In the past, parents would encourage us from afar for our first job interviews and urge us to be resourceful. Now, they walk through the doors of companies with their children and guide them by the hand as they enter the workforce, just as they did for their first days of school.
Is bringing your parents to the interview the new norm?
Young adults relish the idea of leaving the family home to eat sweets at all hours, game all night, leave the dishes piling up in the sink, and stay out until the early hours without having to explain themselves. However, despite this thirst for independence, they struggle to cut the apron strings and rely on their parents for every little task. They see their parents as their life coaches, their personal advisors. They call them when they're lost in front of the washing machine's control panel and even when they're unsure whether their hamburger is cooked properly (plant-based or not).
Gen Z may have chatGPT in their pockets, but they still prefer to ask their parents directly for answers. Even though they like to act grown-up, their old childhood habits quickly resurface, especially in the unfamiliar world of work. To impress at job interviews, these young adults arrive with a lucky charm that takes up far more space than a clover-shaped keychain. They walk into companies accompanied by their parents, who no longer simply drop them off in the parking lot. And this is far from uncommon.
According to a recent survey , a quarter of Gen Z job seekers, aged 18 to 27, admitted to bringing a parent to their job interview. This has prompted sighs from older generations, who point to a "dependent generation." Parents, for their part, accompany their children to interviews with managers, much like they did to pediatrician appointments.
A practice that divides generations
While this practice might seem mildly amusing, it also infuriates older generations—those who boldly applied for jobs, who forced their way in instead of pushing, and who worked out of necessity from the age of 16. Baby boomers and those before them are outraged by what they call a "nurturing ritual." However, the job market has evolved considerably and become more competitive in the meantime. Between the looming arrival of AI, fierce competition, and the endless demands of certain positions, young people feel the need for reinforcements.
Parents aren't there to play advocate and plead their children's case, but simply to provide them with the legitimacy they sometimes lack and remind them that they belong. While parents supervise homework during the school years, they sometimes extend this practice beyond adolescence. Some of them, exhibiting subtle signs of "helicopter parenting," don't hesitate to take the initiative to ensure their children a stable and secure future. In fact, 75% of Gen Z say that a parent has already submitted their job application on their behalf. Even more surprisingly, 65% admit to having delegated a job application test to a parent, as if it were a simple history presentation.
And when their children are employed, the most audacious parents even file complaints with their employers, demanding better recognition and flexible working hours. This scenario has already played out for two out of three Gen Z children. Some parents still see their children as helpless babies, while others remain mere spectators in their careers.
How managers perceive it
Bringing a parent to a job interview seems unthinkable to many of us. We'd rather have palpitations, sweaty palms, and a lump in our throat than show up with our mother like a kindergartener. We'd be afraid it would hurt our chances and make a bad impression. Yet, managers aren't entirely opposed to this parental presence in this corporate one-on-one.
According to them, parents can provide juicy details about their candidates and delve deeper into the CV, which is written to present the candidate in the best possible light. "Their willingness to share their child's strengths and weaknesses could give me information I would never have discovered otherwise," observes Gene Marks, a small business owner, speaking to The Guardian . While parents are full of praise for their offspring, they are also the first to complain about their laziness, point out their disorganization, and admit the unmentionable. "As a recruitment manager, you want to hear these complaints to get a clearer picture of the child's true personality and their potential as an employee," the manager explains.
Going for a job interview is never very reassuring, and in these circumstances, parents are a bit like living security blankets. Gen Z can't do without their presence, and managers welcome them with open arms. Ideal for scratching beneath the surface of a CV.
