不过，工作机会总是有的。德朗曾做过一项调查，他访问了从20所不同学校（都是不错的学校但并非常春藤名校）毕业的35位应届毕业生，他们都成功地找到了不错的全职工作，有些人的确也借助了父母的人脉关系。“父母与孩子的关系天然地都各不相同，”德朗说。“有些孩子根本不会从父母哪儿得到任何帮助，而有些孩子却完全依赖父母。”

    他接着说，许多父母首先要做的就是，克服舍不得孩子离开家的矛盾心理。在我所做的全部访问中，父母对孩子离家都有一种复杂的情绪。有些父母的确想让孩子回家过暑假，甚至希望他们能待得更久，”他说道。假设你已经克服这种矛盾心理，以下四个步骤将会对你有所帮助：

    1. 如果可能的话，帮他们联系信息性面试。德郎会比较认同你把儿子介绍给你（或丈夫）所认识的职场人士的想法。“信息性面试就是让他们与某个特定领域中的经验丰富人士交流，以确定不同的职业发展路径，以及了解如何取得职业晋升。这对于求职者来说是个十分有用的工具，特别是应届毕业生，”他说。“父母如果能把同事、客户等职业人士介绍给孩子，分享对他们有益的社会经验，那么对孩子来说，父母就无异于一个金矿。”

    2. 鼓励孩子逐渐明确想法。给孩子们提供信息化面试的好处很多，因为他们需要阅读公司的网页，了解某一行业的发展趋势。“雇主们告诉我，初级申请者仅对未来所从事的工作或是所需要的技能只有很模糊的概念，”德郎说。比如，应届毕业生常常忽视在大学比赛或活动中所锻炼出来的团队领导力与需要这些技能的雇主之间的联系。你可以帮助他了解他所具备的哪些能力和经验是招聘公司所需要的，而他说不定忽略了这一点。

    3. 帮助他们准备面试。“面试时如何应对或应答？每个应届毕业生都需要得到这方面的指导和帮助，无论这种指导是来自你或是学校职业介绍中心还是其他经验人士，”德郎说。“如今面试的难度与以前相比早已不可同日而语，现在许多雇主们都依赖于电话面试或网络视频面试，这些都需要不同的应对技巧。”而同时，他说：“还要确保他们从思想上做好准备：在找到工作之前需要经历海量的面试。”

    4. 引导他们不要 “被兴趣所蒙蔽”。德朗非常重视这一点，他的书中有一整个章节都是在探讨这个问题。“整个社会，有时是甚至是父母都会鼓励孩子们‘做自己喜欢的事’或是‘找到自己的兴趣所在’，但如果你的兴趣早已跟不上时代怎么办？” 

    Still, jobs do exist, of course: In researching his book, DeLong interviewed 35 recent college grads from 20 different schools (all "good" but none Ivy League), who have succeeded at finding interesting full-time work, sometimes with a boost from their mom and dads' connections. "Every parent-child relationship is different, naturally," DeLong says. "Some kids want nothing to do with any kind of help from their folks. Others are counting on it."

    The first thing many parents have to do, he adds, is come to terms with whatever ambivalence they may harbor about their offspring's leaving home for good. "In all the interviews I did, the parents had mixed feelings. Some of them really wanted the kid to come home for the summer, or even for much longer," he observes. Assuming you've conquered that, here are four steps you can take to help:

    1. If possible, set up informational interviews. DeLong likes your idea of introducing your son to some of the people you (and your husband) know professionally. "Informational interviews, where someone meets with a seasoned person in a given field to find out what the various career paths are and how to get from A to B, are a great tool for any job hunter, but especially for new grads," he says. "Parents can be a gold mine of introductions to colleagues, clients, or other people with real-world insights that kids can really use."

    2. Encourage your child to develop a focus. Those informational interviews should help with this, as should reading some company websites and studying up on current trends in a given industry. "Employers tell me that most entry-level applicants have only a vague idea, if that, of what they want to do or what skills they bring," DeLong says. New grads often overlook, for instance, the link between team leadership honed in college sports or other activities and employers who are looking for those skills. You can help by pointing out the abilities and experience your son has to offer that companies want -- and that he may be overlooking.

    3. Lend a hand with preparing for interviews. "New grads almost always need help with how to act and what to say in a job interview, either from you or from the campus career center or some other experienced source," DeLong says, adding that "interviews are more complicated now than they used to be, with many employers now depending on phone screens and Skype meetings, both of which call for different approaches."

    At the same time, he says, "make sure your child is ready mentally for the sheer number of interviews he or she will probably have to do before getting hired."

    4. Steer him or her clear of the "passion hoax." DeLong considers this so important that he devoted a whole chapter of his book to it. "The larger society, or sometimes even parents themselves, too often encourage kids to 'do what you love' or 'find your bliss,'" he says. "But what if your bliss is the current equivalent of the buggy-whip business?"