A recent survey by ResumeTemplates.com reveals that most Gen Z job seekers rely on their parents for help during their job search. Some even involve their parents in interviews or communication with hiring managers.
The survey, conducted in April 2024, found that 70% of respondents sought parental help during their job search. Only 30% did not rely on their parents.
Of those who sought help, 9% always asked for assistance, 23% did so very often, 44% sometimes, and 24% rarely. Mothers were the primary source of help for 76% of respondents, compared to 45% who received help from fathers.
Interestingly, 69% of those who sought parental assistance have since secured employment. Among them, 83% attributed their success to their parents’ guidance, either fully (26%) or somewhat (57%), while only 17% did not credit their parents.
Andrew Stoner, Executive Resume Writer at ResumeTemplates, explained, “The number of employment opportunities and the complexity of the job market cause Gen Zers to seek parental help. Knowing what a company does, verifying its legitimacy, and understanding job specifics are challenging without formal work experience. A parent’s help should bolster a child’s development and eventual independence.”
The survey revealed that 24% of respondents had their parents submit job applications on their behalf. This group represented 17% of the total sample. Reasons included believing their parents’ work was better (46%), not knowing how to communicate with hiring managers (34%), lack of motivation (32%), and poor mental health (22%).
Additionally, 60% of surveyed Gen Zers asked their parents to find jobs for them to apply to. Parents found jobs through online resources (70%), personal connections (53%), networking (31%), and career fairs (23%).
Nearly 1 in 10 had their parents complete HR screener calls. Of those who involve their parents in their job search, 13% (9% of those surveyed) reported parents completing their HR calls.
When asked why they had their parents handle these calls, respondents cited believing their parents’ work was better (48%), not knowing how to talk to hiring managers (38%), lack of motivation (33%), and negative impacts on mental health (31%).
The survey also disclosed that many Gen Zers involve their parents in the interview process. Of all respondents who have undergone a job search in the past year, 26% took a parent to an interview.
Of those who brought their parents, 31% had a parent accompany them to an in-person interview, while 29% had them join a virtual interview. For in-person interviews, 37% said their parent accompanied them to the office, 26% said their parent sat in the interview room, and 18% said their parent introduced themselves to the manager. Additionally, 7% said their parents answered questions.
For virtual interviews, 71% of parents were off-camera, while 29% were visible on-camera. The majority (85%) of on-camera parents spoke directly to the hiring manager and 85% fed information to their children.
Most Gen Zers get parental help with resume writing. In the past year, 55% of respondents asked their parents for help with their resumes. They sought assistance with proofreading (57%), editing resume text (38%), and even writing their entire resume (18%).
They asked for help because they trusted their parents’ work more (35%) and became stressed when writing resumes (35%). Many Gen Zers also asked for help because they did not know how to format (28%) or write (22%) a resume or were too busy (14%).
With cover letters, the survey found that Gen Zers also rely on their parents. Almost half (49%) asked for help with their cover letters, requesting assistance with proofreading (55%), editing content (26%), or writing the letter from scratch (13%).
Of this group, 35% thought their parents’ work would be better, and 28% asked for help because they were stressed. Additionally, 28% reported that they did not know how to format cover letters, and 25% did not know how to write them. Finally, 14% said they were too busy to complete their own cover letters.
Thirty-six percent of Gen Zers requested that their parents assist them in communicating with hiring managers. They asked for help with editing messages (28%), writing them from scratch (21%), and directly communicating with hiring managers (20%).
Reasons included trusting their parents’ work more (45%), not knowing how to communicate via email (30%), laziness (26%), not knowing how to format messages (19%), and experiencing mental health consequences (19%).
