The entry-level job market is getting worse for new graduates, and worried parents are now paying career coaches thousands of dollars to fix it.

• Hiring has slowed across the board, and companies are cutting entry-level roles as AI takes over the simple tasks.
• Many recent graduates cannot find work and are moving back in with their parents.
• Parents are hiring career coaches for their kids, sometimes years before graduation, with the priciest packages running up to $50,000.
• Career coaching for students has gone from a small niche to a core business, with more than a quarter of coaches now focused on that group.
• Most families pay far less, a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for interview practice and application help.

Outlook: The class of 2026 faces an even tighter job market, and the coaching business will keep growing as long as entry-level hiring stays weak.