5 Pieces of Outdated Career Advice
These tried-and-true adages can be counterproductive, especially for Gen Zers. What to do instead.
Some career advice has been around for decades and holds up well: Outwork people. Build a network. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Be reliable.
But a bunch of advice that might have worked well for boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials can be outright counterproductive for Gen-Z workers (and might no longer work for those older generations either). The AI era has ushered in so much change that career advice such as “prioritize technical skills” has become outdated.
Many Gen Zers already sense that the advice they’re getting might be a little “off.” Nearly half of young people, or 46%, feel unprepared for future jobs because the guidance they’ve received—from parents, teachers, and counselors—fails to reflect today’s digital and AI-transformed economy, according to a 2025 study by the Schultz Family Foundation, a think tank co-founded by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Here are five career advice clichés that workers, particularly young ones, should ignore.
Don’t accept a lower-level job.
Nearly anyone over age 35 grew up with the idea that you should start at the bottom and take multiple steps (always upward) to reach the top. That world, however, doesn’t really exist any longer. For one thing, companies have shed many middle-management roles, meaning that Gen Zers has fewer future opportunities for advancement than prior generations did. At the same time, boomers and Gen Xers—for their own reasons—aren’t retiring as quickly as anticipated, meaning the higher-level positions that do remain aren’t freeing up so quickly. “Very few roles these days offer pure next-step progression,” says Val Olson Armstrong, a career and leadership coach for Korn Ferry Advance.
Indeed, it’s sometimes OK to take a role at the same level—or even lower—if it’ll pay career dividends later. These lateral career moves “can help you gain additional skills and experience and help establish new relationships and connections that will benefit your career in the long term,” says Mark Royal, a senior client partner for Korn Ferry Advisory.
Technical skills are all that count.
Of course, technical skills matter. You’re not going to last long in mechanical engineering (or even get hired, for that matter) without a good grasp of physics or computer-aided design software. But the hard skills that seem essential at age 22 may not be so critical at age 35. Ask anyone who learned to write software code in the 2010s if that skill is still essential in the AI era.
Experts advise Gen Zers to focus early in their careers on improving their judgment, communication skills, ability to read a room, and trust-building. Those emotional-intelligence skills are far more valuable in management roles. In the AI era, these “soft skills” will probably also be the hardest to automate.
Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.
This adage has been used by boomers, Gen Xers and millennials to rationalize working twelve-hour days. But experts say it’s always been a dangerous cliché, and that Gen Zers should avoid it. For one thing, unethical employers can use the “you’re doing what you love” philosophy to justify low pay, long hours, and limited career growth. Turning a hobby into a full-time job can destroy your love for it.
A healthier alternative, experts say, is to treat your job as a reliable way to fund the life, hobbies, and relationships you actually do love.
Cast a wide career net.
Early in your career, it’s fine not to know what you want to do. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t narrow things down to a few overarching goals. “The wider net becomes too unmanageable,” says Dennis Deans, Korn Ferry’s global human resources business partner.
From a practical standpoint, casting too wide a net can waste time and energy. Sifting through so many job boards can be frustrating. The more you explore different kinds of roles, the more times you have to rewrite your résumé. Your networking can suffer, too, since contacts can’t refer you if they don’t know your goal. Perhaps toughest of all, casting too wide a net means having to come up with many different—and still convincing—responses to the common interview question, “Why do you want this role?”
Dress for success.
Pantsuits with cropped, tailored blazers for women. Double-breasted Italian suits and wide power ties for men. Decades ago, experts say, that was how you dressed to be positively noticed at the office, but showing up in those outfits today might make you seem overly pretentious or out of touch.
“Dress for the corporate culture versus dress for success,” says Jenna Young, a senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s Culture, Change and Communications practice. At some workplaces, that might mean a suit; at others, it might mean business casual or even jeans and a T-shirt. Adopting your workplace’s dress style, whatever it is, will project competence and help build trust with clients, customers, and colleagues. It also shows that you respect the organization and the people around you.
Learn more about Korn Ferry’s Leadership and Professional Development capabilities.
Read more This Week in Leadership articles
