LinkedIn CEO: Ignore this common piece of career advice—it's 'outdated' and 'a little bit foolish'

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky sees a lot of career advice on the site every day, but he doesn't always agree with every piece that's shared.

One common tip that Roslansky said is "a little bit outdated" is that "you have to have a five-year plan," he told content creator Erin McGoff in an interview for her YouTube channel AdviceWithErin.

In Roslansky's view, having a five-year plan is "a little bit foolish," he said: given how rapidly technology and the workplace are changing, it's not realistic to "chart out what the next five years of your life are going to look like."

Instead, Roslansky advised workers to focus on what they want to learn and what experiences they want to have.

"I think that's the right mental model in this environment," he said. "If you focus on those shorter steps, gaining learning, gaining experience, a lot of your career path will open up for you."

According to Roslansky, having a linear career path isn't realistic anymore.

Many people think "you graduate high school and then go to a certain college and then become a consultant and then get an MBA," he said – but "that's not how it happens at all for most people."

Once you let go of that idea, "you can take your own career into your own hands," he said. "No one is trying to figure this out for you. You have to take care of it yourself."

His advice for young professionals

Roslansky also shared his best advice for young people navigating their careers right now.

His first tip is to "learn the tools" and experiment with using AI at work, he told McGoff.

"Try and figure out how to create a PowerPoint presentation out of chat," he said. "You know, figure out how this can help you with a better marketing message."

"Whether or not you like it, whether or not it's a good fit for what you're trying to do, that mental model – like, 'I'm going to use this tool and learn it to help me do something' – I think is the most important thing," he continued.

Still, "it's not just about the tools and technology," Roslansky said: skills like empathy, judgment and communication are still "critical" in the modern workplace.

"In a world where everyone is kind of, you know, focused more on the technology, if you really work on a lot of those human skills, it can be a great differentiator for you," he said.

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