LinkedIn coaches, resume experts: How some Long Island parents are helping Gen Z find a job

After her son graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Abby Gardy, of Dix Hills, set up LinkedIn alerts to help the 22-year-old secure his first job.

She weeds through the listings in her inbox, then sends him the most likely prospects.

Gardy also hired a career coach, paying several hundred dollars, to help the George Washington University grad write resumes, curate his LinkedIn profile and prepare him for job interviews.

"As a parent who just spent a lot of money on education, you want to help your kid get their first job," said Gardy, a finance director for a company that works with healthcare systems. "The entry-level job market is so challenging right now that you’re just trying to help them and give them a different perspective on the process."

While it is common for friends and family to help their kids in the job search, a competitive job market shaped by technological advances and automation amid post-pandemic inflation is pushing some parents to take an active role in helping launch their children’s careers. To ensure their kids find employment, Long Island parents are setting up alerts for job postings, reviewing application materials and hiring job coaches and resume writers, parents and experts said.

But excessive parental involvement can create tensions and be counterproductive by making job candidates look underqualified, career counselors and economists said.

A survey published by resume platform Zety shows some parents are helping to navigate Gen Z job seekers’ careers to a greater degree — a phenomenon Zety terms "career co-piloting." These parents go beyond what experts deem common practices, such as scouring online job boards or helping write or edit resumes. The survey, which included responses from 1,000 Gen Z workers, showed some parents were going so far as to contact hiring managers, apply for jobs on their child's behalf and even negotiate offers.

Generation Z, known as Gen Z, includes people born between 1997 and 2012, or those between the ages of 14 and 29.

On Long Island, Gen Z workers ages 20 to 29 made up 18% of the Long Island workforce in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And they made up nearly 17% of the state’s workforce in 2024, according to the state Labor Department.

Younger workers are entering a more complicated job market, said Jasmine Escalera, a career expert with Zety. The traditional job search now often involves impersonal online applications and many entry-level postings require extensive prior experience.

"They need to know so much more" than previous generations of job seekers, Escalera said. As a result, Gen Z are turning to the resources they do have: their parents. "It makes a lot of sense that they are leaning on the only professional network that they have."

Gen Z's economic pressure points

Gen Zers entering the job market are facing "an unusually challenging time," making it difficult to get their foot in the door, said Alice Louise Kassens, dean of the School of Business, Economics, and Analytics at Roanoke College in Virginia.

The market is "characterized as a ‘low-hire, low-fire’ environment, meaning employers are not laying workers off at high rates, but they are also not hiring aggressively," Kassens said in a statement. 

There were an estimated 244 applicants per job opening in North America in 2025, up 111% from 2022, according to data from Greenhouse, an applicant tracking business.

While unemployment is relatively low, an estimated 42% of recent college grads ages 22 to 27 were considered underemployed, working jobs that didn’t require a college degree, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Both locally and nationally, young job hunters continue to struggle compared with the broader population.

Kassens said "the biggest factor behind deteriorating outcomes for young workers has been the broad decline in job openings."

The unemployment rate for 20-29 year-olds on Long Island was 6.8% in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s nearly double the Island’s overall 3.4% rate.

With potentially hundreds applying for one opening, recent grads can have a hard time breaking through, said Marc Oppenheim, executive director of Hofstra University’s career center.

"There are larger pools of applicants, which is creating more initial competition for roles, Oppenheim said.

And so, it makes sense for parents to step in to help their children, experts said. 

It makes a lot of sense that they are leaning on the only professional network that they have because they haven’t created one yet.

— Jasmine Escalera, a career expert with Zety

Gardy, who said her son did not want to be interviewed for this story, forwards job listings she thinks might "resonate" with him.

But, she added, "I do not apply to jobs for him. I do not reach out to people."

Like Gardy, Kerri Romeo, 55, of Massapequa, is helping her son, Robert, 24, find a job at a law firm while he is studying for law school entrance exams.

"If I see something about an opening, I will send those along to him," said Romeo, a physician assistant who earlier this year launched MyTeenGig.com, a job board to help younger Gen Z gain work experience.

