Career Decision Making

After we tracked 57,000 global development job postings through one of our sector's worst years, here's what our recent data reveals about who's getting hired - and why: 👉 Trade and policy jobs dropped 31%. The work didn't. It just fragmented into climate finance, blended finance, digital infrastructure roles. So if you're job searching right now, try swapping your usual search terms for things like "public-private partnerships" and see what comes up. 👉 Infrastructure is the only sub-sector adding jobs (+2.4%). If you've touched supply chains, procurement, construction oversight, asset management - even tangentially - consider leading with it. You don't need to pivot your entire career - you're just emphasizing the parts of your background that align with where organizations are currently spending. 👉 Contract work jumped to 44% of postings. Some people are setting up actual businesses - LLCs, separate accounts, insurance. Not required, but it shifts the dynamic from "hire me" to "are we a fit?" And clients pick up on that shift immediately. 👉 The "spray and pray" application strategy is failing at scale. Our data shows 5 real conversations per week outperform 20 cold applications. 👉 Geographic flexibility can dramatically boost hirability. A role posted as "remote" gets 500+ applicants. Same role in Mozambique or Nigeria? Under 50. If you’ve been thinking about relocating, now might be the time. 👉 Here's a networking question that actually works: Instead of asking "do you know any openings?" try "what's your budget situation looking like?" You'll learn pretty quickly which organizations are actually hiring. We all know 2025 was brutal. A year I never expected to see after covering this sector for 25 years. But here's what we’ve been finding: the people finding work aren't necessarily better qualified - they're adapting quickly to what the market actually responds to now. Take that mindset into 2026. #JobsOnTheRise

When women over 45 ask me how to protect their careers, they expect strategy. I tell them: "Don't look 50." I'm not being dramatic. It's what the research shows. Among women aged 59 to 64, 88% report experiencing gendered ageism at work. Passed over. Sidelined. Pushed out. And it starts long before 59. One woman I know was passed over for a promotion. The role went to someone fifteen years younger. "Fresh perspective," they said. Another was moved into an "advisory" position. Sounds senior. But she has no budget. No team. No seat at the table where decisions actually get made. A third was told by a recruiter she wasn't a "cultural fit." She'd been in the industry for 25 years. Menopause generally hits women between 45 and 55. The exact years when we're finally senior enough to lead. The exact years when the workforce starts treating us like we're past it. The timing isn't coincidental. We talk about menopause like it's hot flushes and brain fog. Something to manage privately. A health issue. But while our hormones are shifting, so is our visibility. Our perceived value. The language is always polite. "We're going in a different direction." "The team needs new energy." "It's not the right fit anymore." No one says: You're too old. They don't have to. I'm 48. I'm watching this happen to friends. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared it's coming for me too. One woman I read about, 62, uses Botox and filler every month. Not for vanity, but survival. She said: "I can't breathe at night because of the fear. If I lose my job, who's going to hire me now?" So what do you do? Here's what I tell women over 45 who want to protect their careers: 1️⃣ Document your wins quarterly. You'll need receipts when decisions are made without you in the room. 2️⃣ Build relationships two levels up. Decisions about your future happen there. Make sure someone is advocating for you. 3️⃣ Stay visible externally. LinkedIn, speaking, panels, industry events. If they push you out, you need somewhere to land. 4️⃣ Diversify your income. Consulting, advisory work, side projects. Don't let one employer hold all the cards. 5️⃣ Protect your energy like it's your job. Lift weights. Sleep properly. Take the supplements. Not for vanity. Because staying sharp is survival now. 6️⃣ Find your room. The women who survive this aren't doing it alone. They have people who tell them the truth fast enough to act on it. This is why I built The Private Circle. This isn't fair. But it's the game. Save this if you need it. Share it with a woman who does. 📢 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴.

My post on the similarities between MBB Consulting and Corporate Insurance Broking went viral. But it downplayed one major difference: Career mobility. In consulting, you almost never hear of people moving from one MBB firm to another. It's almost treason. Instead, MBB alumni become tech CEOs, VC partners, startup founders, cabinet members. The exits are everywhere. In insurance, brokers often jump between Marsh, Aon and WTW. Totally normal, no stigma. But they almost never leave insurance completely. The mobility exists, it just stays inside the industry. Not because they can't leave insurance, but because they don't want to. Brokers are Swiss army knives. CFO and treasury on balance sheet exposure. Legal on contracts. IT on cyber. Supply chain on business continuity. HR on workplace safety. That's not a narrow career – it's a mini-consultancy that never gets boring. And unlike consulting, where you parachute in for weeks or months and then move on, people in insurance build relationships that last decades: with clients, carriers, and colleagues. Also, brokers pay off student loans fast, get great benefits, meet interesting clients, and never stop learning. Top grads dream of MBB. Most write off insurance as too sleepy and specialized. A Dartmouth MBA grad told me she was the only person in her class to go into insurance. That says everything. The irony is that insurance offers exactly what people are trying to get out of MBB: cross-functional exposure most industries can't match, high pay, and a strong career trajectory. It is just deeply undersold.

