Today’s parents are pretty involved in their children’s lives – often to a degree that seems excessive to those of us who grew up (or raised kids) in the ’70s and ’80s and were lucky if we knew we knew what a seatbelt was and that cheese didn’t naturally form in pre-packaged single slices. Unfortunately, some of these helicopter parents don’t let go once their kids graduate and join the work world. In this week’s roundup, we hear from one such adult child, plus get some tips on what recruiters want to see on your resume and how to free yourself from negativity.
(Photo Credit: the UMF/Flickr)
Alison Green at Ask a Manager: Will My Parents Sabotage My Job Offer?
A reader writes in to ask:
I have recently been presented with an opportunity of a lifetime — a dream job in a dream city. I have received the offer letter and I am in the process of pre-employment with this company.
However, my parents do not agree with the desire that I have to go for this dream job in this dream city. They seem to be hellbent not me not taking this job, stating that it will ruin my career, ruin my future, and ruin my education. I am, however, steadfast on taking this job, as I feel that it is an opportunity that I can not refuse. The thing that I am worried about is whether or not my parents can find some way to get in between this. Could they reach out, call my future employer, and create enough noise to make my employer back out? My parents have been asking to see the offer letter, as well as other documents about this job, and I have been pretty much refusing to show them. Can they demand those from the future employer?
Green’s response will come as a relief to anyone who’s ever worried more about their parents’ opinion of their resume than the hiring manager’s.
Sarah Landrum at Campus to Career: 5 Things Recruiters Want to See on Your Resume
What do hiring managers want to see, when they look at your CV? Well, for one thing, they’re looking for a story. Landrum writes:
Where did you start? Where are you now? What happened in between? Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end, and recruiters scanning your resume are looking for the same.
I started at X.
I learned Y.
By the time I left, I’d done Z.
Your resume shouldn’t merely be a list of skills and gigs; it should present the reader with a picture of the exciting road that is your career, portraying each entry as a stop along that road, and you as the wandering hero.
See her other tips, here.
Marc Chernoff at Marc and Angel Hack Life: 5 Powerful Ways to Free Yourself From Negativity
“I’m not negative,” you might say. “I’m a realist.”
If so, you’re not alone. Chernoff explains:
Negative people are often proud to describe themselves as ‘realists.’ Of course, anyone who holds a strong belief thinks they are being ‘realistic’ by holding it, whether it involves UFO encounters or perfectly truthful politicians.
The ‘being more realistic’ declaration is a favorite of cynics everywhere. And in a way they are correct. But only because negative thinking causes us not to try – or if we do try, to do it half-heartedly and give up sooner – so the negativity itself influences our outcomes. Self-fulfilling predictions like this really do happen. Research has even found that in some cases what we believe about our health can have more bearing on how long we live than our actual health.
Convinced, and ready to make a change to a more positive approach? Consider this advice.
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