Robert, who graduated in May from SUNY Old Westbury with a degree in political science, said, he leans on his mother for connections. "She works with a lot of adults that may have connections to law offices."

Still, "it’s been pretty tough," to get responses from employers, who often ask for more experience, said Robert, who works part-time at a family restaurant.

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence also is raising "the skill threshold" for entry-level jobs, Kassens said.

"Employers increasingly expect familiarity with AI tools... especially in occupations that traditionally serve as steppingstones for young workers," she said.

With so many changes in the job market, universities are increasingly hearing from parents concerned about the viability of a job path, career advisers said.

"Parents are asking, ‘How many students are getting jobs after college? What are the starting salaries, and what is the market for this job outside of university?’" said Michael Berthel, vice president of student affairs and enrollment at Long Island University.

With young job seekers lacking professional connections, they tend to rely on the networks easily available to them, experts said.

A 2025 survey by corporate event planning business Freeman found Gen Z job seekers had an average of just 16 professional business relationships compared with 21 for Millennials and 40 for Gen X.

Gardy, whose son lives in D.C., said she is trying to use her own corporate experience to provide her son with tools. 

"He’s obviously doing a lot on his own," she said. 

When 'co-piloting' can backfire

Too much parental involvement can make "it harder for their child to be taken seriously," said Marianna Savoca, associate vice president for career readiness and experiential education at Stony Brook University.

They also make it more likely that a job candidate will appear less prepared for the job, which hurts their chances of being hired, career counselors and recruiters said.

Jim Morris, owner of Express Employment Professionals, a staffing agency in Farmingdale, said when parents intervene excessively it can be seen as a red flag.

Morris said he has received multiple calls from parents asking to set up interviews for their children.

According to the Zety report, 1 in 5 survey respondents said a parent "has contacted a potential employer or recruiter on their behalf."

Twenty percent of Gen Z job seekers, ages 18 to 27, said a parent has joined them on a in-person or virtual interview.

It’s possible a parent may have only driven the job seeker to an interview and waited in an employer's lobby or parking lot, Escalera said.

Ten percent of Zety survey takers said a parent had negotiated pay or benefits directly with an employer.

20% 

The estimated percentage of young job seekers surveyed by Zety who said a parent has reached out to an employer or recruitment firm on their behalf

Morris said his agency draws the line at parents being a part of the interview process. But some "get very belligerent and upset" when told they can’t be in the interview room, he said.

One parent pushed back: "What if they say something wrong?" Morris recalled.

Edward Frankel, founder of Higher Proximity, a North Massapequa-based career coaching service, said after initial meetings with the parent and job seeker, Frankel reminds parents his sessions are one-on-one with the prospective employee.

Excessive intervention also can turn students away from coaching, he said.

Parents back in the day may not have had the skillset to help their children as much as parents are helping now. It might even be more necessary now.

— Cynthia Kane, Westbury

I push back a little bit because of my nature," he said. "I want to get things done myself.

— Joshua Kane, Hofstra University senior

But the stakes are perhaps higher now for parents, whose children are often leaving the parental home at a later stage.

"It’s like the helicopter parent that we were talking about 10 years ago or 15 years ago; it’s reached a new extreme," Frankel said. "It’s like, ‘I want them to strike out on their own and have their own career, and not be hyper-dependent.’ "

Westbury resident Joshua Kane, 21, a marketing major and a senior at Hofstra University set to graduate in December, said his mom has been a "really big part" of his job search. 

"She’s been looking at her connections and just helping me in general in getting my resume done, getting my cover letter done," he said.

Joshua’s mother, Cynthia Kane, 55, said she encourages her son to take advantage of career assistance programs and sends him links to job postings.

She also hired an expert to draft resumes to help her son translate his academic accomplishments into experience for his resume.

The $100 fee was a reasonable investment toward her son’s future, she said.

Cynthia said the biggest lesson she’s trying to impart to her son is the importance of building connections with potential employers.

"Parents back in the day may not have had the skillset to help their children as much as parents are helping now," she said. "It might even be more necessary now."

While Joshua said he is lucky to have his mom's help, he’s still leading the charge on the job hunt.

"I push back a little bit because of my nature," he said. "I want to get things done myself."