of those thumbs up has turned into his first law job. :p</p>
<p>In my case, after people at my workplace learned of my son’s interests and qualifications, they went after <em>him</em> to offer him a summer position. I was very aware that I did <em>not</em> want to be in the loop at all, although I did prod him a bit to keep things on schedule. People may naturally assume that I pulled some strings to get him hired, but I worked hard to do the exact opposite.</p>
<p>The parental involvement described in the article sounds just like the enabling parents at the high school where I teach. Of course, none of us CC’ers are like that 
. I found one of the most interesting comments to be that some kids told HR that they would get back to them after discussing the offer with their parents. I would cringe if my kid ever said that! I raised them to make decisions for themselves (good or bad), particularly by the age of 22!</p>
<p>Insanity…</p>
<p>There is a world of difference between nepotism and helicoptering. </p>
<p>What’s next, parents giving pointers on the honeymoon?</p>
<p>I think sometimes for us parents it can be very difficult. when you child (not 22) is being treated horribly by an employer, I have been known to make a call. my son is now 19, and the only thing I did was go on career builder.com and send him all the appropriate job listings, which he did get a job from, (and the only reason I did that was because if he sat in my basement any longer I would have had to beat him). on his last job, which turned into an internship, he was treated so badly that I called for a meeting between me, my son and the employer, which proved to me how bad the employer was, and I was better able to discuss with the school how they needed to change their internship program, (which believe it or not they have). but now that he is 19, he’s on his own as far as his next college and job go. now my daughter who is 17, I will still interfere when she comes home from perkins with multiple burns on her arms, has fallen repeatedly on slippery floors and is not given the hours she was told she would get.</p>
<p>I understand stepping in to care for your child when they can’t do it for themselves. But what kind of message does it send a child when you do it when perhaps they can if given a chance? That you don’t think they can get a job on their own? That perhaps you don’t think that their skills, knowledge, and unique personality are enough? The job market can be fierce, however I firmly believe that anyone would be lucky to employee my children…and somebody will…without my involvement.</p>
<p>Networking, yes! But then it should be up to the kid. If I were an employer, I would not hire someone that needed their parents to make a decision. The employee needs to be able to make on-the-spot decisions without calling a parent.</p>
<p>Actually, getting a summer job in dad’s firm has been going on for years and years. There’s nothing new here.</p>
<p>Agreed, Marite. But this article tells the tales of completely unconnected (to the company) parents. What kind of parent attends the job interview with their college grad kid, and for that matter, what kind of company would let them in? As shedevil said, this conveys a negative message to the kids. I wouldn’t want to work for a company that would talk to my parents about my potential job and qualifications.
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