Mike Gamson, one of the most important people at LinkedIn, shared some career advice to his young employees. As the SVP of Global Solutions, Gamson oversees the talent, marketing, sales, and learning teams. He is responsible for half of the professional social network of almost 10,000 employees across 30 countries.
Most of his employees are in their 20s. He regularly talks to them about their careers. His two advice that he gave to them were to determine what they are trying to pursue and to master the role before looking to advance.
After college, we know that planning one's life in detail will set you up for disappointment. Instead of recommending a five-year plan, Gamson told his young employees to determine what is driving them.
Knowing what one wants to do can help build strategy for how to get there. He said if one doesn't know what he/she wants to be or what they want to do, then they should work backward and determines the things they're interested in and what they want their life to be like.
The Business Insider reported that Gamson said younger employees place primacy on the outward appearance of career development rather than the advancement of skills and proficiency. He said one should master their role first before looking to advance and he sees it to be a universal problem among young workers.
He said that young workers are attracted to the next thing before they solidify their mastery the current role, which is why it is important to focus on the optics of building a resume.
One has to go slow in order to go fast in his/her career, Gamson said. It is important to build a skill base early in the career, which includes being patient enough to truly master what one is working on.
