The portfolio career has replaced the career ladder
The straight path we were promised no longer matches how work actually works.
I grew up believing that careers are a ladder. You start at the bottom and you climb up based on your hard work and perseverance. Eventually, you reach the top where everything falls into place: the title, the salary, the earned respect. If you’re lucky, you reach this point early enough that you benefit from the elevated position for decades before you retire.
Except that ladder? It doesn’t really exist anymore. Companies have largely stopped investing in the very thing that would make career ladders possible. Learning budgets are slashed. Management training programs have all but disappeared.
Gen Z is projected to hold 18 jobs across six different careers in their lifetime. Not 18 jobs in one field — six entire careers. The climb-one-ladder-for-forty-years model is a relic of a workforce that no longer exists.
I fully expected my career to be linear. I stayed at one company for 15 years, and reached the executive level. At one point, I fully expected to stay until I retired. Maybe even be the CEO one day. But then I left, first to pursue a different industry, and then to become a solopreneur. I wish I could say that these transitions were part of some master plan on my part, but they weren’t. They were responses to opportunity, curiosity, and necessity (losing my job).
While a non-linear career path was once seen as a “red flag” by employers, it’s nothing to apologize for. How you frame the portfolio of experiences in your career is up to you.
The value of a non-linear career
In early 2025, a survey found that nearly 70% of U.S. workers considered changing careers. I think that’s a reflection of the current job economy more than anything else and that people can’t find new jobs in their current industries.
But as major career changes become the norm, companies will have to change their hiring practices (and some already have). Employers are starting to recognize the value of people who’ve worked across different industries, roles, and environments.
Fresh perspectives. People with non-linear career paths look at things differently. They’ve seen various approaches to problem-solving. They can draw connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.
Adaptability. People who have navigated roles in different careers are more likely to handle complex challenges without panicking. They’ve been the new person in the room before. They’ve had to learn new systems, new jargon, new cultures. In an era where AI is reshaping entire industries overnight, that kind of adaptability is critical.
Versatility. The skills in demand today might be obsolete in five years, replaced by skills that don’t even exist yet (can we say AI, for example?). People who’ve built careers on learning new things are better positioned to weather the changes.
And here’s the thing to keep in mind (a mindset I had to break): a non-linear career isn’t “job hopping.” Job hopping implies erratic, impulsive moves. Don’t let anyone frame your career that way simply because you’ve made changes over the years.
With a non-linear career, you’re making intentional moves down different paths. Whether you’ve carefully planned your next steps for months (or longer) or simply reacting to the environment around you, it’s your decision.
How to frame your non-linear career
If you’re currently thinking about your next move, start by shifting your mindset. Think of your career as a portfolio, not a ladder. As you look at the various roles and jobs you’ve had, ask yourself, “What did I gain?”
Self-employed people like myself often have an online portfolio showcasing work. People in traditional jobs should think the same way. If you had an online portfolio of your skills, what would it include?
Document your transferable skills now. Every role teaches you something portable. When I left my job at a tech company, I relied heavily on my skills with customer communication and project management — even though they weren’t the primary part of my new job description. You may not need to use that documentation right, but when the time comes — whether by choice or by circumstance — you’ll be ready.
For people considering a career change, a few thoughts:
Your non-linear background might be why someone hires you. Lead with what you can do, not just where you’ve been. Highlight the connections between your past experiences and the new thing you’re pursuing — even if the connection is simply “I kept learning and taking on new challenges.”
If you take time off before diving into something new, frame it as intentional. Even if the time off wasn’t by choice (like you were laid off or dealing with a personal situation), emphasize what you did during that time. Did you take a course? Keep your skills sharp? Care for a family member? Whatever happened, say, “Here’s what I got from that experience” if the question comes up.
The career ladder was never the reality
For most people, the career ladder was aspirational. It was an idea sold to keep workers compliant and loyal. Keep your head down, do good work, and eventually you’ll be rewarded.
A career ladder discourages risk. It serves employers, not employees. It gave companies a way to string people along with the promise of future promotion while extracting maximum value from them today.
And for a long time, the narrative has implied that deviating from the prescribed path is failure.
I rewatched the movie “Father of the Bride” recently, after the great Diane Keaton passed away. As the bride-to-be introduces her fiancé to her parents, she tells them that he’s an independent communications consultant. Her dad (played by Steve Martin) says, “That’s code for unemployed.” The movie was released in 1991. And that message has been everywhere, for decades.
But the people who’ve “made it” and are happy with the outcome rarely followed a straight line. They pivoted. They took risks. They failed and started over.
So don’t apologize for your winding path. Start owning your portfolio of experience as the asset it truly is.
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“Your non-linear background might be why someone hires you.” This resonates a lot with how I think about career changes. You don’t start from zero when you change direction; you carry skills, ways of thinking, and experience that often matter more than a perfectly linear path.
Well said Anna! This hasn’t been true for some time but totally collapsed during COVID.