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Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel, who began his career earning $4 an hour waiting tables, says early service-industry jobs can teach Gen Z critical skills that formal education often misses.
Before joining the tech giant, Patel spent his early 20s at Sizzler, a steakhouse chain, taking orders and serving customers, reported Fortune on Saturday.
“I think everyone in the early part of their career should work in the service industry somewhere," Patel tells Fortune.
"I think it's so great to really get, you know, like, a level of appreciation for hospitality and customer service, and it just wires you differently," he added.
As an introverted young man with a stutter, Patel said he deliberately chose customer-facing work to push himself.
"If I don't talk to people and don't entertain them and give them a good experience, I'm not going to make a tip," he said.
It taught me resilience, communication, and how to perform under pressure.
Patel later held leadership roles at tech firms, including Doculabs, EMC, and Box, before joining Cisco. He emphasizes confidence grounded in effort over arrogance.
"There's no such thing as a self-made person,” he said. “If you can stand on shoulders of giants, it just takes you farther," he added.
See Also: Mark Cuban Is Avoiding Investing In This Sector: ‘The Worst Industry In The History Of Industries'
In 2025, unemployment among Americans under 25, especially recent graduates, rose sharply, driven by a "no hire, no fire" labor environment rather than AI alone.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell highlighted that young workers and minorities struggled to find jobs, with low hiring and redundancy rates reflecting a slow labor market.
Economists at Goldman Sachs and UBS confirmed that economic slowdown and restrained hiring were key factors.
The New York Federal Reserve reported that unemployment for college graduates aged 22 to 27 hit 4.8% in June 2025, up from 3.8% in May 2022, marking a structural shift.
Over the past decade, many entry-level roles have either shrunk or evolved due to technology.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos advised young entrepreneurs to work at established companies first, saying his decade of real-world experience helped him launch Amazon.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang warned that AI would replace mundane tasks, favor those who embraced it, and simultaneously create jobs while boosting productivity.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: MacroEcon/Shutterstock
