A Gen Z worker’s bizarre interview act reveals ‘problematic’ work trends

A leading Australian recruiter has revealed the interview moment that left him completely stunned. After years in the industry, Graham Wynn has seen his fair share of bizarre excuses, comments and situations.

But the head of Superior People Recruitment told Yahoo Finance about a young woman who recently came in for a job interview. He said she was in her late teens or early 20s and had brought someone with her.

“She came to an interview and brought her mother with her,” Wynn said. “I said it [the mum]’You can’t come in either’. And she said, “Well, I just want to make sure she says the right thing.”

“I said, ‘This is for her, not you’.”

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Wynn understands that parents only want the best for their children, but this can have a much bigger impact.

“They actually take the thought process away from the kid because they say, ‘We see how it should be,’ and they make sure the kid doesn’t make a mistake,” the recruiting expert explained.

“It’s overeducation. In some ways I think over-education is a bit of a problem.”

“They don’t allow children to stand on their own two feet and in some ways they gloss over what the real world looks like.”

Wynn said the mother not only got in the way by trying to help in the interview, but she also failed to give her child the skills to stand up for herself.

“That’s a problem when they enter the workforce because in the workforce your parents aren’t there. If you do something wrong, there are consequences,” he added.

But this is not an isolated case.

Parents must allow their children to find their way

Recruiter Tammie Christofis Ballis recently accused mothers and fathers of becoming too preoccupied with their children’s work.

The story continues

She was asked on a livestream by a parent why her child may not have gotten shifts at Kmart.

The question confused her and she said young workers need to take responsibility instead of letting their parents do all the work.

“I said to her, ‘Why are you asking me? You have to get your daughter to ask her boss at work,’ because if they did that, they wouldn’t ask me questions,” Ballis said.

“The reason could be anything. It could be a shift stoppage, maybe the daughter wasn’t at work, maybe she’s waiting to be told what to do instead of showing initiative. It could be absolutely anything.”

“But it showed me that these parents weren’t helping their child. She was just trying to find answers by chance on the internet.”

“Get your child to talk to their manager. It takes getting used to uncomfortable conversations Finding an answer to something you really want to know.

“Otherwise their confidence is lost, they don’t realize what the problem is and they keep doing the same thing on the next jobs.”

Young workers warned against picking up the phone or risk losing their vaccination

Ballis said young Australians looking for a job also needed to be comfortable answering the phone or they would be left in the lurch.

She said there have been numerous occasions where she has tried to contact a candidate and was met with the same reaction.

“They don’t want to pick up the phone or text. A lot of them say, ‘Can you email me and let me know you’re calling?'” she said Yahoo Finance.

But the recruiter had a clear message for Generation Z and Millennials who work this way.

“Be an adult and understand that the job market is competitive and that if you are not willing to be flexible, you will miss an opportunity. It really is that simple,” she said.

Ballis said she’s even had some parents “call and follow up on their children’s applications” to younger job seekers under 25.

“Light up. You are of age, according to the data protection law I am not allowed to talk to you about it anyway. I don’t care that you are the mother,” she said.

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