The 'helicopter parent' - hovering above their offspring, always interfering, is a familiar sight in schools. But now the choppers are rising to a new level - graduate careers fairs, says Paul Redmond
Graduate careers fairs are now filling up with as many eager parents as they are students, and universities have now taken to appointing 'family liaison officers' to deal with the influx. Parents are now taking responsibility for their children's jobs - even to the extent of contacting employers to negotiate for salaries.
More on the phenomenon here, but these are the top ten ways you can tell if you're a helicopter parent...
1. University administrators know you by your first name;
2. You attend jobs fairs. On their behalf. On your own;
3. You see it as your job to phone in to say they're not going to be work;
4. You're an unpaid chauffeur;
5. You take responsibility for their bank account;
6. You complain to the manager if they are passed over for promotion - you see nothing wrong in negotiating with their employer on their behalf;
7. It's left to you to surf the web, checking out recruiters' websites;
8. It's you who stays awake at night worrying about their careers, not them;
9. You take responsibility for formatting their CV, even though they have a degree in IT;
10. You still have a 'Baby on Board' sign in your window... even though your 'baby' has just turned 21.
