Your career is not a ladder!

I don’t normally like numbers that much…

But here are three that caught my attention:

7

12 million

58%

I’ll explain in a moment.

First, a question.

How many cars have you owned in your lifetime? Can you remember them all?

Everyone remembers their first car.
It was probably a cheap little runabout. Small and inexpensive to run.
A stepping stone to something better. Bigger, newer, more powerful.

Then a car journey slowly unfolds:

• A family sedan. Sensible, roomy.
• A 4×4 SUV. High, safe, good for adventures.
• Something sporty. Perfect for the mid-life crisis.
• A practical hatchback. The everyday all-rounder.

Each one different. Each one suited to a particular life stage and set of needs.

Each one felt different to drive. You had to work out where the indicators were, how to open the fuel cap, how to pair the Bluetooth.

The point is, you made the switch. You did not buy the same car again just so you would already know how to work the radio.

Now, back to those numbers.

7	12 million	58%
How many different careers you can expect to have	Career transitions in the next few years	Of laid-off workers pivot to entirely new roles

Jobs, it turns out, are a bit like cars.

You are going to have more than one.

You do not have to swap like for like.

So why is it that when someone gets “that” call – The manager, the HR person, the serious faces – our first instinct is to look for something identical to the job we just lost?

If that sounds like you, or someone you care about, this edition is for you.

It is a December reminder that your career is not a ladder you have just fallen off. It is a lattice. And lattices give you more ways to climb.

THE VIEW FROM THE MARKET RIGHT NOW

Across the last six months, we have been talking to a lot of very frustrated, highly talented people.

The conversations sound a lot like this:

• “I have all the skills and experience the ad asks for. Why can’t I even get an interview?”
• “No one is replying to my applications or my calls.”
• “I have always found jobs through my network. This time it is just a black hole.”
• “I never had time to study or upskill when I was working. I was too busy delivering.”

If this is you, a few things are true at the same time:

1. You are not imagining it. The market has shifted.
2. You are not stuck. You might just be climbing the wrong structure.
3. Your skills-stack is more valuable than your old title.

FROM CAREER LADDER TO CAREER LATTICE

For most of our working lives, we were sold the ladder story.

Work hard. Climb up. Step by step. Title by title.

That story does not fit the world we now live in.

Research shows that more than half of people in career transition did not simply move “one rung up” or “one rung sideways”. They moved into completely different occupations. Fifty eight percent, to be exact. (LHH: The Reinvention Imperative, 2025)

Think less ladder, more lattice.

A lattice has:

• Upward moves
• Sideways moves
• Diagonal moves into completely different spaces

And here’s what’s counterintuitive. In this market, the straight-up ladder climb is often the hardest route. Diagonal moves into new territory are where the traction is. Even if it brings uncertainty and maybe a little discomfort at first.

That is especially true in an AI-shaped world.

The jobs are changing shape. The lattice is widening.

YOUR SKILLS STACK IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OLD JOB TITLE

When roles are shifting, your old title is the least interesting thing about you.

Your skills-stack is what matters.

Here are a few “skill-stack” useful mental models:

• T-shaped Person – depth in one area, with some breadth across related areas. For example, a finance leader who deeply understands risk and controls, with working knowledge of data analytics and stakeholder storytelling.
• Pi-shaped Person – depth in two strong areas that reinforce each other. Picture a leader who combines deep HR expertise with strong commercial acumen, or a technologist who understands both product and customer experience.
• Key-shaped Person – a cluster of three or more strengths that fit together to “unlock” several different futures. Perhaps strategy, people leadership, and digital transformation. Or operations, risk, and AI fluency.

Most senior people we meet are already key-shaped. They just have not named it.

If you are 40, 50 or 60, you already have rich experience.

The question is not “do I have enough?”

The question is “how contemporary and portable is my skills stack, and how clearly can I leverage that story?”

“Don’t be so sure of what you want that you wouldn’t take something better.”
Chris Voss

If you are fixated on one very specific job title, you may be overlooking entire clusters of roles that would love your unique skills-stack, pay you well, and give you a fresh sense of energy and purpose.

FROM TRACK RECORD TO TRACTION

A lot of candidates we speak to lean heavily on their past.

“I have done all of these things. Of course, I can do this or that role.”

Past experience matters. It shapes your judgement, your pattern recognition, your ability to stay calm when others panic.

The market, however, is today hiring for something slightly different:

• Where are you already creating impact right now?
• How does that impact line up with where organisations are heading, not where they have been?
• Are you learning, adapting, experimenting, or just replaying last decade’s playbook?

Think of it this way. Your track record gives you perspective. Your current presence is what turns that into traction.

SMALL EXPERIMENTS THAT PROTECT YOUR CONFIDENCE

Losing a role can shake identity. It is easy to feel as though you are “back at zero”. You are not.

What you may need is a few safe test drives of a new car before you sign the lease.

Some low-risk ways to test a new identity:

• Join a board, advisory group, or committee in a sector you are curious about.
• Volunteer your expertise to a not-for-profit that needs commercial thinking.
• Enrol in a short program outside your comfort zone and notice which parts light you up.
• Use AI tools and feedback from trusted professionals in your network to explore future roles and skills, rather than only rewriting your resume.

We’ve seen that candidates who engage with structured tools and coaching around reinvention, rather than just “job hunting harder”, are more likely to pivot into new, successful, and sustainable careers.

You are not starting again. You are repackaging what you know, adding a few new pieces, and pointing it at a different kind of problem.

USING AI WITHOUT LOSING YOURSELF

A quick word on AI, since it is the quiet character in the background of this story.

Over 70 percent of people in transition are already learning AI skills, and those who learn them are far more likely to use AI tools effectively in their job search.

You do not need to become a data scientist. You simply need to be conversational in the tools that are reshaping your field. Think of AI as the new sat-nav in your car. You are still driving. You are just getting better guidance on the route.

THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER IF YOU ARE HEADING INTO CHRISTMAS WITHOUT A ROLE

1. You are not behind. You are in between.
   A period of transition is not proof that you have failed. It is proof that the market is moving and you are now invited to move with it.
2. Your next role probably will not look like your last one. That is a feature, not a bug.
   The data is clear. Most people do not go back to “version 1” of their old job. Many find something that fits their skills stack and life stage better.
3. You have more levers than you think.
   You can shape your skills, your story, your networks, and your experiments. All four increase your surface area for luck.

HOW FPC CAN HELP

At FPC we sit at an interesting intersection.

We hear the frustration of candidates who feel invisible.

We see the risks for organisations that have not thought deeply about succession, upskilling, and genuine talent pipelines.

Our work is to help leaders and professionals build what we call a “relevance roadmap” with a clear view of:

• The value you create now
• The skills stack you will need next
• The practical steps to move from track record to traction

Sometimes that means supporting you through an active job search. Sometimes it means partnering with you and your organisation while you are still in role, so your future options are stronger, wider, and less dependent on a single ladder.

If this December finds you between cars, between rungs, or between identities, take heart.

Do not be so certain of what you think you want that you miss something even better!

The roads ahead are more varied than the one behind. And you are allowed to choose a different car for the next part of the journey.

A XMAS GIFT FROM US TO YOU

Want to understand your real strengths, including the ones you don’t even realise you have? For a limited time, we are offering you a complimentary 30-minute Career Consultation with our CEO, Joanne Fisher, to set you on the right track to map your Personal Hidden Strengths (the talents that feel “normal” to you but are valuable to everyone else) and your skills stack ready for 2026. This offer ends on Friday 19 December 2025. Email Joanne Fisher to secure your spot.