Overview
“I feel so behind. Like everyone else has it figured out and I haven’t even started.”
“I am cooked. I don’t have any plans.”
These candid observations cut to the core of the anxieties members of Gen Z face as they navigate their paths in a dynamic and often chaotic world. For four young researchers from the ASA Center for Career Navigation at JFF, these comments became more than just casual observations; they served as guiding themes in their spring 2025 study of sentiments about work and learning that young people express in digital channels.
The researchers spent three months systematically analyzing thousands of comments on Reddit, YouTube, and TikTok forums to understand how Gen Z uses social media to navigate questions about work, school, and identity. This youth-led approach ensured that the findings were relevant to and reflective of the lived experiences of members of Gen Z (people born between 1997 and 2012).
Their research tells a story of resourcefulness, agency, experimentation, emotional need, economic worry, and digital fluency. At the center of it all is one truth: Young people aren’t passively scrolling; they’re searching.
Social Media: Fulfilling Functional, Emotional, and Social ‘Jobs to Be Done’
To truly understand the multifaceted reasons behind Gen Z’s use of social media for career navigation, the study applied the “Jobs to Be Done” (JTBD) framework. This lens categorizes user needs into functional, emotional, and social dimensions to understand why people turn to a product—or, in this case, social media—to meet their career navigation needs.
Functional Needs:
For today’s young adults, social media is far more than just a source of entertainment; it serves as a dynamic, task-oriented support system for navigating their early career steps. They’re actively using these platforms to address a range of immediate needs and long-term aspirations.
For Gen Zers, one of the most critical functions of social media is that it can serve as what could be called a “Show Me What I’m Not Seeing” tool. Many young people are trying to expand the boundaries of what’s possible, and they have a profound curiosity to explore unconventional avenues and industries. Social media content from unexpected sources—like baristas explaining their side hustles, people who work in the trades sharing pay stubs, or users detailing their experiences in nascent digital fields—offers critical exposure to career paths some people might never encounter otherwise. Some content creators publish vlogs that offer immersive looks into their days on the job. The intent is consistently to make the invisible visible. This exposure extends beyond just career paths to encompass the full range of education pathways, including trade schools, online courses that lead to certifications, and coding boot camps, reflecting a fundamental shift away from the pursuit of a four-year degree.
The researchers documented a number of comments that conveyed this mindset, including these: “Trade school is 10x better than college” and “What bootcamp did you complete?” These conversations represent not just career exploration, but pathway exploration—discovering viable, accessible routes to skill development and economic stability that bypass longstanding educational gatekeepers.
An equally important function of social media for Gen Zers is that it can be a “Let Me See What It’s Like First” tool. As they studied social media, the researchers observed that it’s common for people to watch creators try things before they try it themselves. Young people are actively evaluating what feels “doable” and what seems out of reach by observing the experiences of others. This reduces the risk of committing to paths that may not suit them, allowing them to explore interests and potential careers vicariously before investing significant amounts of time, money, and other resources into efforts to prepare for a particular job.
Social media can serve as a powerful, peer-driven career navigation engine, fulfilling the basic need of “I Need to Know What to Do.” Researchers observed that young people seek concrete guidance at high-stakes moments. They found many comments that fall into the “Give Me a Script, So I Don’t Freeze” category posted by people wondering what to say in an interview or how to go about quitting a job.
Across platforms, they found that young people had compiled examples of verbatim language to use in certain situations and step-by-step guides that reduce anxiety and build confidence. Instead of turning to traditional institutions and service providers, they look to peers who have faced similar challenges. They’re looking for resume tips, job hacks, and interview prep advice. Writing a resume—a hurdle for anyone with little experience in the job market—becomes a collaborative activity on social media, with users advising their peers to list their career aspirations, skills, school clubs, and hobbies and sharing reminders to note all of the languages they speak. The search for actionable guidance on social media extends to posts that fall into the category of “How to Get a Job as a High Schooler Without Experience,” reflecting a proactive, hands-on mindset toward entering the workforce.
There are a number of prominent and recurring themes in posts seeking practical guidance, including “fast money,” “quick jobs,” and “side hustles,” reflecting a deeply pragmatic and often short-term approach to employment driven by immediate financial needs. This burgeoning “hustle culture” among Gen Zers seems to be fueled by a preference for flexible and self-directed income opportunities, particularly with the rise of remote and digital work. Vivid examples like “5 ways to get money” and “Just mow lawns. . . . I make $80 a day from like 2 hours of work” illustrate how social media acts as a direct guide for identifying income-generating opportunities outside standard employment structures.
