Do your parents know what you do in your job?Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images/iStockphoto
We've all heard of taking our kids to work, but what about taking your parents to work?
In an effort to help bridge the gap between parents and the new careers their children have chosen, LinkedIn is launching a worldwide Bring In Your Parents Day on Nov. 7. The online professional networking website says a recent survey it conducted found that a third of parents have no clue about the job their adult children do, and that makes it more difficult for parents to provide the support and advice their children need to succeed in today's challenging work environment.
LinkedIn is encouraging employees to bring their parents to work to show them what they do all day – how else will your parents know that your job of writing reports, crunching numbers, posting tweets or building websites is actually your work?
"Given all of the new types of jobs created over the past few years, it's understandable that a lot of parents may not understand what their kids actually do at work each day," Pat Wadors, vice-president of talent at LinkedIn, said in a release. "We created LinkedIn Bring In Your Parents Day so that professionals worldwide can provide their parents a glimpse into what they do at work, and in return, learn valuable lessons and even greater admiration from their parents."
LinkedIn's survey found that these are the top 10 most misunderstood jobs by Canadian parents:
1. Sub editor (74 per cent)
2. Data scientist (72 per cent)
3. Actuary (66 per cent)
4. Social media manager (65 per cent)
5. PR manager (60 per cent)
6. Sociologist (58 per cent)
7. Radio producer (55 per cent)
8. Fashion designer (49 per cent)
9. Engineer (46 per cent)
10. Sports team manager (45 per cent)
In its recent Canadian survey, LinkedIn found that more than half (55 per cent) of parents would like to know more about what their adult children do at work every day, and more than a third said if they knew more about their child's job then they would be able to assist them with work challenges and advise them on career development options.
In addition to Canada, LinkedIn says 13 other countries around the world will take part in the Bring In Your Parents Day, including Britain, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Australia, India, Singapore and Hong Kong.