If you have a son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandson, or granddaughter who is about to graduate or has recently graduated from university or college they are facing significant headwinds in launching their career. There are things you can do to help them.
The unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds is double that for Canada as a whole. Universities and colleges will tell you that 90% of grads are employed within six months of graduation. According to the “2021 -22 Ontario University Graduate Survey” University Employment Outcomes, Graduation and Student Loan Default Rates (gov.on.ca) published by the Ministry of College and Universities, almost 40% of grads are earning less than $40,000 annually which means they are working part-time or at minimum wage jobs. Six months after graduation, 24% are not employed and 45% are looking for work. Less than half of graduates thought their work was related to the skills they acquired at school and the subject matter of their program.
They, and you, are frustrated and discouraged by their inability to launch their career. Their self-esteem has taken a nose-dive, and they have fallen into a downward spiral; their lack of success has discouraged them from trying. If they do get a job interview, their lack of self-confidence knocks them out of contention. They don't know where to turn or what to do. They have taken to sleeping until noon and partying too hard.
You want to get involved. If you are their parent, it's your job, and you've been successful in helping them in the past. If not a parent, you want to help in what way you can. Despite the urge, beyond providing emotional support, don't do it.
Here's why:
Your involvement will likely contribute to their angst.
Your advice will not be taken; it is a twenty-something’s mandate to ignore their seniors’ suggestions.
Your involvement will likely be resented and become a source of conflict that will spill over to other aspects of your relationship.
You are not an appropriate career counsellor – therapists don’t treat their own children, relatives or friends.
Your purview is likely too narrow. In most cases, your knowledge of options available to them is restricted by your experience. You may be knowledgeable about the sector or industry in which you work but not much beyond it. There are brand new sectors such as artificial intelligence that didn’t exist just a few years ago.
You don’t have the skills and knowledge. What worked for you when you started your career no longer applies. It’s an entirely different ball game; the competition is intense, and the rules have changed.
There are things you can do:
Be supportive. Thousands of postsecondary have not yet launched their career. In 2020, 590,000 students graduated from a Canadian post-secondary institution, an increase of more than 100% while the economy grew 17.4% in real dollar terms – the economy has not grown with the growth in post-secondary grads.
Offer advice when asked but don’t dictate; you aren’t a career counsellor so don’t try to come across as an expert.
Don’t be an enabler. You shouldn’t expect them to put their shoulder to the wheel to launch their career if financial and other support is unending.
Consider engaging a career coach to help in the process. Many bring the expertise that will make a critical difference.