Recent grads face a tough labor market, but there's rarely an ideal time to job hunt for the first time.
"People either out of school, or early in their career, are probably most vulnerable because they don't have the foundation of experience and skills," Andy Kofoid, Databricks president of global field operations, told Business Insider.
Kofoid leads worldwide sales, field engineering, marketing, customer success, professional services, and alliances. at Databricks, a data and AI company valued at roughly $134 billion. He has three children in their 20s, all who have graduated from college within the last seven years.
Kofoid earned his degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and his MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, and has spent his career in enterprise software since.
His message to his adult kids — and all graduates — is simple: Build a strong foundation early. He said that if workers can excel in their first three to 10 years in the workforce, they'll have the skills and network needed to navigate changes down the line.
Here are his three pieces of advice for young workers:
Check your passion
Many business leaders have long preached a familiar mantra: Follow your passion, and everything else will fall into place.
Kofoid isn't sold.
While he acknowledges that advice sounds "wonderful" in theory, he takes a more practical approach to choosing a job. Rather than centering early-career decisions on passion alone, he encourages young workers to focus on getting a job where you can build skills.
"Take your passion and check it for a minute," Kofoid said.
He cautions against the age-old advice to follow your passion, because if you don't have the necessary "pillars of expertise," in an area, it becomes difficult to "exploit your passion" and build success from it long-term.
Build your skills
The rise of AI is already reshaping the workforce, automating some roles and transforming others. While Kofoid believes job seekers should pay attention to labor market trends and signals when choosing a career path, he cautions against focusing on predictions about which roles will be eliminated or reduced in the future.
After all, those forecasts can change quickly. Just a few years ago, a computer science degree was widely viewed as a golden ticket to job security. Today, the field has become far more crowded, and competition for entry-level roles has intensified.
"Go find jobs that you think will help you build skills around the expertise of what you studied at university," Kofoid said.
The priority, he said, should be finding roles and employers that allow workers to hone their skills while learning to work effectively alongside AI.
Make connections IRL
While many companies have called employees back to the office, plenty of firms still offer remote roles.
Kofoid said that those jobs may offer flexibility and sound "cool," but they can make it challenging to learn or build networks, especially for early-career employees. He encourages job seekers to spend four or five days a week in an office.
"There's no better way to do that than being with people in person, lunch, getting a coffee, going for a beer after work, having a conversation, really getting to know somebody," Kofoid said.
The executive added that it's really hard to get a job in the first place from just submitting an online application. He said if job seekers can leverage their network, their odds of getting an initial conversation is much higher.
Not only does in-person work help employees grow their network, but it also builds a "good work ethic," he said. Kofoid added that showing up to work on time and staying until the end of the day "builds grit." While some people have a strong work ethic naturally, many don't at the beginning of their careers, he said.
Kofoid also said that "working in a bullpen" promotes learning. When employees sit next to their colleagues or boss, they can get live feedback.
"You get interaction," Kofoid said. "And I think that helps from a growth and development standpoint around skill."
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