A £120k HR Director I worked with last year took a 14-month career break to care for her mother. When she returned to the job market, she applied for 23 roles at or below her previous level. She received 4 interviews. She was told in two of them that her 'gap' was a concern. 14 months. Not 5 years. Not a decade. 14 months, caring for a parent, and it was enough for panels to question her 'commitment' and 'currency.' I have worked with returners throughout my career. The pattern is consistent: the career break itself is rarely the issue. The issue is how panels interpret it when they see it on a CV. ❌ Listing a career break as a gap on your CV with no context. ✅ Frame the break as a deliberate decision. '2024-2025: Career break, full-time carer for a family member. During this period, I maintained my CIPD membership, completed a Level 7 module in Employment Law, and consulted informally with two former colleagues on restructuring projects.' The break should read as a chapter, not a gap. ❌ Apologising for the break in interviews. 'I know I've been out of the market...' ✅ Own it without apology. 'I made a decision to prioritise family care for 14 months. During that time, I stayed connected to the profession through [specific activities]. I am returning because I am ready to lead at this level again, and this role aligns with where I want to take my career.' ❌ Accepting a significant salary downgrade as 'the cost of coming back.' ✅ Benchmark your market value using current data, not guilt. 14 months out of a 20-year career does not reduce your worth by 25%. If a company offers £90k for a role worth £120k because you have a gap, that is not a reasonable adjustment. It is an exploitation of your perceived vulnerability. I call this The Return Penalty: the informal devaluation that happens when a career break is treated as evidence of reduced capability rather than evidence of a life lived outside work. Here is the follow-up question most companies cannot answer: if your organisation genuinely supports returners, how many of your hires in the last 12 months had career gaps of more than 12 months? If the answer is zero, the policy is not the problem. The process is. Have you experienced the return penalty? Or have you been on a panel where a career break changed the way you assessed a candidate?

I've spent the last 8 months traveling to 20+ states, talking to young people about how they see their economic futures. I wrote about my findings here: https://lnkd.in/gJDuNqpn Gen Z faces a double disruption: (1) AI-driven technological change + (2) institutional instability. When I talk to young people, they're not just worried about finding jobs, they're worried whether "careers" as we know them will exist in 5 years. We're seeing a version of the barbell strategy in how young people approach their futures. On one end, people are choosing trades over college debt. On the other, people are betting everything on creator economy/crypto/AI startups etc etc. The middle path exists, but it's increasingly blurry. This shapes identity. When a single viral TikTok can outperform a year's salary, and traditional credentials lose value faster than you can earn them, young people aren't just changing careers—they're developing fundamentally different relationships with economic reality. When I talk to people across the country, their concerns are greater than traditional political divisions. They're wrestling with questions of identity, meaning, and community in a world where traditional narratives about success and stability no longer hold. What looks like a conservative shift among young voters might actually be something more foundational: a generation's attempt to navigate a world where institutions promise stability they can't deliver, where algorithms offer opportunity without security, and where the very nature of work and worth is being redefined. It’s constantly evolving, and it’s not just politics - it’s the very nature of self being called into question.

"Just follow your passion" is career advice that needs a reality check. While passion matters, success requires more: skills, demand, and practical strategy. The truth? Most successful people didn't start with a burning passion—they developed it through mastery. Instead of chasing pre-existing passions, try this actionable approach: Step 1. Skills Audit: List your natural abilities and acquired skills. What problems can you solve? Step 2. Market Research: Identify where your skills meet real demand. What will people pay for? Step 3. Interest Exploration: Find areas you're curious about, not just passionate about. Curiosity sustains learning. Step 4. Strategic Testing: Take small projects in your target area. Let competence build confidence. Step 5. Value Creation: Focus on becoming irreplaceable in your field. Rare skills command premium rewards. The formula is NOT "passion = money" but "skills + market need + consistent growth = passion & prosperity." Absolute career satisfaction comes from being excellent at something the world needs. Build your passion through deliberate skill development, not wishful thinking. What do you think? Have you experienced this passion paradox? Share your story below. Coaching can help; let's chat. | Joshua Miller #CareerAdvice #ProfessionalGrowth #Executivecoaching