Emotional Needs:
Beyond helping with the practical search for opportunities, social media plays a vital emotional role for Gen Z as they think about what’s ahead. Young people aren’t simply looking for “career advice”—they’re engaging in the emotional labor of becoming. They’re exploring their identities, comparing trajectories, and bracing for setbacks. Social platforms provide a safe outlet for expressing a wide spectrum of feelings while facing a competitive, often overwhelming job market. Poignant comments like ”I have applied to thousands of jobs. . . . It’s time to give up on that path” lay bare the emotional toll of searching for work without prior experience. And comments like this reveal how internal barriers can compound the challenge: “My social anxiety and shyness is stopping me from trying to apply to jobs.”
The frustration with common obstacles is palpable. One Reddit user vented, “I exaggerate, but I’m sick to death of this ‘no experience no job, no job no experience’ death loop that I and many others seem to be stuck in.” Another wrote, ”Ugh this is so stressful. . . . I’m 20 and haven’t gotten a job due to family issues and I have no experience. . . . idk what to do.” Reflections like these underscore the intersection of external pressures, personal challenges, and a lack of access to guidance. Other comments reveal anxiety about an uncertain future. “I’m not going to college, so I need a job ASAP. But nobody teaches us how to apply,” one user wrote. And another observed, ”We should all study something new. . . . The world is developing rapidly.”
But amid all the posts about the struggles young people face, other comments reveal that social media is also a vibrant source of hope and motivation. Many users exhibit a forward-looking mindset and a strong sense of personal agency as they express anticipation about the future. “I am turning 15 soon,” wrote one user. “I am really excited for the journey of my emancipation and the work that comes with that!”
Social Needs:
Young people use social media to connect with others, seek validation, share experiences, and cultivate a sense of community around job-related challenges. This creates robust, organic digital support networks. Many publicly share personal milestones, signaling a desire for recognition and support from their peers. “I have my first-ever interview tomorrow,” one user wrote. “I will update soon after my interview.”
Social media also provides a brave space for expressing vulnerability and finding reassurance from peers who are navigating similar experiences. “I just did my first interview, and it was terrible. . . . but I got the job,” one user wrote, offering a message of hope that would resonate with others in similar situations. And many feel secure in openly sharing frustrations. “I can’t even get hired at my local Wendy’s,” said one user. “Who knows when we will get another interview,” wrote another. Authentic, peer-to-peer connections like those help normalize the emotional ups and downs of job-hunting and foster a sense of shared struggle and collective success.
In seeking support, young people are essentially asking “Help me feel less alone in this.” Social media has the potential to serve as a digital setting for the peer support group they’re seeking. It’s less about looking for professional advice from established experts and more about finding people who are going through the same thing. Young people actively seek validation and shared experiences to normalize their challenges and help them realize that their anxieties and setbacks are not unique. This collective sharing fosters a sense of belonging and reduces feelings of isolation during an often daunting period of life. People are using social media to actively test ideas. For example, when they ask “Should I do nursing?” or “Should I do HVAC?” or “Should I go back to school?” they’re hoping someone will help them decide.
Platform Preferences and Trusted Voices
Gen Zers strategically use different social media platforms for different purposes, optimizing each for specific career navigation needs. The researchers identified the following patterns:
- YouTube is favored for in-depth visual tutorials and longer-form content, encompassing everything from resume-building guides to detailed explorations of side hustles.
- Reddit is highly valued for authentic discussions and unfiltered opinions, with active subreddits like r/genZ offering “real” advice and community support.
- TikTok is the go-to for quick insights and short, visually engaging informational videos. TikTok creators excel at making professional development entertaining, digestible, and often humorous, using popular hashtags like #Careertok, #jobhacks, and #Dayinmyjob.
Young people are consistently drawn to online influencers and commentators who share their lived experiences and provide empowering content. These trusted voices often emphasize self-determination, flexible work paths, and mental wellness, making career development feel approachable, values-driven, and achievable.
Influencers such as @theajbaron, @captured.by.jade, and @livviazhang empower young people to find flexible jobs and build diverse income streams. Creators like @itsangelicageorgess focus on productivity and organization, sharing resume tips and job search resources. Others, including @meolah and @jozadak, use point-of-view content and lifestyle storytelling to make professional guidance personal and real. Deandre Brown, a cross-platform figure, provides targeted content and visibility specifically for Black male teens, emphasizing confidence-building and strategic networking to foster the development of self-assurance and practical connections.
