Skills data

The road to adaptable workforce: Navigating today’s nonlinear career pathways

Nonlinear career paths are becoming more relevant in today’s dynamic job market. Discover how to navigate this new era of nonlinear career pathways.

September 6, 2023
5 min read
Ant Ugoni
AI and Data Advisor at GoFIGR
5 second summary

In the past, people used to follow a linear and structured career path. Success meant finishing your education, getting an entry-level position, and then advancing through the ranks through a predetermined hierarchy or set of promotions. For example: marketing assistant > marketing manager > CMO.

Climbing this corporate ladder typically entailed incremental salary increases, more responsibilities and becoming more specialised within your field of expertise.


However, in today’s fast-paced and rapidly evolving job landscape, I have observed that many are no longer afraid to break away from these traditional, linear career paths to try different roles and explore opportunities across various sectors.

But it's not just professionals who are evolving. A lot of companies are also forging completely new career paths for their employees to adapt to technological advancements, globalization and changes in the economy. In fact, there has been a continual emergence of never-been-heard roles such as "Prompt Engineer" or "Data Ethicist". So, the question now is – how can employees and businesses navigate this new era of nonlinear career pathways?

How can they remain competitive in the dynamic work environment at present, while also future-proofing themselves amidst the rise of automation and AI in the market?

The impacts of nonlinear career paths on both employees and employers

Nonlinear career paths come with both advantages and challenges for employees and businesses alike.

Let me first talk about the impacts on employees.

If you are an employee, nonlinear career paths will pave the way for you to pursue ongoing learning, growth and personal development outside your area of expertise. That's really exciting! Rather than specializing in one area, you can accumulate diverse skills and experiences by working in various roles and industries. A range of these skills, like problem-solving or people leadership, will also be highly transferable (and coveted) between careers, making you a versatile and adaptable professional.

However, nonlinear career paths can become significantly challenging when you lack a clear goal, are unsure of your direction or can’t proactively decide where to apply your skills.

How about the effects of nonlinear career paths on a company, particularly on its hiring HR team?

If you are a hiring or recruitment manager, embracing nonlinear career pathways will enable you to attract a broader pool of talent who have fresh insights, innovative ideas, as well as diverse skill sets and experiences.

By being open-minded to nonlinear career pathways, your business can also take advantage of an agile and forward-thinking workforce that is eager to respond to growing trends and changing marketing conditions.

This means that, back to my original example, to hire a marketing manager, you may not only look at marketing assistants. You may also look at a sales representative or a data science specialist who has a drive for marketing. However, consequently, due to the unpredictable nature of nonlinear career pathways, it can become more challenging to manually review staff profiles and evaluate a candidate’s suitability for specific roles and job vacancies.

Furthermore, retaining employees can also prove difficult when their nonlinear career trajectories and your organizational goals are not aligned.

Again, back to my example – if you have that salesperson who loves marketing, but your business isn’t open to giving them a chance to apply for the marketing manager role, there’s a high chance they will leave.

How should you navigate today’s nonlinear career pathways, then?

My advice is simple – optimize data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to your advantage! By analyzing various data sources such as industry trends, the growth trajectory of the business, technological advancements and workforce competencies, hiring managers gain invaluable insights that can drive improvements in recruitment, training and development, as well as employee retention.

AI technology also takes data a step further, enabling companies to uncover hidden career pathways that align perfectly with the skills, aspirations and interests of their employees.

Consider this new example:

The conventional career path for an accounting intern involves becoming an associate, followed by holding mid-level and senior practitioner positions. However, if the accountant decides to change career direction, AI can play a pivotal role. With AI, the HR team can easily explore all potential career paths within the organization that match the accountant's abilities and interests. In addition, AI can offer personalized recommendations on the required skills, training and support necessary for success in these alternative pathways. The great news is this: our GoFIGR internal talent marketplace platform has a Talent Navigator module that can seamlessly execute these functions for you.

GoFIGR harnesses the power of data with Talent Navigator

Talent Navigator is the solution that HR practitioners need to help employees transition from their current roles to their desired career paths – all while ensuring they stay within the same organization.

Equipped with data-driven insights and AI capabilities, Talent Navigator maps out tailored career plans to connect employees’ existing skills, experiences and aspirations to the potential paths and opportunities available within the business.

Talent Navigator supports the workforce’s nonlinear career pathways without compromising the business’ employee retention and engagement levels.

This latest module also recommends internal learning, projects, jobs and mentors to empower employees so they can achieve both their personal goals and your business targets.

A win for all, indeed! So, if you’re interested to learn more about this smart career path planner or want to explore GoFIGR’s internal talent marketplace platform, simply book a free demo today.

GoFIGR’s Internal Talent Marketplace can help your business thrive

GoFIGR is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform designed to collect and intuitively analyze employee skill and business requirement insights so you can supercharge your talent retention and organizational development process. With valuable insights collected from your team, GoFIGR allows you to:

  • identify your employees’ current skillsets
  • align them with your business expansion plans
  • realize your team’s full potential
  • reduce the cost of recruitment by upskilling from within


Most importantly, GoFIGR empowers you to nurture the skills and talent that your organization needs to move forward.

Your future team is already working for you.

Don’t let that talent go to waste - give them the opportunity to grow their career AND drive your business into its tomorrow.

It’s the ultimate way to retain staff, foster a progressive internal culture and minimize the costs of repetitive recruitment.

Contact GoFIGR today to discover how we can help you to foster a future-focused workforce using our internal talent marketplace.

Ant Ugoni
AI and Data Advisor at GoFIGR

Ant Ugoni is a seasoned data and AI strategist having worked in HR/recruitment, banking, learning tech, and healthcare at senior leadership level.

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