Parents, kick-start your kids’ careers this Christmas

The festive period is usually one of the few times in the year that families get together and parents spend some quality time with their children that have flown the nest. Inevitably, talk turns to their future. If your graduate offspring is without meaningful employment at this stage of the year, it’s time to give them some persuasive encouragement.

Empathise. The graduate employment market is saturated with applicants and the reality is that there are many other grads stuck in their position. There are lots of people in their situation, don’t allow yourself to get frustrated.

Motivate. “Every year there is a huge spike in recruitment in January and, more pertinently, the number of graduates looking for a job,” said Ben Rosen, CEO of Inspiring Interns.

Everyone loves a New Year’s resolution, so it’s really important that you ensure your son or daughter’s pledge is to find an internship or job. Competition for positions will be tough.

Give relevant advice. You might not feel that your work experience is completely relevant in today’s market, so Inspiring Interns has put together three ideas to get you started:

1. Enter a growth industry

Motivate your offspring to find a job in a growth industry. Rosen explained that “London plays host to hundreds of evolving technology companies; think digital advertising, gaming, cloud-based organisations. Growth industries are always on the look out for top talent and offer brilliant perks for the best graduates.”

Graduate agencies like Inspiring Interns are a gateway to hundreds of opportunities your son or daughter may not yet have considered. They can also offer insightful advice, having helped thousands of graduates find the role and industry they are best suited to. Inspiring Interns saves start-ups time and money by advertising the role to its large candidate database and managing the filtering process, so direct them to an organisation that will do the legwork; don’t waste time searching for individual roles.

2. Network and surround yourself with smart people

Introduce your network. We’re not encouraging nepotism, but a chat over a coffee with a successful business person can help guide a lost graduate and open their eyes to new opportunities. It’s also important to remember that people learn from people, so advise your child to find a company that is filled with smart employees. People become like those they spend time with: encourage them to surround themselves with intelligent people.

3. Follow your passion

The majority of graduates leave university without knowing what they want to do career-wise.

“The best thing you can do is to help your child identify their strengths, find out what they enjoy doing and try to match this into a career. This is essentially what we do at Inspiring Interns,” Rosen said.

Research different positions online and compare the employing company’s ideal hire’s characteristics and compare these with your child’s. If they love what they do, they’ll most likely be good at it.

Enjoy your family time and remember, a nudge in the right direction could do wonders.

-ENDS-

For further information or to speak with Inspiring Interns, call 020 7269 6720.


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About Inspiring Interns

Inspiring Interns is the UK's leading intern recruitment agency. We match ambitious graduates with growing companies across the UK. We work with companies ranging from big multinationals to brand new start-ups across the UK from our offices in London and Manchester.