TIP: Parents Aren't Always Right...

... especially when it comes to job searching tips.

Happy 4th of July everyone!  I figured since today is Independence Day, what better day to talk about becoming less dependent on our parents.  (Hey, it's a stretch, but an important topic nonetheless.)

One of my biggest pet peeves at work is when I hear someone tell me that "my dad told me..." or "my mom said..." or the worst is "My [family member] helped me with my resume."  While it's great that these family members want to help out, what it often means for me as a professional is that I have to be careful with what I say so as not to put down said relative/parent but still somehow tell the student that their parent/relative was, in fact, wrong.

The thing is - most parents/relatives/friends are coming from a great place - they want to help.  They have looked for jobs before and they have much more experience doing so.  As such, they feel, as part of their duty as a significant person in your life who cares about you, to dispense advice so as to help you find a job.  The problem is not really them - it's who they are to you.  Because of how important they are to you, you listen to them and automatically assume they are right.  What kills me is when they are wrong and yet you, as their child/friend/relative, insist that I am wrong and that they are right. 

Here are some "bad" tidbits of advice that parents give:

1.  Your resume should always be one page.  As we saw in the last post, that is definitely not always true.

2.  You should major in [some major that they deem amazing] as it will give you the best chances on getting a job after graduation.  This is one of my least favorites.  I will write another post about this, but there is no guarantee no matter what major you choose that you will get a job or even have a better chance of getting a job after you graduate.  It's all what you do with the major!

3.  You don't need to work while you're in school - you need to focus on your grades.  If you are ever a parent, please promise me you will never do this to your kids.  Now some kids are smart and will still find a part-time job on-campus or at a retail store or something, or some will use their free time getting involved in student organizations or something, but if all you do is focus on your grades, you will have nothing to put on your resume other than where you went to school and your GPA.  That's it. 

4.  Call a company daily to follow-up.  Persistence pays off.  Please don't do this.  Do you like to be called daily by the same person asking the same question?  No, didn't think so.  Don't do this to the poor HR rep at the company either.  Yes, you need to be persistent and you do need to follow up, but not to the point that you annoy them.

5.  You need to go to [name of choice school that they deem amazing] if you are going to major in that - the program is highly ranked.  See #3.  It's all what you do with it, people.

These are just a few examples.  Please don't let your parents do your work for you - you are in college now (or beyond), so apply to jobs yourself, write your own resume, write your own cover letter, talk to your career services office about questions you may have as they are trained in this and talk to HR professionals on a regular basis.  Don't let your parents become those "helicopter parents."  Thank them for their advice, but make up your own mind and do what you need to do to get the job done. 

As the saying goes, if you feed a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.  If you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime.  The same is true for your job search.  Own it.