Start with reassurance: the future is changing—but it is not disappearing
The headlines graduates see are often unsettling: automation, job disruption, AI replacing work.
What they need to hear first is something more grounded.
Yes, work is changing. Today’s technologies could automate a significant share of tasks across the economy. But that does not translate into a world without work. It translates into a world where the content of work evolves—often quickly, and usually unevenly.
In fact, most skills will still matter. More than 70% of the skills employers seek today are used in both automatable and non-automatable work and will still be important in the future.
That’s an important starting point: They are not starting from zero. They are starting from something that will shift over time.
Then offer perspective: the first job matters less than the first few years
Many graduates are anxious about making the “right” choice immediately as they start their career. Leaders often reinforce this unintentionally, asking about roles, companies, and trajectories.
But the evidence suggests something different.
Human capital is built primarily through experience, not the classroom: while it represents roughly two-thirds of the average individual’s wealth, work experience alone accounts for nearly half of that value. Work itself is where capabilities deepen, broaden, and compound over time. And those early experiences matter less for where they start than for how much they learn.
The graduate who progresses fastest is often not the one who picks the “perfect” job. They are the one who builds skills quickly, moves when needed, and makes bold moves and accumulates experience that is relevant across roles.
That is a more encouraging—and more realistic—message to pass on.
Acknowledge what they’re feeling: the uncertainty is real
This is not a typical entry into the workforce. Graduates today are entering an environment where roles are being redesigned, not just filled and skills are shifting faster than traditional career paths.
That can feel destabilizing. So instead of minimizing that uncertainty, it’s worth naming it. The discomfort they feel is not a sign they are behind. It is a reflection of a system in transition. And transitions, by definition, are messy.
Reframe the opportunity: they are early in a new model of work
If you look beyond the uncertainty, there is also a rare opportunity.
Work is increasingly becoming a partnership between people and intelligent systems—AI agents and, in some cases, physical automation. That means the value of human contribution is shifting.
Execution is becoming easier. Judgment, creativity, and leadership are becoming more important.
This generation will not just adapt to that model—they will help define it. While nobody is comfortable in this new model of work, they are as comfortable as any given typical comfort levels with technology of younger generations.
And that’s a powerful position to be in.
Offer practical guidance they can act on
When graduates ask for advice, specificity helps. Three ideas can be helpful:
- Encourage them to focus on learning velocity, not just job title. The best early roles are often those that stretch them—where they can build skills, see how work gets done, and gain exposure to different problems.
- Remind them that no job is wasted if it builds transferable skills. Customer-facing roles build communication and empathy. Operational roles build discipline and problem solving. Analytical roles build structured thinking. These compound more than they realize.
- Push them to build AI fluency—without overcomplicating it. They do not need to become engineers. But they do need to become comfortable using AI tools, questioning outputs, and working alongside them. That will increasingly be tablestakes. Demand is surging for workers who are adept at working with AI tools. Job postings requiring AI fluency have risen nearly fivefold in Europe and sevenfold in the US in just two years, faster than that for any other skill. That hints at much bigger changes ahead
And perhaps most important: normalize nonlinear careers
One of the most compassionate things leaders can do is remove the expectation of a straight path.
Careers today are more fluid than they were even a decade ago. Roles will change. Skills will evolve. People will pivot—sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity.
That is not failure. That is the new normal.
The goal is not to plan every step in advance. It is to build the capacity to navigate change well.
What they need most from you
When a young person reaches out, they are not just asking for advice. They are often asking for help building their confidence.
Confidence that they will find their footing, that uncertainty is manageable, and that they don’t have to get everything right immediately.
Leaders are in a unique position to offer that—not through perfect answers, but through perspective.
So when the “What advice do you have for me as I start my career?” question comes, it may help to answer a different one instead:
“How can you keep learning, growing, and adapting—no matter where you start?”
Because in this moment, that may be the advice that matters most.
This article originally appeared in Forbes.