New graduates should build skills rather than focus on passion at their first job and, if possible, build networks by working in person, an executive advised.

Business Insider reported on June 10 that Andy Kofoid (앤디 코포이드), president of global field operations at Databricks, said the first 3 to 10 years of a career are the period to build a foundation to withstand later change.

Kofoid oversees global sales, field engineering, marketing, services and partnerships at Databricks, a data and artificial intelligence (AI) company. He also mentioned that he has three children in their 20s who graduated from college in the past seven years. He saw job seekers just entering the labour market as one of the most vulnerable groups. He explained that it is because their foundation of experience and skills is still weak.

The first thing he stressed was not to base the standard for a first job only on "passion". Kofoid said advice to follow passion sounds great in theory, but in practice people should first find a position where they can accumulate skills. He said, "Set passion aside for a moment," and pointed out that without a pillar of expertise in a specific field, it is hard to link that passion to long-term results.

He judged that a first job that connects with a person’s major and allows solid skill-building is more important. Kofoid recommended finding work where people can build expertise connected to what they studied in college. He also saw the need to learn early how to work with AI.

He drew a line against becoming overly fixated on forecasts of certain jobs disappearing simply because AI is changing jobs. He said it is necessary to watch labour market signals, but noted that the situation has changed significantly from a few years ago when a computer science degree was seen as a symbol of a stable career path. He said competition for entry-level hiring has already become much tougher.

His second piece of advice was in-person work. Kofoid said remote jobs can be flexible and may "look cool", but could be disadvantageous for learning and building relationships early in a career. He recommended that job seekers work in the office 4 to 5 days a week. He said eating lunch and having coffee with people and talking after work are most effective for building relationships.

He also stressed the importance of networks in the hiring process. Kofoid said it is very difficult to get a first opportunity by submitting only an online application, and that using personal connections makes it much more likely to start a first conversation. He explained that in-person work is also advantageous for widening such connections.

He also saw commuting to the office as helpful for forming work habits. He said the experience of arriving on time and staying at one’s desk until the day’s work ends builds "grit". Some people have a strong work ethic from the start, but many learn it as they begin working life, he said.

Finally, he stressed that working in the same space increases the speed of learning. Working next to colleagues or a boss allows immediate feedback. "Interaction happens," Kofoid said, adding that it helps "in terms of growth and development of skills."

The advice shows what new graduates should prioritise in an environment where job-seeking difficulties and an AI shift are unfolding at the same time. Kofoid saw that building skills and networks together in the first stage of a career allows people to respond to later labour market changes.