Word from the wise: Why it pays to listen to your parents

As businesses across the capital prepare to celebrate Bring In Your Parents Day tomorrow, new research from LinkedIn reveals that parents stop giving career advice too early. Indeed, over a third (37 per cent) of Londoners feel that they’ve been given too little guidance from their parents about how to get on the career ladder and what to do when they get there. 

 

The workplace has changed a lot in a generation. More than half of professionals believe that working life is harder now than when their parents began their careers. But when it comes to getting ahead at work, the same golden rules still apply today. Here are the top career tips we can learn from our elders.

 

Your parents will have spent hours perfecting their CVs. While the paper resume is becoming a thing of the past, it is important that today’s professionals invest as much, if not more, time in perfecting their professional brand online. 

 

The internet is often the first port of call when managers decide on new hires and internal promotions, so making sure your house is in order is time well spent. Something as simple as a profile picture can increase the number of views which your LinkedIn profile receives by a staggering 14 times.

 

A generation ago, most of the applicants for a position would automatically have been given the opportunity to show their personality off in an interview. Today, many recruiters are filtering out candidates online before the interview stage, so it is vital to convey your personality through your digital footprint. Make sure that prime piece of digital real estate online is a fair and accurate reflection of how you want your professional self to be seen.

 

Thanks to mobile devices and social media networks, younger people are more connected than ever. But when it comes to landing a new job or climbing the career ladder, one old adage still holds true – it’s all about who you know. 

 

When it comes to making contacts, your parents can be an invaluable resource. Don’t be afraid to ask them about their networks – they may well have acquaintances you can use, and their age means that most of them are likely to be senior decision-makers.

 

In an increasingly digital workplace, it can be easy to forget to step away from the screen and invest in real-world relationships. The value of picking up the phone or having a face-to-face conversation is something the generation before us understood only too well. And today, dedicating your time to a conversation with one person is an effective way of showing your interest in and respect for their work and business.

 

We all dream of a perfect work-life balance. But for today’s generation of workers, the reality is that an equilibrium is increasingly difficult to strike. Ask your parents to share some of their skills around prioritising, and their tips for smart ways of working. Having a completely independent person to use as a sounding board can be a good way of separating the “must do’s” from the non-essentials which take up your valuable time. 

 

To sign up for LinkedIn Bring In Your Parents Day, you can visit biyp.linkedin.com or celebrate the day by sharing pictures of you and your parents on social media using the #BIYP hashtag.

 

@LinkedInUK will be retweeting the best images.