This blog is usually addressed to the jobseeker him/herself, but today we’re going to make a little change and address it to the parents of jobseekers. Parents, you’re probably wondering how you can help your children find a job in this crazy economy. Especially if your child is a recent graduate, they may find it incredibly difficult to land their first real job. So how do you help your child find a job? Lee Miller from New Jersey Business has some great suggestions for helping your children become more independent and more likely to land a job. Here are a few:
- If you let your children move back in with you, hold them accountable to paying rent and doing household chores.
- Encourage them to volunteer a few days a week — it’s a great way to teach responsibility and work skills, but it’s also good for boosting their resume and meeting networking contacts.
- Providing structure for their job search — Telling them specific blocks of time where they should be job hunting, and a quiet space they can use to do the hunting.
- Stay back. Helping your child is ok, but taking control of their job search is not actually helping at all. Lee Miller cautions that over-involved parents will actually hinder the search. This is your child’s job; let them make mistakes and learn from them.