No Straight Lines: Rewriting the Rules of Career Success

Co-Authored by Dr. Sarah Trocchio and Damon Maassen, CPTD
September 23, 2025

We’ve all heard it: “Climb the ladder,” “Follow the path,” “Stay the course.” But what if the course keeps shifting? What if the ladder disappears or was never built for us in the fi rst place?

The idea of a linear career, or one that steadily advances in responsibility, title, and salary, is deeply embedded in our culture. But for many professionals, especially those navigating systemic barriers or shifting life circumstances, the real story is far more complex. Careers unfold in loops, not lines. They include pivots, pauses, caregiving responsibilities, entrepreneurial experiments, and values-based resets.

And yet, recruiters, hiring managers, and broader corporate systems still treat non-linear movement as a red flag instead of a reflection of real life. This article challenges that assumption. We want to normalize career multiplicity, dismantle the shame that surrounds perceived “detours,” and celebrate the courage it takes to build a path that’s yours, even when it doesn’t look like anyone else’s.

Stories that Challenge Traditional Arcs

Some of the most compelling professionals we’ve worked with didn’t “climb,” they weaved. When we picture a “strong career narrative,” dominant culture often rewards linearity: one industry, one specialty, one upward path with increasing pay and seniority. Deviating from that track, especially when the reasons don’t align with traditional justifications like promotions or advanced degrees, can feel risky. Hiring managers might view it as inconsistency or flightiness. Friends or family may project doubt or worry. And sometimes, we internalize that too.

But the truth is, many people’s career paths already challenge these traditional arcs. And not always by choice. Some of the most compelling career narratives emerge in the aftermath of disruption: layoffs, caregiving pauses, health challenges, burnout, or toxic work environments. These stories aren’t about “lack of direction,” they’re about adapting, surviving, and eventually reclaiming authorship. Even when we don’t choose the fork in the road, we still have the power to shape how we walk it.
Take Brijette, for example. As Bruce Feiler describes in The Search, she had built a thriving 20-year career in high-end beauty and lifestyle PR. But when her employer asked her to return to the office during the pandemic, putting her immunocompromised daughter at risk, Brijette walked away. She moved into a “head down” phase, doing small jobs, navigating burnout, and rebuilding trust in herself. Eventually, she became a certified life coach, integrating her values and lived experience into a new chapter of purpose and alignment. These kinds of pivots often reflect alignment with values, clarity of purpose, and the courage to prioritize well-being over optics. They signal discernment. They represent people claiming agency in systems that often demand compliance. Of humans building new meaning when old systems stopped making sense. Nonlinearity doesn’t indicate failure. It signals flexibility, courage, and lived wisdom. And in a rapidly evolving world of work, those might be the most valuable traits of all.

These stories defy the traditional resume logic that assumes each step must signal upward momentum on a career ladder. And they’re increasingly common. Research confi rms this trend: The average worker now holds 12.4 jobs by age 54, with that number expected to rise due to increasing economic shifts and generational expectations (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). Additional BLS data in 2024 shows that millennials held an average of 9 jobs from ages 18 through 36. While this is a lower number than the 12.4 jobs cited, it’s important to remember that this data only covers up to age 36, and they are expected to continue changing jobs.

Furthermore, both Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to prioritize purpose and well-being over linear career progression, with many willing to take lateral or downward roles if it means earning greater meaning and life balance (Gallup, 2023).

Still, these shifts can be viewed with suspicion by hiring managers, recruiters, and even peers. And that’s where the internalized shame begins. But the “perfect resume” is often a myth. It’s the messy, multidimensional lives that hold the most truth and interest.

Reframing Movement as a Marker of Strength

Career change requires reflection, risk, and recalibration. Choosing to pivot rather than stay misaligned is an act of agency. And with the right framing, it can signal adaptability, emotional intelligence, and intentionality.

Career construction theory, developed by Mark Savickas, highlights that people actively shape their work lives through narrative. Career isn’t something that happens to us — it’s something we author based on changing roles, identities, and values (Savickas, 2005). Similarly, studies in career adaptability show that individuals who embrace change with a sense of openness and resourcefulness are more likely to navigate challenges with confidence and satisfaction (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). A 2017 meta-analysis supports and extends the findings from the 2012 study by Savickas and Porfeli. It found a positive correlation between career adaptability and subjective well-being, career planning, career exploration, and decision-making self-efficacy, as well as life satisfaction (ScienceDirect, 2020). This suggests that individuals with high career adaptability are more likely to have favorable work and career outcomes.

This reframing is particularly vital for people with caregiving responsibilities, chronic health conditions, or whose careers reflect a response to inequity, exclusion, or burnout. Their movement is not erratic, it’s evidence of prioritization and discernment. When the system doesn’t honor your needs, building a new way forward is celebration-worthy innovation.

The Double Standard: Celebrating Adventure in Life, Punishing It in Work

In our personal lives, adventure is romanticized. Friends cheer when we quit our job to travel, try something new, or start over for love. But when those same choices show up in a LinkedIn profile, they’re often met with skepticism or judgment – both from others and from ourselves.

This reveals a deep cultural contradiction: we’re encouraged to “fi nd ourselves” in life, but to stay on a narrow lane at work. The result? Many of us hide our most formative experiences — time spent caregiving, traveling, studying, resting, or grieving — because they don’t “fit” the career narrative we’ve been taught to emulate.

But what if those experiences are exactly what deepen our leadership, broaden our empathy, or sharpen our creativity? Research on boundary less careers shows that movement across roles, sectors, and geographies actually builds skills and expands opportunity, especially in today’s fluid, knowledge-based economy (Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2019).

We need to start celebrating nonlinear paths not just as valid, but as uniquely valuable. The same curiosity and courage we admire in life stories should be honored in career stories too.

Closing Reflection

There is no single blueprint for a meaningful career. Some of us climb ladders. Others carve curvy paths. Others still build bridges that connect previously unlinked places. Sometimes we make bold pivots by choice, and sometimes we’re thrust into change by forces beyond our control: a layoff, a family member in need, or a health issue that shifts everything.

A winding career path reflects lived experience. It signals a person who has listened to their gut, responded to shifting realities, and honored alignment over optics. And that’s something to be celebrated. The next time you fi nd yourself doubting the zigzags, remember this: no one else has walked your exact road. These deviations aren’t detours from success — they’re part of a much larger, more human story.

When we embrace the full complexity of our career narratives, including the interruptions, reroutes, and redefinitions, we open ourselves up to careers that are not only more fulfilling, but more aligned with who we are and who we’re becoming.
In the upcoming reflection guide that will be shared later this week, we’ll help you re-examine your story with new eyes, shed internalized shame about your journey, and name the strengths that only nonlinear paths can cultivate.

This article was co-authored by Dr. Sarah Trocchio and Damon Maassen, two equity-centered professionals with lived experience navigating career transition. Together, they bring decades of expertise in inclusive leadership, coaching, and human-centered talent development. This series reflects their shared commitment to helping individuals reclaim narrative ownership, challenge systemic norms, and move through transition with clarity, care, and compassion.