[quote="DadOfJerseyGirl, post:39
You may want to update the title to makes it clear that you’re looking for current experiences.
[/quote]
Done. I didn’t realize I could edit the title. 
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My kids have helped each other- proofreading, editing, and practicing for interviews. When my husband had to redo his CV for the first time since college, the kids helped him!
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When did it become a CV instead of a resume?
For my daughter, I suggested the program she’s now a part of - given the pickiness she had. She got lucky - researched it, decided to apply for the job and got it. I’m not sure she would have applied for much more before it was too late - as she didn’t want a desk job, didn’t want to work with excel and powerpoint, etc. and wanted to work with refugees, which given the political environment wouldn’t have been likely. Refugee agencies are laying off. Plus, she was location specific given she was moving to be with her boyfriend who’s been employed a year. I know she had to write an essay or two and my wife proofed them, as she did her college essays.
In this case,she decided to apply at their early deadline (they had multiple), and went through the three or four interviews - occasionally asking for feedback, but the organization provided a mentor and she did interview prep with the mentor I believe. She had the job early…I forget if by Christmas or January. The interviews happened while she was at school, so in that sense, we couldn’t help even if we had wanted and perhaps that’s good.
It’s very fortunate she got it…or we’d have had to pressure her because you need something…and that wouldn’t have been good, especially with the tightening market and the lack of positions she’d have felt desirable. She would have pushed back on us, not applied for most jobs, and it would have caused a lot of strain.
Her internship experiences were a bit different but since we’re not looking at a couple years back, I’ll leave them off. I will say that I helped both my kids set up daily indeed searches, which they used to find jobs.
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I think I commented on the original thread. My experience with S22 has evolved over time. Freshman and sophomore year, I was very very involved to the point you could say I was driving his career planning (researching companies, interview processes etc.). He drafted the resume but I heavily edited and organized his application process.
By the time junior year recruiting came around, my role become peripheral and strategic. He figured out what companies and roles and I helped him brainstorm application strategies and served generally as a vocal cheerleader. Eventually, I helped him decide between multiple summer offers including giving him the suggestion to push one of his summer offers to the fall which is where he is heading over the next few weeks.
Now, he is in the senior year I have zero involvement mainly because he already has a new grad offer and is not doing much recruiting if any. My role right now is focused on risk mitigation - encouraging him to get another backup offer since the economy is tenuous.
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It was eons ago, 2009. Sorry!
I was very involved with D1’s job search because it was in my field. We prepped for her interviews and evaluated her options together. I was not as involved with D1’s search because it was out of my expertise and she was also 5 years older when searching for legal job.
I don’t generally hire people right out of school, but I do get contacted via LinkedIn by some parents about their kids, which I do find strange.
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My kids use the term resume, but the hospital system requests a CV- I guess it’s different in the medical world?
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My husband is a physician. In medicine and academia they use CVs rather than resumes. Its basically a longer form of resume with more emphasis and detail on education, research and publications. I have heard some people use the terms curriculum vitae (CV) and resume interchangeably.
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CV tends to refer to the resume style used in academia, resume to non-academic positions. I also believe that CV is the term most commonly used in the UK.
In reading the various responses from posters, it seems to me that much of the help that parents are providing are things that the students’ university careers offices should be doing. In my experience, both of my ds’s universities were pretty unhelpful in this regard during their internship searches, providing the bare minimum of assistance (how to write a resume and cover letter, how make a Linkedin profile, how to search online for jobs). On campus recruiting and positions on their job boards beyond what students could find for themselves on sites like Indeed etc. were pretty limited. Also many schools cancelled on campus job fairs during Covid and never resumed them, or at least only in limited fashion.
In our specific situation with regards to the job market where we live, the unemployment rate amongst those aged 20-24 is currently sitting at 13.2% and for 25-29 year olds it’s 8.7%. Students and new grads are having significant difficulties landing internships and first jobs. Those who have friends and family in a position to help network and job search are at a distinct advantage.
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Obviously this may be a resource constraint but I think in many cases ( I don’t know the percentages, maybe most) it’s the kids not taking advantage.
My son needed his resume approved and went to a negotiating seminar after getting his first offer - their advice was standard/solid but didn’t work (attempting to negotiate). I’m not sure he talked to career services otherwise (during his job search) even though we suggested.
I’m not sure my daughter ever went at all. She ‘updated’ her college app resume (hs stuff) that we helped her make before college.
Some schools will be better than others, of course, but the onus is on the students to take advantage, and I’m not sure how many do. But I’m convinced that many don’t.
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For D22, I have helped with job searching (I can be an obsessive searcher once locked into an idea), interview prep (talking through how to frame her experiences through then lens of this new potential opportunity, coaching her/giving feedback to help improve points/succinctness), and looking at contracts/offers. I’m also a sounding board on “work/corporate” issues since I’ve had a long professional career in corporate environments.
