by Kevin Gray
You know your parents. Or, maybe they're your roommate's parents. They could be your friend's parents. They're involved—well, not just involved, but sometimes overly involved; hands-on everything—in your friends' lives. The food in the dining hall isn't up to standards for their son: the parents complain to the food service manager. Their daughter's roommate is a bad influence: the parents complain to the housing office.
These parents seem to have no problem airing their dissatisfaction and that they want changes made.
Trend watchers have dubbed them "helicopter parents" because of the way they hover over their son's or daughter's every decision and try to handle those life steps instead of allowing their adult children solve the problems.
Increasingly, many of these parents have entered the air space of their children's career exploration and/or job search.
Now, employers are taking notice-and some are trying to bring parents into the loop.
Recently, Christina Konieczka, vice president and college relations manager at LaSalle Bank in Chicago, took a phone call from the mother of a college junior who was inquiring about internship opportunities for her son.
"I asked her why her son wasn't calling," Konieczka says. "She said that he was too busy and needs to focus on his school work. Plus, she said that she is used to doing research for her job and could network better than him."
It was late in the hiring process for internships and the situation was a little unsettling, but Konieczka agreed to accept the student's resume. It turns out that he was seeking internships in another state, but when Konieczka met up with a LaSalle Bank colleague from that state, the mother had contacted her, as well.
"Not only that, but this mother contacted both of us every week after that for the next month," Konieczka says. "My concern is that the jobs I recruit for require qualities like selling skills and initiative. I know the mother wants to help her son, but in my opinion, she's hindering him by not allowing him to flex his networking skills or not letting him experience getting a 'no' and picking himself up."
As a student in search of employment, it's important that you—and no one else—demonstrate the qualities and skills employers are seeking in an ideal candidate. Recruiters want to see evidence of your abilities through your resume and cover letter and your ability to effectively communicate that you would be a match for the position and the organization.
In some cases (such as the above example), parents are too involved in the processes that college students traditionally have handled on their own. Does having a mother call a recruiter to inquire about internships demonstrate a candidate's initiative? What would a recruiter think about the potential leadership capabilities of a candidate whose father called to negotiate salary?
The answer to those questions might be obvious, but the answer to another question is more fleeting: Why are helicopter parents such an issue these days?
"I think that some of it is generational on both sides," Konieczka says. "The students have been involved in structured after-school activities and summer camps. They are used to their [parents] setting the tone."
Adds Angela Heyroth, manager of talent acquisition for college and corporate recruiting for EchoStar Communications in Englewood, Colorado: "This generation has been raised differently. Their parents have been involved in every aspect of their lives, and that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Realizing this desire of parents to be involved, some organizations include them in the recruiting process. EchoStar and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, for instance, created a packet of information that they send to parents of students who receive a job offer, that offer detailed insight into the organizations.
"One of the things we realized is that this is an opportunity for us to be more proactive at the offer stage," explains Marie Artim, assistant vice president of recruiting for Enterprise in St. Louis. "With the student's OK, we send a packet of information to their parents or significant others."
Enterprise's packets include a letter from the vice president or general manager of the area in which the student is looking to work, reprints of articles about Enterprise, and a Q&A about the company.
"Parents who receive this information don't often call back with questions," Artim notes. "Instead, some have called to thank us."
EchoStar also sends packets of information to the families of interns once they have accepted their internship with the company. The packets welcome the parents as part of their child's experience at EchoStar and provide information to parents about what their child will be going through during the onboarding process, the overall internship program, and the Denver area.
Like Artim at Enterprise, Heyroth reports that she has received several notes of thanks from grateful parents.
Meanwhile, Konieczka says, more parents are calling her behalf of their children to discuss the details of LaSalle Bank's benefits package.
"For instance, they want to know our about our 401(k) matching," she says. "Today's parents are more open to helping their children understand the things they might not have had exposure to before."
LaSalle Bank has no formal strategy to address helicopter parents, Konieczka says. At least, not yet.
"My opinion is that helicopter parents are going to be more and more of a factor in college recruiting as Generation Y becomes a larger percentage of the labor force," she says.