Job anxiety can strike as students prepare to graduate

At this time of year, my inbox gets inundated with emails from parents whose children will soon be graduating from college. They want tips on how to help their child land his or her first job.

This is a typical email:

I’m sure many of you are rolling your eyes and wondering why this parent thinks it’s his or her job to motivate the child to look for work. But even with the unemployment rate low, studies show young workers have the highest rate of career anxiety across any generation.

In a nationally representative poll conducted for Quartz by SurveyMonkey Audience, 30 percent of millennial and Gen Z employees reported they experience anxiety or depression to the point where it disrupts work “all the time” or “often.”

The journal JAMA Pediatrics recently reported that 1 in 7 young adults and children have mental health conditions, though only half are receiving treatment.

Trying to land an appealing job that won’t add to their anxiety likely leaves many graduates uncertain and paralyzed.

I’ve yet to see a school with a Career Development and Job Search major. And even though almost all colleges have campus career development centers students can visit for assistance, most students don’t leverage this resource properly.

Why? In my experience, they’re so busy with school, relationships and the overall process of adulting, they can’t imagine trying to look ahead to life after college.

When a student graduates, he or she hears, “You have so many options!” That sounds amazing to seasoned professionals who wish they could go back in time and make different career choices. But to a new grad, it’s like going into an ice cream parlor that has 352 flavors and being told to pick one in 15 seconds.

College graduates feel a lot of pressure these days to build an amazing career straight out of school. If they aren’t setting the world on fire with their greatness, then they are convinced something is wrong with them. Meanwhile, they haven’t worked full time in a professional setting, which means there’s an entirely new learning curve for them to get through.

With that in mind, here are the tips I typically give to parents of college grads each year:

Make it clear to your child that the first job out of school will not be the last one. Every job is temporary, especially today.

According to a 2018 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a person will change jobs, on average, 12 times during his or her career. Many workers spend five years or less in every job. The days of being a company man for 40 years before retiring and drawing a tidy pension are long gone for most people.

The main purpose of a first job is to help new graduates get used to life after college. The time commitment and structure of a job can be a big adjustment for many new grads.

Help your child see that this first job is going to teach important skills such as building relationships with co-workers and learning workplace do’s and don’ts, and if the job is not a good fit, he or she can move on. But showing up on time, working hard and being enthusiastic are important. These practices will carry you through your career.

The opportunity to change the world will come. First, fresh graduates need a year or two or three to gain perspective and much-needed workplace knowledge.

Many kids try to convince their parents this is their last summer to have fun and relax, and parents hoping to spend time with their freshly minted adult may agree. But the job search is a process that doesn’t happen quickly. It will likely take your child all summer to identify the kind of work he or she wants to do, build network connections and land interviews to get hired.

In the meantime, he or she should work a job that doesn’t require a college degree in order to earn a little money and motivate him or her to figure out that first career faster. Also, nothing screams “entitled” more to a recruiter than a student who says he or she took the summer off to relax and travel and have some fun.

Companies like to hire young professionals who are eager to get working. Enthusiasm is a big plus when you don’t have much experience.

If you manage expectations, encourage your child to do some work and ease up on the pressure, you can help him or her avoid having a career meltdown after graduation.