Young people approach parents for career advice

Warwick careers advice. Photo: Warwick University

New research conducted by the website totaljobs.com has revealed that the majority of young people look to their parents first for advice on getting a job.

According to the study, 61 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds would initially turn to their parents for advice on getting a job, higher than any other source of advice.

Those that would look first to a spouse or partner make up 31 percent of everyone surveyed, while young people looking to siblings number 21 percent.

Careers centres, including university careers services, were the first port of call for a mere 6 percent of youths covered by the survey.

These results were not a surprise to second-year History student Nick Earl, who said: “I would probably turn to my parents.

“I personally think that even though my parents did different degrees and had different aspirations at my age, there is a built level of trust that I have with them.

“I would probably be more trusting of what they say about careers than someone I had booked an appointment with that I have never met before.

“I think I would find their advice more useful as I know more about their jobs and past experiences, so I am aware of the context of that advice they are giving me. For me, I think parental advice is more useful.”

Second-year Maths student Tim Wakefield disagreed: “After recently having had a careers meeting I found it very useful, and they gave me much more specific information than my parents could ever have given me.”

Joe Baker, a second-year Philosophy student, saw no reason not to turn to both a careers service and to one’s parents: “I’d probably say that it’s a good idea to do both, as making a career choice is an important decision and you need all the help you can get!”

He added: “Having said that, I think those services which specialise in giving careers advice will probably be better suited to the task, especially if you plan on going in a vastly different direction to your parents.”

The internet is another source of information that is consulted heavily by students looking for advice and information on careers.

48 percent of young people included in the survey said that they regularly used the internet for advice on job interviews and applications, while nine percent claimed to be focusing heavily on social media sites for advice.

The website director of totaljobs.com, John Salt, commented on the findings: “It’s surprising to see that many young people are turning to their parents for advice.

“Although parents can be the first port of call for many of the issues that jobseekers have, we have to be aware that hunting for graduate or school leaver jobs now is very different to the way it was for mum and dad in the 1970s or 80s.”