Interesting times in Canada’s business world these days:
Walking into a job interview with a Canadian architectural firm, a young candidate brings something unexpected: mom. An employee with the British Columbia company says it was the first time she had seen a parent shadow the hiring process, describing what ensued as “a bit of an awkward situation.” But she adds that there have been at least five or six recent occasions in which a mother or father sat with their grown child in the waiting room before an interview. According to experts, this could soon become commonplace.
Discussion here (audio podcast).
Actual Conversation between a management official at a prominent Canadian business school and a senior HR businesswoman:
Business school manager: “We see these parents all the time. They do their kids no favours.”
HR businesswoman: “You’d think the kids would be absolutely mortified?!”
Business school manager: “Believe it or not, the kids aren’t mortified at all. They get their parents to complain about their grades, push for interviews and attend coaching sessions. I don’t get it. At that age, I wanted to be independent more than anything. These kids just want to be coddled. Doesn’t say a lot for our next generation of leaders!”
Teach at a university part time. I can tell you stories about this sort of thing that you would not believe. Modern parents and entitled kids….I hardly know where to start…
They get their parents to complain about their grades…
What’s the big deal? What’s changed? Many years ago, my parents complained about my grades.
glasnost
if that was the only thing my mother complained about:-))))
when I wa “hiring” ppl, if such sillyness ever had happened I would have stated rite up front that the interview was over (before it even started) and why, and in very strong terms. I have NO patients for such bullsh*t. I only ever had one incedent were a mother call my company, and when finished she called the board of labour to complain about my language to he on the phone, they of coarse toldd her there was nothing they could do, but they did call to clarify things, as, they didn’t believe the situation unfolding as it did:-)))
Time for a chill pill, people. We’re talking about entry-level stuff here, not Chairman of the Board. Don’t first-timers often have their friends sit with them in the interview room? What if their parent is their best friend? (I wish I had liked my parents that much.)
Acting as advocates during the interview is a bit silly (and yes, counterproductive), but is it any sillier than having a friend of your dad’s hiring you to work after school in the warehouse? Why are the blue collar positions so easy, and the white collar so tight-assed? (Especially since white collar jobs in large bureaucracies seem to be going the way of the dodo?)
Honestly, relax. The kids are all right.
I complained about my daughter’s math grades last year. What happened is that she scored PROFICIENT for grade five math, but at the end of the year she was doing worse on multiplication flash cards than she had at the end of grade three. We smelled a fish, so we took her to Sylvan Learning for testing. Turns out that she should have been failing grade five math all through the year as she tested at a grade 4.8 level.
I had already been on the teacher’s back about irregularities in the classroom, so I suspect she papered over my kid’s math problems to not give me another issue with her. Frankly, I would have had more respect for her if she had done her job properly and let me know I needed to step up as a parent and provide extra support.
In the end, we got the kid the tutoring she needed to get back to her grade level, the school division was embarrassed enough that they offered to pay for it, and the teacher is now at another school where she can’t mess with my kid again this year. So things are better.
Parents absolutely need to be involved with their kids academic performance and push them to reach their potential. They also need to know when to back the hell off and let their offspring stand on their own two feet.
Personally, if I was hiring, I would immediately circular file the resume of any loser accompanied in by a parent.
A big part of the problem is that businesses haven’t been treating adults like…adults. They insist that new graduate professionals take extensive training programs or become ‘interns’ even though they are qualified as professionals. The businesses engage in de facto age discrimination by demanding 5-10 years of generic ‘experience’ even for entry-level roles. And interviewing is not being done to determine the skills of the applicants, but rather, mostly based on how the professionals react to various questions involving psycho-babble (otherwise known as ‘behavioural interviewing’).
So when businesses fail to treat applicants like adults, should they really expect the adults they’re interviewing to behave like adults? Of course not.
I suspect the mothers are accompanying their kids to the interviews because previous efforts at finding employment have been met with bad-faith responses from the employers themselves (ie: resumes that don’t get responded to, no or vague feedback, etc.). The job market is absolutely terrifying these days and the incompetent/intransigent HR managers who have facilitated such nonsense are largely to blame.
If someone coming to my interview has to be helped by their parents then maybe i should just hire the parent !
“…there have been at least five or six recent occasions in which a mother or father sat with their grown child in the waiting room before an interview.”
