Pity! You can’t accompany your kids to an interview or answer an interviewer’s questions, but you can help them in other practical ways when they start job hunting.

It is a fact of life that kids are staying in the family home longer, often while they hunt for their first jobs.

In this guest post, expert Heather R. Huhman talks about how to help your older child find a job while working hard at your own full time career:

Parents of the Millennial Generation hover over their children even after they go to college and begin their job search. For this, they’ve earned the nickname, “helicopter parents.”

While it is true we only hear about the helicopter parents who hover far too closely over their children’s lives, it is possible to be an effective helicopter parent when it comes to your child’s job search.

While it is completely inappropriate to accompany your child to interviews and write their résumé for them, you still can be involved in a lesser capacity:

• Conduct research: Researching can be the toughest part. You may be able to provide your child with some direction.
• Give résumé feedback: If you received your child’s résumé, would you want to hire them? Give some constructive criticism on how they could better show off their experience.
• Help financially: This can be anything from allowing your child to move back in with you, paying for professional development courses, or even extending their benefits plans (i.e., health insurance).
• Provide networking contacts: If you can offer four or five colleagues or family friends willing to meet with your child, chances are each of these contacts will provide several more contacts. Before you know it, you have helped build a network for your child!
• Sound off: Be a sounding board for your child; listen after they have a bad interview or to go through a mock interview with them. Ask them tough questions.

Chances are, your child will be spending an extraordinary amount of time on their job search, and while they will undoubtedly appreciate your help, it is very important that you don’t forget about your career.

Helicopter parents come in close

Follow her on Twitter.

Photo of Marine Helicopter by Sigmaman thanks to Flickr.com creative commons license.