Even though you’re a young adult, your parents still worry about you. One thing that concerns them the most is whether or not you’ll land a good job after school. And they’re right to worry because, nationally, almost 50% of college grads today are doing jobs that don’t require a college degree. They desperately want your degree to pay off for you.
When you’re home for the holidays, watch for three mistakes your parents might be making that will actually undermine your post-college job search. Share this post with your parents if you think it can lead to a less stressful discussion.
1. Stop comparing your job search experience to the career paths of others.
You know that annoyingly perfect Stanford pre-med major down the street, or the recent big time university accounting grad who landed a job at the beginning of senior year. Stop comparing yourself to them!
Many variables will shape your unique journey in the post-college job market, such as:
- Internships and work experiences while in college
- Major, and possibly your minor
- Grades, depending on field
- Personal network to support a job search
- Network of your school’s grads that you (smartly) decide to access
- Family’s resources and expectations
- College loans
- Personality – an introvert may have a harder time networking
- “Significant other” – who may influence decisions when leaving school.
Every grad starts their post-college journey with a wide variety of factors shaping their experience. There are an infinite number of paths to launching a successful career. Don’t judge yourself by other’s choices.
2. Don’t obsess about college majors. You can major in (almost) anything, but you must minor in “job search”.
Parents can be overly focused on their child’s major, assuming an economics or science degree is an essential route to a good job. That’s not true. Many employers don’t care what you majored in, as long as you can articulate the value of what you learned in terms of workplace skills. Of course, some majors provide a clearer path to post-college employment than others, but liberal arts grads are very attractive employees, assuming they can demonstrate the practical skills acquired from internships and classroom experiences.
One word of caution. Some professionally oriented majors like tourism, culinary arts, music education, family studies, and child development can be steering you into permanently low paying careers that will be hard to break out of. Check with your career services office to find out the real employment options for recent grads in these fields. Many majors can lead to successful careers, but some will be more limiting financially.
3. Don’t listen to job search tactics that are obsolete.
Have your parents been on the job market or done a lot of hiring in the last few years? If not, then be skeptical about their advice on getting a good job. It’s probably much harder than they realize. Do they know how an applicant tracking system works? (Don’t be surprised; a lot of career counselors don’t understand them either.) Can they help you conduct an effective Skype interview? Do they know how long you should expect the job search process to take? Be careful about advice from your parents, except in the area of networking. (What they know about networking is all true. Listen up!) Make sure you’re getting up-to-date coaching either from resources at school or from family friends with current knowledge of the market.
Research for my recent book “Graduate to a Great Job” shows parents can be a huge asset in helping their children launch a post-college career. But, as the job search process has become more complex and competitive, it also helps to recognize the mistakes your parents might make that will undermine your efforts to soar out of school.