Blame doting parents for grad's joblessness - Your Life

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 2003

The biggest obstacle to landing a job for this year's class of an estimated 1,300,000 spring college graduates may be their parents. Despite the significant financial strain of funding a four-year college education, many parents choose to prolong the burden by allowing their children to return home for an indefinite period. Such an arrangement is likely to lengthen the child's search for employment by squelching his or her incentive to find work, contends John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of the international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., Chicago.

He suggests that the solution may be found in what he calls a Post-Graduation Residential Limitation Contract, which places a time frame on a graduate's stay at home. "Asking a son or daughter to sign such a contract may seem harsh, but tough love is sometimes the only way to spur these young people to take action.

"The alternative to such a contract, particularly for otherwise empty-nester parents, might be having a permanent roommate. More graduates are going to be leaving college this year without a job, and many will [go] to their parents for shelter, food, and money While parents are not likely to turn their children away, they should set a time limit on their generosity."

There are no exact figures on the number of children returning to live at home after college, but it is likely growing due to the fact that many graduates are leaving school jobless, swamped with student loans and credit card debt that reach into the tens of thousands. The average amount of education-related debt carried by graduates has now climbed to $27,600, three-and-one-half times the amount 10 years ago, according to student loan company Nellie Mae.

Additionally, the exceptionally tight job market is making it more difficult for students to find employment. A survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that companies expect to hire 3.6% fewer graduates than last year.

"Without any type of restriction on their length of stay, children sometimes become complacent, sleeping until noon, limiting their job search to periodically checking the help wanted sections, internet job boards, and mailing resumes. What they should be doing to find a job is getting up and out of the house early each day to go to interviews, calling hiring managers for more interviews, and networking," advises Challenger. "If the child honestly spends a full day, five days a week focused on job hunting, there is no reason he or she should not find a job in 90 days. Most people do not dedicate that much effort to the job search, which is why the average length of unemployment nationwide has grown to 18 weeks."

Moreover, "the tight job market means that ... graduates will probably be forced to seek jobs outside of their target profession. Marketing majors may have to look at retail or customer support call centers for opportunities. They may have to relocate and/or work two or three part-time jobs in order to make ends meet. But make no mistake, there are jobs available for those willing to expand their job search parameters and adjust their salary expectations. The key thing to remember is that the most important element of the first job is work experience. It does not matter if it is not directly related in any way to the career path for which you planned"