The standard career conventions are exiting the office ... Finishing school, possibly earning a degree, staying with one employer, and steadily climbing the corporate ladder once defined the path to career success. Today, those conventions are vanishing as quickly as metal filing cabinets in a paperless office. The modern workforce is navigating a new landscape, where traditional career paths that once offered stability and direction are rapidly crumbling. The rules, traditions, and practices that shaped professional advancement are being swiftly filed away, replaced by new approaches to work. Consider the traditional belief in long-term job stability and loyalty to a single employer. Lifetime employment with one company, once a hallmark of success, is being replaced by more dynamic career models where multiple job changes, freelancing, and gig work are seen as strengths rather than liabilities. In line with this, a degree, once viewed as the mandatory ticket to career success, is no longer a universal requirement. Many employers are now prioritizing skills, experience, and adaptability over formal education. The expectation of a linear career path—from entry-level to senior roles within the same field—is also losing its grip. Many now prioritize work-life balance, creative fulfillment, and autonomy over simply reaching the top. As career pathways become less predictable, the dominance of full-time, permanent roles is also fading. And the once-rigid 9-to-5 schedule is collapsing under the weight of flexible work models, with a growing emphasis on results rather than hours spent at a desk. Even the physical office is losing its appeal. The rise of remote and hybrid work models has shifted the focus to location flexibility, a critical factor for job seekers today. The traditional concept of retirement, too, is being retired. The bottom line is that the old rules for career success no longer apply. With so many job conventions crumbling, the question is: what’s driving this shift in how careers are built? A mix of rapid technological advancements, shifting attitudes, and evolving economic forces is driving change. Technology is reshaping industries, making adaptability crucial as new roles and industries emerge. Workers now prioritize fulfillment, work-life balance, and flexibility over traditional paths, while businesses seek agility through freelancing and gig work to adapt to market shifts. But the collapse of career conventions is not a crisis—it’s a necessary shift. The future of work is no longer about following a pre-set path - it’s about each individual charting their own career course. In this new landscape, adaptability, flexibility, and creativity are the true keys to success. And while the career ladder may be a bit wobbly, it’s offering far more interesting ways to climb. #careers #work #workplace #management #hr #leadership Cartoon used under licence: CartoonStock

It’s graduation season, and I’ve been reflecting on the lessons I wish I’d learned sooner, so I can share them with new grads. Here’s the first one: Passion is necessary, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Too often, we hear “follow your passion,” as if passion alone guarantees success or fulfillment over the course of your career. In reality, you have to consider passion alongside four other critical factors: Your unique assets (What skills, experiences, or perspectives do you bring to the table AND where do you have a genuine advantage over others? Market realities (What problems are people willing to pay to solve? Which industries are growing, and which are shrinking?) Supply & demand (Is there real demand for what you want to offer?) Timeliness fit (Ask yourself: will this path sustain your interests, values, and well-being? Is it going to position you to have a next step in the area you want to explore next?) Hopefully, this is helpful to those of you thinking about what’s next in life, from someone who has been there…just a short time ago.

Career breaks are often cited as permanent pauses in your career. It is important to establish a changed mindset that a career break is not a blank space on your CV. It’s a chapter. Whether it's for family, caring for loved ones, a personal pursuit, or simply needing time to recharge, stepping away from your career is a significant decision. The change in routine, the questioning of your identity, the feeling of being disconnected – it may seem exhausting. A lot of women, including me, experienced this during their maternity break. And then returning to work after a break seems challenging too. It's easy to feel overwhelmed and lost. But here's the powerful truth we need to embrace - " career break," is not a gap on your CV. It's a new chapter filled with experiences that have shaped you, strengthened you, and given you a perspective that's uniquely yours. You've learned invaluable skills, navigated complex encounters, and developed resilience that will serve you well in the future. So how do we normalize taking career breaks and support those on their journey? Here are a few thoughts: 💠 Preparing for a break: Have open conversations with your manager, family, and support network. Think about how you'll stay connected to your industry – even if it's just reading articles or attending occasional events. Most importantly, give yourself grace. This is time for you. 💠 Returning to work: Start small. Reconnect with your network – reach out to former colleagues, mentors, or industry contacts. Update your skills and don't be afraid to ask for help. Remember: Your experiences during your break are valuable assets. 💠 Providing the right environment to return to work: Companies must provide the right environment, tool, resources, and support system for employees to transition back to work, for example, after a long maternity break. Employee resource groups, support from male allies are perfect examples of these mechanisms and help build an equal, inclusive workplace. 💠 Supporting each other: Let's create a culture of support and understanding. Celebrate the diverse paths women take and recognize the strength and resilience it takes to navigate career breaks. Let's mentor, sponsor, and champion each other. Let's share our stories, lift each other up, and keep walking forward together. #KeepWalking #WomenInBusiness #CareerBreak 

“𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝘀—𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝘁?” Because maybe… I’m still figuring it out. And that’s okay. The pressure to have it all sorted—dream job, dream salary, dream lifestyle—by your mid-20s is unrealistic and exhausting. In a world of perfectly curated career wins on LinkedIn, it’s easy to feel like you’re behind. But here’s what I’ve learned instead👇 🔹 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 Trying out different paths, internships, side hustles, or industries doesn’t mean you’re confused. It means you’re curious. 🔹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 According to the World Economic Forum, Gen Z is expected to have 10–12 jobs in their lifetime. Stop treating your first job like a final destination. 🔹 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝟭𝟬-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 What helped me the most? Focusing on building transferable skills (communication, problem-solving, research, adaptability). These work everywhere. 🔹 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆 ≠ 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 It’s a sign that you’re asking better questions: What do I enjoy? What drains me? What do I want to learn next? So if you feel like everyone’s racing ahead and you’re stuck figuring things out—breathe. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to keep figuring yourself out. What’s something uncertain in your career right now that you're learning to embrace? Let’s normalize this👇 LinkedIn LinkedIn News India LinkedIn Guide to Creating #CareerGrowth #20sJourney #UnfilteredCareers #LinkedInRealTalk #CareerExploration #SlowSuccess