Coaching Parents

During my tenure as a career coach, some parents of young adults (coachees) have hired me to provide career coaching and professional résumé development for their children. Sometimes they gift coaching services and résumé development to their young adult children for a birthday, holiday, or graduation. Other times, they recognize that their coachee is struggling with the job search.

I have held coaching sessions with young adult job seekers with the parent present. Parents have also contacted me to ask about their child’s progress and to work with me.

Some parents have contacted me directly to ask how to get their young adult engaged in job search and career management. 

Job Boards & Spreadsheets

One common thread is the use of spreadsheets and job boards. Most young adults searching for a new or first-time professional job rely on job boards and maintain spreadsheets of the hundreds of jobs they have applied for online.

Almost all young adults in this category not only do not network or build relationships with others; they avoid it. 

Helicopter Parents

So, an interesting phenomenon is taking center stage: The parents of young adult job seekers or workers are either managing their job searches for them or trying to manage their jobs. Let me explain. 

A Wall Street Journal article from August 2, 2026, titled “Helicopter Parents Are Co-Piloting Their Children’s Careers” states that parents are writing their résumés and applying for jobs for their young adult children, they are sitting just off screen during their online interviews and feeding them interview responses, they are contacting people on their behalf for networking, they are accompanying them to in-person job interviews, they are calling HR to discuss benefits, they are accompanying them to job fairs and doing the talking, they are calling their managers to insist that their performance ratings are adjusted upward, and they are calling employers to ask them to rehire their young adult children after they were fired. 

The article states that: “Recruiters and other HR types say that aggressive parental involvement signals a lack of independence and raises fears that mom and dad will be checking in regularly if the kid gets hired.”

Many employers now hire young adult workers for part-time roles to ensure they show up on time. If they progress well, employers will add more hours to their workweeks. Other employers hire young adults on a temporary 1099 basis to determine whether the position is a good fit for the employer and the young adult. 

Coaching Parents

As a career coach, consider adding career coaching for parents of young adults to your service list. Parents may purchase coaching for their young adult children as a gift, and you may include a couple of coaching sessions for the parents in addition to the career management coaching and services provided to the young adult. Leverage the same career coaching proficiencies, the pillars of career coaching, from the Certified Professional Career Coach program.

Create Awareness

To coach parents so that they help their young adult children in their job search rather than control their career management plan, begin by asking questions to create awareness:

• What would have happened if your parents attended a job interview with you when you were job searching for your first professional role?
• What was the job search like for you?
• What value do you believe you are providing your young adult child by controlling their job search?
• What is your purpose in applying for jobs or attending the interview for your young adult child?
• What can you do for your young adult child to help them in their career management and job search, rather than perform all functions for them?

Brainstorming

Next, brainstorm options. Ask the parent if they are open to discussing options and engaging in brainstorming: 

• Is there someone you know whom you can refer your young adult child to create opportunities to learn about internships or entry-level positions? Perhaps an uncle, aunt, colleague, or former colleague. This is much more effective than cold calling on LinkedIn. (I reached out to people via social media to help my young adult child find a job.)
• Have you asked your young adult child if he/she reached out to his/her alumni/career center services office?
• Has the coachee reached out to their social media network or community social media page? People are often aware of real jobs versus fake postings on job boards, or postings that were filled months ago but are still posted online. 
• Could you sit alongside your “coachee” as they apply for a position of interest, rather than applying for them?
• Could you help your coachee prepare for job interviews by asking them questions and recording their responses? Then ask them for a debriefing after an interview, rather than sitting off-screen during the interview to feed them responses?
• Can you help your coachee research job postings, learn about Application Tracking Systems, and AI?
• Could you encourage your coachee to send his résumé to a colleague of yours for advice on the résumé content to obtain edits/comments? The email should come from the coachee, not the parent. 

Wearing the Consultant Hat

There will be times when you will need to wear the Consultant/Trainer Hat and teach or inform the parent about current-day career management.

• Be honest and explain the current job market. It is very challenging, and it takes time. Today, employees are “job-hugging,” so it is an employer’s market. Recruiters receive hundreds, if not thousands, of résumés for a position. In most cases, they filter and sort them before a human reads them. 
• The coachee may want to take a part-time retail or food service position until they can secure a first-time professional role. Employers respect young adults who show initiative and hold a job. It builds initial skill sets (customer service, written and oral communication, discipline, integrity, responsibility, and discipline-oriented skills) and sets them up for business. 
• Explain that networking is not asking for a job. Instead, building relationships and reaching out to people is a stronger job-search tactic. Encourage your young adult child to attend community meetings, events, job fairs, and association meetings to meet people. Applying only through job boards is a very passive approach to job search.
• If they are unemployed, recommend that they volunteer in the community to meet people: Habitat for Humanity, a local food bank, a local shelter, boy/girls scouts, etc. Many business people also volunteer, and the volunteer work may become a referral for a paying job at some point. 
• Most job postings and replies via email or text are bots. Provide motivation and confidence by explaining to the coachee that they shouldn’t take “rejection” personally. 
• Encourage independence. Help the coachee as requested, but encourage them to conduct the job search, create a career management plan, and follow through.
  

The Realities

The job market is very challenging. Graduating from university with student debt and no employment prospects is discouraging for many.  A proactive approach to a human-centered career management plan, with parents walking a step or two behind them, is a better approach. Parents need to be warned that controlling the job search can damage their young adult children’s chances of getting or keeping a job.