Implications for Practitioners
The insights gleaned from this research are crucial for educators, career navigation practitioners, and parents and caregivers. To effectively support Gen Z, traditional career navigation systems must evolve rapidly to adapt to these dynamic digital behaviors. Research carried out by Jobs for Future (JFF) in partnership with Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation indicates that young people value and seek out human connection and guidance but often aren’t receiving the comprehensive, multifaceted advice they need from traditional sources. This creates a clear opportunity for career coaches, guidance counselors, educators and other practitioners to begin using digital platforms to enhance and extend the reach of human guidance.
Here are five ways career navigation professionals can use social media to enhance the services they provide:
- Embrace the true power of social media. Career development professionals might already be using social platforms to disseminate information to their clients, but they should also explore social media’s potential as a source of real-time insights into the genuine needs, anxieties, and aspirations of young people. For some, this might require a shift from viewing social media as competition—a resource that young people tap before, or instead of, seeking in-person guidance—to embracing it as a collaborative resource. Practitioners should also accept the fact that young people will turn to social media for advice and embrace it as a tool that enhances the services they offer, and they should help them use social media effectively. In particular, they should help their young clients develop the skills to distinguish credible guidance from misleading content. Moreover, to effectively support Gen Z’s career navigation, practitioners must immerse themselves in the same digital landscape their clients inhabit. This means following the same creators, searching the relevant hashtags, and engaging with the content to truly understand the career information ecosystem that shapes young people’s professional aspirations and decisions.
- Address career anxiety directly, with a clear understanding that career development is deeply intertwined with mental health. Searching for a job and navigating an uncertain future can take an emotional toll on a person. That’s a profound reality for members of Gen Z. Career navigation services and resources should be reimagined to acknowledge and address the emotional dimensions of embarking on a lifelong path of work and learning. This means developing resources that normalize the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty young jobseekers experience, integrating mental health support directly into career guidance practices, and providing practical coping strategies. Social media can be a valuable resource for gaining insights into young people’s needs and developing tools that account for mental health realities. Professionals should focus on emotional readiness, not just resumes. Among other things, they can help young people set boundaries, cope with burnout, come to terms with rejection, and confront imposter syndrome.
- Highlight the fact that there are many pathways to career success. It’s crucial for career navigation professionals to help young people understand that pathways to quality jobs and career advancement don’t have to begin with a four-year postsecondary degree. They should showcase alternatives by acknowledging what young people are learning via social media’s “Show Me What I’m Not Seeing” lens and offering information about options like trade schools, boot camps, and entrepreneurial ventures. This approach acknowledges Gen Z’s growing skepticism toward traditional education and their pragmatic search for more direct, affordable routes to work in fields offering good pay and opportunities for economic advancement. Furthermore, it’s important to recognize and support young people’s interests in ”fast money.” By understanding their immediate financial needs, career navigation practitioners can help them frame these short-term pursuits within a broader context of long-term career planning, ensuring they meet both present and future goals.
- Acknowledge and accept the factors that drive interest in immediate employment. The researchers found that young people on social media are seeking immediate employment opportunities, as evidenced by engagement with “jobs” content. This focus on short-term gains reflects both economic necessities and a generational shift toward career flexibility. Organizations serving young people should recognize this preference and accommodate it by balancing support for immediate job acquisition with scaffolded approaches to longer-term career development.
- Incorporate peer voices into career guidance. Career navigation professionals must recognize that the peer guidance young people seek on social media has a profound influence on their life choices. They can help ensure that this guidance plays a positive role by actively training young people to support one another while providing professional oversight. They should also encourage young people to engage with “near-peers” who are slightly ahead of them on their career journeys. Early-career professionals, young alumni of their schools, and older students can offer valuable insights by sharing accounts of their journeys in real, unpolished ways.
Creating the Future—Together
As members of Gen Z themselves, the researchers have a firsthand understanding of the sentiments their peers are sharing on social media. One of them characterized the activity they observed this way: “We’re not waiting for opportunity. We’re creating it online—together.”
Young people are actively shaping their professional futures. They’re using digital tools to forge communities, discover vital information, and find inspiration. By understanding and enthusiastically adapting to these emerging patterns of digital career exploration, educators, career navigation practitioners, and caregivers can better support the members of this dynamic generation as they navigate an increasingly complex labor market.
