A number of Canadian employers have apparently decided that if they can't fight it, they should join it. That is, they have come to expect that many of their Gen Y candidates are going to involve their parents in the minutia of their career decisions. Although many of the employers likely shake their heads at how some Gen Y'ers go so far as to bring their parents to interviews and don't accept such behavior, those same employers have come to realize that if they don't expect such behavior and learn to deal with it then they won't be able to hire and retain the best of Gen Y.

Expect it but don't accept it. That is a new line that my wife and I are using as we enter the teenage years with our kids. We understand that they're going to do some things that don't make sense but that doesn't mean that we are going to let them get away with doing those things. They need to make mistakes in order to learn and it is our job to help them learn from those mistakes. Likewise, it is the job of a good employer to make their employees better. Expect that your employees, especially your less experienced ones, will make mistakes. But don't accept those mistakes. Teach them. Help them to grow. And then enjoy watching them mature into the fine, upstanding, highly productive employees they will become.