3 Career Tips from Google's Former Distinguished Engineer for New Grads in the AI Era

As graduation season collides with diminishing entry-level roles and slower hiring, Kelsey Hightower, former distinguished engineer at Google, shares essential advice for fresh graduates entering an uncertain job market.

Treat Extracurriculars Like a Job Requirement

Hightower emphasizes that grades and diplomas are no longer enough to stand out. "All your work has been at school, you do projects for school, maybe you get a GPA, maybe you get a diploma from that, but no one knows if you're going to provide anything special or if you're just another person graduating," he says.

"You're going to have to show your work in public," he adds. Prospective graduates should think about workforce preparation the same way they once approached college admissions. This means engaging in open source projects, building real-world things that people can point to as meaningful contributions to a company or society.

Invest in Real-World Relationships

Referrals remain one of the most important pathways into coveted tech jobs, but many younger workers have built far more online connections than in-person ones. "The network really matters," Hightower says. "I think being in the physical world next to other people that are doing this work or going through the same challenges as you — it's very different than trying to do that online."

He recalls attending programming-language meetups and technology gatherings when he was younger, but sees fewer people investing in face-to-face professional relationships today. Instead, they're on Reddit, social media, and LinkedIn, posting but not building those real-world connections.

Don't Become a 'Senior Engineer and a Junior Human'

Hightower advises new graduates not to lose hope in the face of AI and to focus on their human qualities. "I think a student really has to start thinking about what we traditionally call soft skills," he says. "Like understanding people, being creative, artistic, having a big vision, having experienced the world, and all those creative elements that typically don't get measured in the interview process."

"Those are the only things that AI can't do well," he adds. "It has no experience. It has no empathy for the human condition."

He warns against becoming a "senior engineer and a junior human," where workers are reduced to what a computer could do. "Start making that list today. What can I bring to the table that this AI model cannot?"