7 Ways Parents Can Help Their STEM Students Secure Top Job Offers

Recently, I exchanged LinkedIn messages with an Iowa State college friend. She and her husband have a senior who’s planning to pursue aerospace engineering in college. Currently, he’s enrolled in a high school academic program that’s focused on his area of interest. 

I was impressed to learn about a couple of things they’re doing to support him on his journey. It reminded me, again, that there is a lot that we can do as parents to help our STEM students go after their dream jobs, dream careers, and dream lives. 

We can start by operating our own lives in ways that serve as great examples for our kids, but we can also go a step further and be very intentional about supporting their development of the soft skills that top STEM employers always look for when hiring.

What follows are some of the suggestions I most often give to parents who ask for ways they can best help their STEM students. Which ones might you help your child with?  

Support Your STEM Students Now, By Encouraging:

1. Public Speaking & Presentation Skills 

Of course, most schools have speech classes, but there’s a great alternative that let’s your child learn with, and be supported by, adult professionals. I’m talking about Toastmasters. If you’re unfamiliar with it, Toastmasters is a global organization dedicated to helping members build their speaking and leadership skills. 

After my first internship in college, a local Toastmasters club helped me develop the skills and confidence I needed to present my John Deere internship project reports to the management team without shaking and sweating. It was truly a godsend. I highly recommend it.

2. Writing Skills

My sense is that most STEM students don’t realize how important writing skills are in the workplace today. Being able to tweet or text just won’t cut it. Students need to spell correctly, use proper grammar, and communicate concisely and succinctly when writing project reports, letters, and even emails. You can help your child by building her awareness of the need, suggesting classes or workshops, and showing ongoing interest in what she’s writing. 

I often suggest that students leverage LinkedIn as a place to write about things they know and care about. Not only does it provide excellent writing practice, it helps them build their personal brand at the same time. Engineering student, Frederick Daso, is an excellent example of a STEM student who is also a proficient and prolific LinkedIn author.

3. Hands-on Experiential Activities

One of the job search “secrets” I often share with young people is that recruiters love it when STEM students are eager to talk about their “hands-on” experiences.

What I mean by hands-on experiences are situations where the student was involved with solving a problem or learning something new, either alone or in a group. The recruiter wants to hear the (STAR) story that includes what the challenge (Situation or Task) was, what Action the student took, and what the Result was.

In order to have stories to share, students must first have the experiences. This is one of the many reasons that structured group and club activities (e.g. FIRST robotics), and internships, are so valuable for students. However, if joining a group isn’t an option, students can easily create experiences on their own. Something as simple as tearing apart a worn out appliance can be the source for a wonderful experience and story of learning. 

4. Conversations With Adults (Working Professionals and others) 

There are literally millions of adults in the world who would step up to help your child…if they were asked. Does this sound crazy? Trust me, it’s not.

The way your student can make this happen is by conducting informational interviews while in high school and college. Especially with the advent of LinkedIn, it’s incredibly easy to connect with professionals who will eagerly meet to talk about careers, their jobs, their companies, and much more.

To help you and your STEM student reap the benefits of this valuable activity, I built a free GUIDE titled Conducting Informational Interviews.

You can get your free PDF copy HERE.

5. STEM Work Experiences (Especially formal internships)

Encouraging internships might be the most important thing you can do for your STEM student. Why? Because employers today want to hire grads who are ready to hit the ground running. IMHO, internships are an absolute requirement while in college today.

The beauty of internships is that they position a student to learn and practice all of the skills in this article, plus a lot more. An internship provides real world experience, and fosters a student’s development of real world skills that are often not addressed in high school and college settings.

6. LinkedIn Presence and Engagement

As I revealed in a previous LinkedIn article for parents, due to my past experience as an engineer, as an independent engineering recruiter, and as a corporate recruiter for John Deere, I understand the tremendous value that LinkedIn offers today to companies and to job candidates. 

For STEM students (high school and college), LinkedIn can serve as a free, global platform for showcasing their skills, experiences and unique talents. But it can’t work for them if they don’t have an account, haven’t created a Profile, and don’t understand the finer points of using LinkedIn.

If you and your student are new to LinkedIn, here are some past articles of mine that you both may find helpful:

• 7 Top LinkedIn Profile Tips for STEM Students
• Are You Publishing On LinkedIn? Here Are 7 Reasons Why You Should Be!
• 9 Ways LinkedIn Profiles Kick Ass For STEM Students…that Resumes Don’t
• 7 Reasons Why This Student’s First LinkedIn Article Has Been So Successful

7. Habits of Kindness and Appreciation

This may seem like an odd skill to suggest, but in my experience these two things are sorely lacking in many workplaces. If you can help your child learn how to be kind, and to express appreciation of others, these habits will go a long way towards supporting their efforts to build a satisfying and successful career (and life). 

As I’ve shared with many students, companies don’t want employees who are jerks and who can’t get along with others. Developing strong team skills and learning to care for their coworkers are vital skills for STEM students to take note of and work on. 

 So How Will You Crank Up Your Level of Support?

If you’re a parent (or instructor), I doubt there is anything more important than seeing your STEM student(s) excel in a career they love, and live a satisfying, happy life. As the father of three twenty-something sons, I know these feelings well.

Admittedly, it took me quite awhile to figure out that there’s a lot more that most of us can do everyday to help our kids. What I learned it takes is deciding what we’re going to do differently, being intentional about the changes, and then working on them every single day.

I wish you all the best with your efforts! 

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Thanks for reading. I'm Don Gallagher, founder of the engineering/STEM career and soft skills development site: EngineeringCareerLauncher.com.

Educated as a mechanical engineer, I spent 25 years in engineering, recruiting, training, sales and marketing roles with John Deere. Today I have a passion for helping engineering (and other STEM) students start and build remarkable careers.

If you found this article helpful, you might also like my FREE 53-page STRAIGHT TALK GUIDE titled, A PARENT’S GUIDE TO HELPING STEM* STUDENTS BUILD OUTSTANDING SOFT SKILLS: 8 Powerful Strategies for Teaching the Soft Skills Necessary for Remarkable Success in College, in a Career…and in Life!.

There are other free GUIDES and resources in the ECL Learning Store.