To nonhiring managers, this may sound like an overblown situation. Brandi Britton, district president of OfficeTeam, says the phenomenon is real and fairly common among millennials — especially recent college graduates. 

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"Yes, we have seen many helicopter parents wanting to be involved in the hiring process," she says. "One of the biggest changes between generations is that millennials really value their parents' opinion and advice. It's not that previous [generations] didn't, but with millennials, it's much more so. It has blurred the line between being independent and on your own, and a sense of being in this together with my parents."

It's not really helpful for parents to get involved in the hiring process, she said. The 35 percent who are annoyed by the intrusion generally don't hire the candidates, and the 34 percent who are willing to overlook the hovering parent syndrome still have misgivings about the candidate's ability to work independently, she says.

"Finding good talent is difficult right now, that's why so many overlook the parental involvement," she says. "But it's definitely not a good thing."

Will the trend extend as new generations move up to the world of work? "Probably not," she says. "The helicopter parent has become almost a stigma, so I think both children and parents are going to be more cautious about it in the future." 

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Her own favorite helicopter parenting experience occurred when she was part of a group that was recruiting on a college campus. They made an offer to a young woman, only to hear the whirring sound of the helicopter parent. 

"She could not accept the offer without calling her dad. We had to walk him through the offer, which he finally accepted!" 

Britton has also been amused by parents who call their children during an interview "to see how it's going." She says it happens fairly often. "In my experience, the kids only pick up the call if they feel they need help," she says.

Those who responded to the OfficeTeam survey offered their own anecdotes of interventions in the process by helicopter parents. Among them: 

• • "The candidate opened his laptop and had his mother Skype in for the interview."

  • "A woman brought a cake to try to convince us to hire her daughter."

  • "One parent asked if she could do the interview for her child because he had somewhere else to be." 

  • "A father asked us to pay his son a higher salary." 

  • "One mom knocked on the office door during an interview and asked if she could sit in." 

  • "Parents have arrived with their child's resume and tried to convince us to hire him or her." 

  • "A job seeker was texting his parent the questions I was asking during the interview and waiting for a response."

  • "Once a father called us pretending he was from the candidate's previous company and offered praise for his son." 

  • "When we called one candidate, his mom answered and asked us not to hire him."