Zillow CEO didn’t find success by chasing a linear career path: It was more like a 'jungle gym'

People seldom find success by following a linear career path, says Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman.

“It’s not really a straight line or ladder,” Wacksman tells CNBC Make It. “It’s often taking on new assignments that stretch you in new and different ways that lead to the most growth.”

In Wacksman’s view, most people would benefit more from taking unexpected jobs or out-of-wheelhouse projects, rather than tying themselves to a strict, linear career path and never deviating. Let yourself pursue a path more akin to a “career jungle gym,” he says.

You can take a non-linear career path without leaving your industry, or even your company. Wacksman uses himself as an example. He initially joined Zillow as a vice president of marketing, but around the time he took the job, Apple launched the iPhone and its app store. Despite having no experience with mobile apps, he was tasked with spearheading his company’s mobile real estate shopping efforts, he says.

“Zillow had no mobile anything,” says Wacksman. “We were a desktop-only search engine.” Though he had no experience with mobile apps, he had to “go figure it out,” he says. “That was not the job I was hired to do, but it was a huge opportunity to learn and to take a little bit of what I’d done in my career, apply it in a new space and figure it out with smart people.”