Owen Gregorian@OwenGregorian
77% of Gen Z job seekers have brought a parent to an interview, survey finds | Emily Sturge, Campus Reform
A majority of Generation Z job seekers are reportedly relying on their parents to navigate the job hunt.
According to a July 2025 survey from Resume Templates, 77% of Gen Z respondents admitted to bringing a parent to a job interview, and 53% said their parent had spoken with a hiring manager on their behalf.
The dependence persists when young people enter the workforce, with 73% of respondents saying they’ve had their parents help complete work assignments and 45% reported regularly having a parent talk to their current manager.
The survey polled 831 Gen Z adults who are employed full-time.
These behaviors reportedly translate to a perceived lack of preparedness and professionalism in the workplace.
A Resume.org survey of 765 hiring managers found that 56% encountered unprepared applicants, 47% cited candidates lacked professionalism, and 11% witnessed Gen Z candidates bringing a parent, partner, or friend to the interview.
One in six hiring managers also reported Gen Z applicants used their phones during the interview.
Experts warn that such behavior hinders professional credibility.
In an interview with Campus Reform, career consultant Julia Toothacre said she was “shocked” to hear the statistics about Gen Z bringing parents to interviews or having a parent talk to a boss or hiring manager.
“They’re just not as prepared for the world,” Toothacre said.
Toothacre, who has worked with thousands of clients over the past decade, attributed some of the problematic behavior among young people to a lack of critical developmental experiences.
She cited technology and the pandemic as potential reasons leading to a lack of social skills among Gen Z, which she said translates to lack of preparedness in the workforce.
“You’re talking about the formative years for relationship building, doing internships, and all of that, and they missed out on it,” she said.
As a result, she says, Gen Zers are asking their parents for support.
“They’re asking for support because they don’t know what to do, or they don’t feel confident in what to do in the world of work,” she said. “So, they’re turning to the people that they know the best, which are parents, to say, ‘What do I do?”
Toothacre, an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, said she has not personally observed this behavior among her students. However, she noted that colleagues have reported problems with parental overreach, including parents “becoming an issue in terms of their involvement with students.”
Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich agreed that the problem stems back to parents.
Descovich, a mother of five, told Campus Reform that parents are meant to empower their children, but that support should not extend to the workplace. She laughed when asked if she would ever go with a child to a job interview.
“Parents are supposed to support your children and prepare them for the future. You’re supposed to prepare them but not do things for them as adults,” Descovich said.
“As they step into the job force, you can help them prepare a resume. You can do mock interviews with them if you need to, but the idea of a parent going with their child to a job interview or speaking to their boss is absurd,” she concluded.
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