Quirky Job Interview Request is Gaining Ground

You just can’t always tell from an interview if certain applicants may require more praise and (ahem) hand-holding than other job candidates. But there are clues. Such as …

… requesting to bring a parent along on a job interview. A ResumeTemplates.com survey of Generation Zers finds:

• 25% brought parents to a job interview
• 16% corralled their parents into filling out a job application for them, and
• 10% say a parent wrote their resume for them.

On the other hand: Some of the other responses to the survey show Zoomers respect their parents and go to them for guidance. Seventy percent say they ask their parents for their help and advice on job hunting and other matters on a regular basis, and 83% who’ve landed a job happily credit their parents’ help.

Sixty percent of Zoomers are reaching out to parents for help in today’s challenging job market. Of that 60%, half say parents tapped their professional contacts to help land them a job. ResumeTemplates.com surveyed 1,400-plus job seekers between the ages of 18 and 27 earlier this spring.

Job Interview Trend Affirmed by Hiring Managers

The ResumeTemplate.com results jibe with an Intelligent.com survey of 800 employers back in December. Nearly 20% reported that recent college graduates had reported to a job interview with a parent (or parents) in tow.

Other troubling behaviors reported:

• struggling to make eye contact (53%)
• asking for “unreasonable” compensation (53%)
• dressing inappropriately (47%)
• using inappropriate language (27%), and
• refusing to turn on a video camera during a virtual interview (21%).

Let’s face it: Not everyone’s an extrovert. Or overly confident. Companies say they’re desperate to find talent and many of those jobs require superior analytical skills, high IQ and the ability to learn new technologies quickly (AI anyone?)

So some employers will be more flexible when it comes to job candidates’ social skills. Managers are already learning that younger workers missed out on some hands-on learning in college and may require more training than in years past.