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LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman says what young people learn in college is no longer the most important thing in landing a job.
Being able to leverage AI tools, tackle new labor market challenges, and leverage connections is more essential for Gen Z seeking employment, advice that also echoes that of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
The stable career path of going to college and landing a cushy six-figure office role is being disrupted by AI. Now, the LinkedIn co-founder is advising college graduates that it may not matter what you majored in - connections and flexibility are the new currency for career success.
“What you should take forward from your college degree isn’t necessarily the thing you learned in X-101,” Hoffman said in a recent video on his YouTube channel. “It isn’t specific degrees, specific courses, [or] even necessarily specific skills that are relevant to you.”
Instead, the tech entrepreneur believes that being nimble in today’s job market is a massive asset.
“It’s your capacity to say, ‘Hey, here is the new tool set, here’s the new challenge.’ That is actually what the future work’s going to look like. One thing is to not focus on the degree, but to focus on how you learn and to be continually learning,” Hoffman said.
Gen Z's team mindset and tech fluency are assets
“The other part of college that’s super important, that you should not forget, is that life is a team sport, not just an individual sport,” he continued. “You can help each other.”
Young job-seekers who effectively navigate the new world of work by leveraging connections, constantly learning, and mastering AI, will have the upper hand, Hoffman concluded. And unfortunately for those saddled with debt, getting a college degree isn’t the only way to develop those traits.
There’s no question that many Gen Zers have already had a rough start in their careers, graduating into a post-COVID way of work, with AI agents being positioned as their new coworkers. Some employers have even branded the generation as lazy and unorganized, but Hoffman thinks Gen Z has one advantage that hiring managers go crazy for.
The LinkedIn co-founder said young people are part of “generation AI”: As digital natives who grew up with advanced technology at their fingertips, they are in the best position to leverage that skill. It may be Gen Z’s ticket to landing a job.
“Bringing the fact that you have AI in your tool set is one of the things that makes you enormously attractive,” the 57-year-old billionaire said.
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Huang: AI users, not AI itself, will replace workers
It’s why, despite all the noise around AI threatening to steal entry-level roles, the technology may be Gen Z’s best weapon to find work. In the past month, both OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and LinkedIn chief economic opportunity officer Aneesh Raman have waved the warning flag that AI could rival junior employees.
Hoffman agreed that AI may make the job search worse for young people, but recommended that Gen Z job searchers use the technology to create their own opportunities.
“AI is changing the [job] landscape, [and] may make entry-level jobs harder to get, may make employers uncertain about who they’re looking for and employing,” Hoffman continued.
“Then you say, ‘Well, okay, how do I use the current circumstances, the disruption, to make this better? How do I use AI to identify what possible new opportunities might be?’”
Gen Z grew up thinking that doing well in college will score you a high-paying role after graduation, but that career trajectory is no longer a promise.
Dario Amodei, CEO of AI company Anthropic, predicts that AI could eliminate roughly 50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the coming years.
Instead of burying their heads in the sand, young people can redirect their strategy to be a hot hiring commodity, leaders say.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been particularly outspoken on the issue and is a huge proponent of the idea that being an AI user is a protective quality in job market disruption.
“Every job will be affected, and immediately. It is unquestionable,” Huang said at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in May. “You’re not going to lose your job to an AI, but you’re going to lose your job to someone who uses AI.”