That’s five or six parents sick of Johny or Janey living in the basement, making sure the little dears got to the damn job interview Mom forced on them. Not a good sign for the company, I’m thinking.
Hmmm, I had issues with my kids’ schools too. I did the extra tutoring to make sure they really understood what they were doing, particularly in reading and mathematics. Despite dismal math skills taught at the school, one is now a computer techie and the other is a commercial pilot. And I didn’t sit in on any interviews! In my own case, at the ripe old age of 18, I went to the recruiting centre and talked myself into aircrew training – my dad was happy but left me to make my own way. Parents should know when to cut the apron strings.
Your English is atrocious!!
I tried to have my Mother removed from my job site.
She just was relentless. Management was NOT impressed.
The nerve of those rotten old boomer hippies.
They have infected 2 generations now…
GRRR
dwright
Boy I sure would not fit in now a days. I was a supervisor, and super for many years in construction all heavy trades. I hired a lot of staff in 43 years. If somebody ever brought their mom or dad with them to an interview with me. They’d be fired before they even got hired. I could see a summer student getting a ride in by mom or dad, but mom or dad sure as hell would not be in the interview. And if mommy or daddy ever showed up whining for little Johnny or Sue, they would get escorted off the claim by security. If their nuts hadn’t dropped by the time they were 18 years old then they would be no use to me or anyone else on a construction site..
A big part of the problem is that businesses haven’t been treating adults like…adults.
Yes, no end of rules aimed at the lowest common denominator. Treat people like children and they will act like children.
Everyone knows most of the safety rules are a farce, only there because the gov’t mandates them. They’re routinely broken, but all the paperwork is in order to say the company is in compliance.
Young people aren’t allowed to grow up and learn judgement and responsibility because someone else substitutes their own judgement in the form of rules aimed at the most irresponsible.
Is there a connection to the fact these little dears, have zero situational awareness, can not take instruction, lack a work ethic and will tell you how they can run the company so much better than everyone on their work site.
And run home to mommy if you use harsh words when they put others lives&limbs in danger
“…..is it any sillier than having a friend of your dad’s hiring you to work after school…”
Is there a difference between being nervous during an interview and peeing yourself?
Indeed.
I don’t know how one who has just graduated from university is supposed to have ten years of experience!
However, the presence of the “helicopter parent” should still be questioned. How long is mummy or daddy going to be hanging around?
Next up?
Leftish parents dropping horseheads or dead fish on the desk.
“My kid REALLY needs this job. Capiche?”
as someone who hired many people over his lifetime, anyone who showed up for an interview with a parent would not be considered mature enough for the job. anyone i ever hired had to be trained to do what was required regardless of their education. they also had to fit in with the company or corporate culture. there is alot more to getting and keeping a job than a degree.
I would hire them in a minute just for the pleasure of firing them the next day.
You mean fire both of them?
..there is alot more to getting and keeping a job than a degree…
I agree. Fit is huge. The problem is that in many cases, there are many out there with years of experience that do not get hired over some 22 yr old with a pce of paper…sad really. Case in point. My wife is fluent in French, had at the time 8 years of experience working in a library in a children’s section and managing said children’s programs. Come to Calgary, applies to Catholic School Brd for Library assistant position. Gets position but pay is reduced by literally 50%…why.? No paper. Yet some kid out of college with a 2 yr diploma and high school French would have gotten double. Utter BS in my opinion. Position was advertised at 19.50/hr. So much for “experience” eh.? Suffice to say, she is no longer in that field.
My other complaint about hiring and HR is this ever present 5-10 years (and now I see many times VAST, experience required. Really.?? I doesn’t take that long to learn pretty much ANY job out there..with maybe the exception of a neuroscientist.
As to the original article…You have got to be freaking kidding..???
that my friends is simply laughable.
There could be another reason for the heli-folks – money. For many families, epsecially since the kids won’t leave home, multi-worker incomes are necessary to keep the house. Heli-parents want to ensure the income stream is kept up. Can’t retire until the kids can keep the folks in the style to which they became accustomed…
This. Our HR “consultant” made a call on the hiring decision and this resulted in getting a candidate promoted to team lead who was the worst performer and least respected member of the team getting that position. All due to the fact that he had been out in the market practicing for these types of questions by trying to get out of the company. THANKS HR! nincompoop busybodies.