- Amazon CEO Andy Jassy tells Gen Z to cease worrying about understanding what their profession will appear to be of their 20s. As an alternative, he encourages younger folks to deal with studying what they need to do—a lesson that paid off effectively for Jassy. Earlier than beginning his now practically 30 yr profession at Amazon, he tried out jobs like sportscasting, soccer teaching, and funding banking.
Few subjects spark as a lot debate as what your 20s ought to appear to be. Some see the last decade as a chaotic battle, whereas others view it as a uncommon window of alternative.
However from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s perspective, Gen Z ought to take the strain off themselves and notice they don’t should have their total life deliberate out by their 20s.
“I have a 21-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter, and one of the things I see with them and their peers is they all feel like they have to know what they want to do for their life at that age,” Jassy mentioned on the podcast, How Leaders Lead with David Novak. “And I really don’t believe that’s true.”
And whereas determining what you need to do in your profession can really feel existential—particularly throughout a time when AI is fully reshaping the job panorama—Jassy is aware of the battle firsthand.
After graduating from Harvard College in 1990, he tried various profession paths, together with sportscasting, product administration, and entrepreneurship. He additionally labored at a retail golf retailer, coached highschool soccer, and tried funding banking. Finally, he determined to return to high school to present an MBA a go and discover entrepreneurship. It was solely after graduating from Harvard Enterprise College did he land his breakout function at Amazon, simply months earlier than turning 30.
“I tried a lot of things, and I think that early on, it’s just as important to learn what you don’t want to do is what you want to do, because it actually helps you figure out what you want to do,”
Fortune reached out to Jassy for remark.
The worth of failure—and asking questions
Exploring pursuits is one factor, however for Jassy, now 57, nothing could also be extra vital for fulfillment than asking questions. Having a excessive quotient of “why”—or “WhyQ” is one thing he mentioned helps careers thrive at Amazon.
“We ask why, and why not, constantly,” Jassy wrote in his most up-to-date letter to shareholders. “It helps us deconstruct problems, get to root causes, understand blockers, and unlock doors that might have previously seemed impenetrable.”
For Gen Z particularly, being curious—and working with the precise mindset—could be a main stepping stone for careers, Jassy admitted.
“An embarrassing amount of how well you do, particularly in your twenties, has to do with attitude,” Jassy mentioned in an interview with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky.
And whereas discovering success in the end additionally has a component of probability—and will contain a number of setbacks—taking it at some point at a time would possibly finally land you a shot on the nook workplace.
“I feel like my journey or adventure was a lot of luck, and I think maybe one of the things I did best was not overthink it,” he added to David Novak.
CEOs that took the great distance round to the highest
Whereas it might look like the trail to the highest of the company ladder requires a hyper-focused profession path, in actuality, the journey may be lengthy and squiggly—with Jassy being only one instance.
After graduating as an undergraduate, Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix, served within the Peace Corps as a highschool math instructor in Eswatini, a small nation in southern Africa. Solely after his return did he return to high school and research pc science at Stanford College earlier than serving to begin the tech firm now value over $500 billion.
Furthermore, Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Firm, began his profession predicting climate as an on-air meteorologist for a neighborhood tv station in Ithaca, New York, earlier than turning into probably the most notable media executives.
And even Jassy’s personal mentor, Jeff Bezos, obtained his begin with a quintessential teenage job: flipping burgers at McDonald’s.
“You can learn responsibility in any job, if you take it seriously,” Bezos mentioned to Cody Teets, writer of Golden Alternative: Exceptional Careers That Started at McDonald’s. “You learn a lot as a teenager working at McDonald’s. It’s different from what you learn in school. Don’t underestimate the value of that!”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
