Helping young adults transition into the workforce by Lisa Cropp

Good Question!

            For young people, entering the workforce can be scary because they are faced with finding a new place for themselves. Sense of entitlement and intolerance of rejection are two psychological obstacles that young people experience while trying to establish employment. Sense of entitlement is when young people feel they deserve to get what he/she wants, including a job opportunity. That is, entitlement involves the expectation that the world of work should be as accommodating as family and school were while he/she was growing up. Rejection is also a hard pill to swallow for young people who are looking for first time jobs. At this stage in a young person's life, it isn't realistic for the parents to find their children jobs or to continue to raise them themselves, instead; parents should educate their children of the five realities of rejection.


            The first reality is: rejection should not be taken personally. Parents need to explain to their children that the employer was disinterested in what their children have to offer, not them as a person.  Young people need find jobs that interest and motivate them.  The second reality is:  rejection is not a problem: it is a reality.  Young people need to realize rejection is part of the selection process and their not alone.  The third reality is: rejection is affirming.  Rejection affirms that you tried and how you possess the determination to keep trying and not give up.  The forth reality is: rejection is informative.  Treat job seeking as information gathering; the more data collected about the marketplace of jobs and about where your job skills and interests lie, the more successful your search will become.  The fifth reality is: rejection can be overcome.  The secret of successfully landing a job is continuing to show up where and when openings occur (Pickhardt, pg 112). 

            Parents also need to understand their growing children’s frustration of feeling like they are in a “trap”, which is, to get a job you need to have work experience, but to acquire work experience you need a job. So how can parents help?  For starters, parents can advice their children to stress their best qualities, interests, and capacities that define who they are (person worth hiring for their individual strengths) to potential employers.  Personal recommendations and volunteer work are helpful in selling yourself.  Another helpful hint for parents is to discuss their full employment history with their last-stage adolescent.  By doing this, parents are explaining what they did and what they learned at each job, how they happened to get/leave jobs, and how they moved to the next job, which can be valuable information for young people looking for the right job that fits their interests.  The best pieces of advice parents can offer their growing children is to put yourself out there, knock on doors, go after openings, take advantage of opportunities and keep yourself in public circulation (Pickhardt, pg 113)

            Other helpful hints are supporting your children in maintaining a positive outlook and efforts to remain resilient when looking for work.  Treat employment not as an “entitlement”, but as an outcome to be earned.  Help refine rejection from feeling like a personal failure to being evidence of constructive effort. Empathize with and respond to your growing children’s painful job losses and the challenges of finding a new one.  You see, with the proper attitude and mentoring approach, parents can definitely help young adults transition into the workforce successfully.



Pickhardt, C, PhD.  Boomerang  Kids.  Sourcebooks, Ill. 2011.