I have also leveraged my network to get her resume out of the LinkedIn abyss and into the right/better hands. Most of my friends have done the same. It’s brutal out there for young people.
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The world of work is constantly evolving. I programmed on cards that I gave to the guy who ran the computer lab. When I graduated, word processors were just introduced into business. My first child is in the just-before-internet became a huge thing; my second child is in the first social media generation. Every so often, things change. What should not change is our faith that our adult children can and will adapt and thrive even without us trying to continue parenting beyond their childhood. It’s natural to want to help, but it’s their lives & they should be the ones figuring out how to navigate the adult world (which includes their jobs/careers).
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In Canada, internship/co-op programs are extremely popular. Most kids want to be able to do internships. These are formal programs that are integrated into their degrees and can facilitate up to as much as 16 months placements. Most of these programs extend the degree to 5 years and go beyond just doing a few months’ placement in the summer.
Students enrolled in these programs are required to pay additional fees to be able to participate, sometimes quite substantial amounts. In my experience at least with my kids is that the programs weren’t worth the cost. The value added beyond just searching for your own position was limited as were their employer recruiting networks which is really what you’re paying for.
It’s useful to hear your feedback, as my D26 is trying to evaluate these co-op / internship programs at Canadian universities. They certainly do advertise it as an important part of their programs!
I did try to help FDIL - at her request - with her initial job search 4 years ago. She needed a marketing job near older S and was busy with finals, graduating, etc. She was also unfamiliar with the area and didn’t know how far something would be from their apartment, whereas I grew up there and was familiar with the area.
I know zilch about marketing, but I did have time. I did lots of google searches “marketing companies in x area” near older S. I was shocked at how many there were! I would open their website, read about them, and see if they had any job openings listed. And if so, were they entry level. If yes, I added the company and link to a spreadsheet.
Ultimately, she got one using handshake and contacting an alum at the company. But she did appreciate the effort. It was time consuming on my part, but I love doing stuff like that. And I learned a lot about what some companies do out there.
I have said this before. I LOATHE when my kids or FDILs have to job hunt. It just seems so depressing.
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I have personal experience with co-op programs, and I highly recommend them. I was so much better prepared for the world of work when I graduated than were my friends who didn’t do co-ops or internships in college. Plus, I had a great job in place before graduation.
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Zero assistance other than emotional support for kids 1-2, proofing resume and more emotional support for kid 3.
However, I’m betting my former student whose mother used to accompany him to our advising sessions (and even took the time to walk over to the admin building to get the FERPA permission when I refused to speak with him with her in the room ) is highly involved in his job search.
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As mentioned in the other thread, I do help my S22. He’s gotten two great internships - summer after sophomore and summer after junior year. Both offered him a permanent gig, but neither is the right fit for what he wants.I helped him a bit with those - he built his resume originally, then asked me to help brainstorm how to add things or improve things. For his first job I reached out to a friend in the industry who suggested he apply to a specific one of their offices/programs because it “was the most interesting of the summer internships”. My kid got it, and I’d guess the friend put in a good word, but my kid was well qualified so probably won it for himself after the initial look.
After that summer was over, S22 had a lot of thoughts about what was good from the summer internship and what he wanted different. He was pretty clear in what he wanted, and was swamped with projects during the fall so I worked with him to build an excel spreadsheet of companies that did the kind of work he wanted and their career/hiring pages. When I was bored at night I’d check their pages and if anything good for him popped up new I’d post a link to the job advertisement on our shared excel doc. He ended up getting one of those internships and, again, a really good experience and they offered him a permanent gig, but it wasn’t the right fit for him for a couple reasons.
So now he’s entering senior year and looking for the permanent job. He’s asked me to proofread his resume updates, and the brainstorm ways to talk about the jobs he’s had to emphasize the positive things that are transferable and relevant to the next type of jobs he wants. We’ve been talking a lot over the last week about his job search - what he wants, which of his factors are limiting and how maybe they are too limiting etc.
I’ll probably build an excel sheet for him again this fall, mostly because it gives me something to do. He may or may not use it. He’ll be using the schools handshake portal to look for things and he’ll be hitting the job fair at school. We’ll see how this Fall goes.
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I will add one caveat to this. There are often government tax incentives that employers recruiting students from official co-op programs can receive, so some companies will only consider hiring students who are officially registered in these programs. How important a factor this is can be program dependent though. If your student is more likely to be targeting government positions like research for example, this is less of a consideration than for a student who is aiming for a position at a FAANG type company.
The other thing that being formally enrolled in a co-op program provides is enrolment flexibility. If you’re going to be doing a work-term during a period when you would normally be enrolled in classes, this is much easier to do in a formal co-op program. Otherwise you might need to take a leave of absence.
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I was not involved in my children’s job searches, as they both secured positions through campus recruitment while studying on the East Coast, whereas we live on the West Coast.
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