The rise of the non-linear career path

It has happened to all of us. When we are young, we are often asked what we want to do when we grow up. If we have given it some thought, we are likely to respond with a job title – it could be a firefighter, a doctor, a journalist, a police officer, a rock star or one of a myriad of other occupations.

Interestingly, even though we may have had a strong idea of the one job or career we wanted to do, the reality is that few of us have careers which are solely focused on one occupation or one career path. Most of us end up having non-linear career paths – also called non-traditional career paths – and trends show this is likely to be the future norm.

What is a non-linear career path?

To provide a definition of a non-linear career path, it is helpful to think about linear career paths first.

A linear career path is one which is settled on just one job or occupation. In linear career paths, people tend to stay in the one career for most of their working lives. During their career, they move upwards through an organisation or sector to a job destination. Working your way up from the intern at an organisation through to the CEO is an example of a linear career path.

A non-linear career path is different. Rather than staying in one occupation or career, people start off following a particular career path and then for a range of reasons, move into another job or career, and in many cases, keep moving. Rather than progressing in the one direction through an organisation or sector, they follow a different journey, assembling experiences and adding to these as they go.

A non-linear career path could be seen by some as job switching, however it is very different as the career moves are calculated and have a purpose. This 2007 definition of a non-linear career path by US-based career coach, Stacey Lane effectively summarises it. She explains the non-linear career path as one which “… starts out in one direction, but zigs and zags through insights, discoveries, and happy accidents. A non-linear path requires a bit of planning, chance, serendipity, risk and faith.”

What factors are influencing non-linear career paths?

Career paths are increasingly shifting from a linear progression to a non-linear progression, with many commentators in the career space predicting the impending death of the linear career path altogether. In fact, it is expected that Australian Generation Y workers will have 17 jobs across 5 careers during their lifetime demonstrating that non-linear career paths will most certainly be the standard in the future.

There are many factors influencing this move to non-linear career paths and they include:

Jobs are changing

According to the Business Council of Australia, it is expected that every single job in Australia is likely to experience some change in tasks over the next decade. Technological improvements mean that some jobs will disappear and new jobs will be created.

With this change, is it becoming necessary for employers to look for workers who have the skills needed to meet these challenges. We are already seeing this happen as skill shortages bite in nearly every sector across Australia. With the objective of being more agile and flexible, employers are increasingly looking outside their normal employment models to find the talent and skills they need.

Life happens

Inevitably, life events will impact on a person’s work and career at some stage. Personal events such as marriage, starting a family, buying a home, injury or illness in the family, or other matters, such as redundancy, changes in the economic environment – or even a global pandemic – can contribute to a non-linear career path.

When these instances occur, a traditional linear career path may not allow people to adequately respond to these events. As a result, people may need to make a shift in their career path that lets them manage these challenges and the impact on their lives. In these situations, people may look for opportunities which allow them to use the skills and experience in another domain – hence the need to sidestep to a non-linear career path.

Attitudes to work have transformed

With life expectancy climbing and more focus on happiness and leading a rewarding and meaningful life, there is greater interest in exploring multiple jobs and careers. Fewer people are holding the view they will only have one career, or they will work at the one organisation, for their entire working life. In fact, research by social insights and strategy consultants, McCrindle, shows the national average job tenure for Australian workers is 3 years and 4 months. This, plus recent workplace data from NAB’s Changing Workplace Report which found almost one in ten Australian workers had changed jobs in the last quarter and one in three over the past two years, shows that Australian workers have become increasingly mobile.

Workers are keen on finding jobs that are fulfilling and see work as meeting a range of needs and expectations. Research by professional services firm, PwC in 2021 about what Australian workers want from their employers, highlighted a number of preferences. The top three were as follows: after remuneration and reward, workers are interested in wellbeing (factors such as work life balance, mental health support, and lifestyle benefits) and then experience (which includes elements such as culture, diversity and inclusion, support and relationships).

And this is where non-linear career paths can have the edge on linear career paths. Non-linear career paths can give people the ability to investigate various opportunities offered via their work. These career paths can be more aligned to an individual’s skills, interests and passions and can give people a greater sense of purpose and increased work satisfaction.