A New Career Path Takes Off

The designers who once spent their entire careers in magazines might now work for just one year at a glossy before leaving to take over publication design at a multinational. Then they might manage AI-generated designs for a bank. At least, that’s how so-called “career resilience” is supposed to work.

HR pros and career experts are noticing the return of this trend, which was popular in the 1990s:  Having realized that firms will often rise and fall, workers know they need to be ready to shift to another company and assume another similar, but different, set of responsibilities. But “career resilience” today means something far more disruptive than it used to: the rerouting of one’s entire career to adapt to external changes—and, more than likely, also the leveraging of core talents over time in very different ways. “It’s back to the future,” says David Vied, global sector leader for medical devices and diagnostics at Korn Ferry.

To be sure, employees have faced shifting environments for years. But the current instability, aside from being more pronounced, also threatens firms. What will happen to corporate culture and loyalty, fret HR pros, if individuals feel they must constantly upskill and rebrand? Indeed, the average US job tenure is just 3.9 years (3.6 years for women), a 22-year low, down from 4.6 years in 2012, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers aged 25 to 34 average just 2.7 years. Thirty years ago, an internal candidate who had worked at a company for decades was considered a catch. “Today that’s a liability,” says human-resources expert Ron Porter, senior client partner at Korn Ferry. Recruiters now seek candidates who have adapted to multiple corporate roles and cultures—in other words, workers who have demonstrated career resilience.

Career resilience puts a lot of pressure on individuals, say experts, because they must share the responsibility for their own preparation with their employers. “It’s a little bit of both,” says engagement expert Mark Royal, senior client partner at Korn Ferry. “The company is going to enhance skills that will help you now and in your future career.” Executives are struggling with how to do this: In the World’s Most Admired Companies, Korn Ferry and Fortune’s annual survey, nearly 40% of bosses said their biggest current challenge was reskilling and upskilling. Maintaining a semblance of a corporate culture is a challenge, too, especially in the absence of a critical mass of longtime employees. “Cultures are not as strong,” says Porter. “They’re not as definitive, unique and explicit.” This leads to more transactional relationships between employees and employers.

Experts advise building career resiliency from a foundation that goes beyond official trainings and career efforts. “I tell all my people, ‘If you haven’t met one new person at this company this week, you’re cheating yourself,’” says JP Sniffen, practice leader at the Military Center of Expertise at Korn Ferry. Finding a colleague and asking what they do—opening yourself to colleagues, ideas, and trends on an ongoing basis—is part of building career resiliency, he says. This may sound like unhelpfully vague corporate advice, but it’s not: Career options have evolved into numerous niches. “The algorithm about what there is to do is more complicated,” says Vied. Today’s career resilience involves considering many of those options, and eventually taking a leap. 

As for one-note careers, they may well be a thing of the past. Experts advise embracing the idea that careers zigzag. “I spend a lot of time with early-career folks, helping them understand that career is not linear,” says Dennis Deans, vice president for global human resources at Korn Ferry. He stresses the importance of exposure to variety through different roles and functions. “If you’re not doing that, you’re a step behind.”

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s career development capabilities from Korn Ferry Advance. 

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