Please Don’t Bring Your Parents to Work With You

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago that said, more and more Millennials are bringing their parents to job interviews, corporate events, and salary negotiations than in years past. In fact, some companies are even revamping their entire hiring process to make it more parent friendly in order to help attract new talent.

A 2012 survey of more than 500 college graduates by Adecco, a human-resources organization, found that 8% of them had a parent accompany them to a job interview, and 3% had the parent sit in on the interview. - WSJ

The thought here is that parents have a greater influence in their children’s life choices than ever before. Companies hope to capitalize on these relationships by influencing parents so they can act as a champion for them post-interview. After all, mother knows best, right?

I don’t really want to get into the personal merits of this strategy and whether or not I like the idea (I don’t); rather, I want to comment on this trend through a professional lens, and there is one key issue I keep coming back to: your parents won’t be able to help you after you get hired.

Companies hire you for what you can do and the results you achieve, not your parents. They need to know that when push comes to shove, you can overcome adversity or hardship or whatever and act professionally to get stuff done.

Your parents won’t be able to peer over your shoulder as you work slowly nudging you in the direction they think best. Your dad won’t be able to help you when you’re in the meeting room presenting a new idea to your peers. Your mom can’t sit with you while you go through your first yearly review.

Parents will serve as nothing more than a crutch in the workplace. They will get in your way and stifle your ability to make your own personal dent in the world. They will unintentionally eliminate all respect your peers have for you. They will interfere in areas they shouldn’t and in ways you don’t want. Leave them at home.

Fortunately, for now, the majority of new college graduates still think involving their parents in professional affairs is a bad idea.

Parental involvement also isn’t for everyone. Lauren Bailey, a 22-year-old graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, says that if a company gave her a letter to take home to her parents, “I would almost feel like I was back in high school.”

Nor can she imagine taking her parents to an interview or a company recruiting event. “I’d be worried that they’d be speaking for me,” she says. “I know I’m young, but at some point I have to make my own decisions.” - WSJ

Good for you, Lauren.