Anxious Parents Are Spending Upwards of $50,000 to Land Their Kid a Job

Business is booming for the career coaches of the very young.

By Jo Constantz | April 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC

The old parental anxiety over getting the kids into college has been followed by a new one: getting the kids a job after graduation. Facing a job market that’s downright hostile to fresh grads, parents with means are paying thousands of dollars—and in some cases tens of thousands—to pair their college-age children with career coaches years before their careers will begin.

Business is brisk for coaches like Beth Hendler-Grunt, whose New Jersey-based counseling company Next Great Step offers small-group programs and private advising to give students the polish they need to land a job. When she started more than a decade ago, Hendler-Grunt had to sell parents on her value. Now she employs a growing team that fields referrals and works with students as early as freshman year so they can secure those ever-more important internships and build résumés to compete in an increasingly cutthroat environment.

The services offered by private coaches aren’t fundamentally different from those provided at college career centers, notes Christine Cruzvergara, an executive at entry-level job site Handshake who leads partnerships with colleges and universities. Cruzvergara, who previously led career services at Wellesley College and George Mason University, says many students are unaware of how much their school’s career center can help.

Plenty of clients for Hendler-Grunt and other coaches come via college consultants, whose former customers are now seeking help with cover letters instead of admissions essays. Her six-month programs run from $4,000 to $15,000. “I call it part two,” says Hendler-Grunt, who advertises a placement rate of more than 80% for her clients. “You make all of this investment with college advisers and SAT prep to get them in. Our goal is to get them out.”

Career coaching for college students can cost a few hundred dollars an hour for interview rehearsals and application strategies, with more comprehensive packages typically ranging from $3,000 to $10,000. But New York City-based Priority Candidates says some parents are paying upwards of $30,000 for intensive support and subject-matter experts to prepare their children for entry-level jobs in finance and similarly ultra-competitive industries; the price tags at other companies go up from there.

“Had it been five years ago, I don’t think I would have hired anyone like that,” says Lori Storch Smith, a pediatrician in Westport, Connecticut, who hired Next Great Step last year as her daughter was preparing to graduate from the University of Rhode Island with a marketing degree. “She really needed to put her best foot forward in this market—it’s so hard for these kids right now to get jobs.”

College students are often more than happy for the help, parents and coaches say. Storch Smith’s daughter, Hailey Smith, ultimately landed a job in Boston and was particularly grateful for the support in navigating the alienating nature of one-way video interviews. Weekly group sessions, workbooks and one-on-one coaching helped turn a daunting process into something that felt manageable. Just as valuable, Hailey says, was the consistent encouragement and individualized feedback that helped keep her spirits and confidence up.

Career coaching for students is a newly lucrative niche for an industry best known for helping midcareer workers uncover their true purpose after years of cubicle toil. In 2019 about 5% of career coaches focused primarily on college students or new grads, according to the International Association of Career Coaches. Its latest surveys show more than a quarter now consider that group a core segment. For parents, coaching can seem like a wise investment given the total annual cost of attendance at a private four-year college—including room and board—is expected to surpass $65,000, as per College Board estimates. (Plus, some coaches note, it’s cheaper than keeping kids on the payroll at home.)

“That’s kind of sad, right? You’re dealing with a 16-year-old boy, all he wants to do is run around with his friends”

Doug Wroan, a Los Angeles-based lawyer, recently hired a career coach for his 16-year-old son, a high school sophomore. Before the family starts working with an admissions counselor, Wroan wants the coach to help his son think through what major he’ll pursue at college. “We’re not unusual,” says Wroan, who spent about $1,500 on the coaching. “I think most people do this calculation, because college is so expensive, you want to make sure that you are putting your kids in the right school for the right career path to get an ROI on the tuition you’re paying.” Still, Wroan acknowledges with some chagrin that it can sound like a lot, charting a professional plan at such an early age. “That’s kind of sad, right? You’re dealing with a 16-year-old boy, all he wants to do is run around with his friends.”

For those set on Wall Street careers for their progeny, it helps to have a finance titan’s budget. Companies such as Command Education, Priority Candidates and Weil & Wein say they can help students win investment banking jobs, which can pay more than $180,000 for a first-year analyst. Some of those companies charge anywhere from $30,000 to the high five figures. Services include guidance on getting into selective campus clubs, tutoring for technical interviews and networking support. They also help candidates manage the 40-plus applications they’re likely to submit, from meticulously tailored cover letters to the high-stakes gauntlet of back-to-back final-round interviews.

Command Education’s founder, Christopher Rim, famous for charging $750,000 to help get kids into Harvard University and Yale University, offers bespoke career coaching programs tailored by industry that range from a few months to a year, with pricing starting at $50,000. Some clients start working with him as early as the summer after high school graduation. That level of strategizing can be too much for kids just learning to do their own laundry, though, and coaches will tell parents when their teens aren’t ready yet.

Lisa Tretler, founder of New York-based career coaching firm Gradvantage, has also had to remind parents that their children are the clients, even if mom and dad are paying. “It’s a tough little dance,” she says, especially when they seek a certain career path for their kids, regardless of what the kids desire for themselves. “I want these young people to be open-minded, and I need the parents to be open-minded as well.”

Originally published on Bloomberg on April 13, 2026