Following is an excerpt from "Employers & Student Candidates: How They See Each Other," written by Troy D. Nunamaker and Flora Riley, published May 2007 in NACE Journal.

Parental support has become crucial to the job-search process for many student candidates. By incorporating their parents, students may feel that they are more confident and better prepared for the interview process. More than ever, parents assist their students by helping them script questions, answer interview questions, and review the benefits packages of potential employers.

Some recruiters said that they are starting to send information packets out to parents. However, most employers responded that they want to hire "independent thinkers" and are wary about hiring anyone whose "mothers are calling to inquire about the interviewing/hiring process." A parent calling about a candidate's position or application status is a major "turnoff" to employers.

. . . [P]arents should stay involved, but should let communication take place between the student candidate and the employer, not the parent and the employer. Parents should allow the student candidates to go through the application and interview process on their own, using their parents only as a sounding board.