Non-Linear Progression
Nothing goes to plan.
I’ve been thinking a lot about non-linear progression these days. With everything happening in the job market, on top of the career switch I made a year ago, it’s something that increasingly runs across my mind.
Despite the challenges, folks are choosing to embrace non-linear progression more and more. They are choosing to create a life that is uniquely their own. The rise of technology and the ability to work remotely means people are no longer as limited by geographic or cultural boundaries. There are many more opportunities for individuals to pursue their passions and make choices that challenge traditional norms.
And then I go on Linkedin and I’m like…what is this? It’s a terrible representation of real career progression.
One of my favorite design practitioners Mansi Gupta posed the following:
What if LinkedIn wasn't tied down by chronology? It could...
Encourage humans to tell their story in whatever structure made most sense to them – rather than by boxing the story into a chronological and linear timeframe.
Normalise breaks, sabbaticals, and family leaves even more — because we wouldn't have to account for each time-pause in our professional life.
Give more, if not equal, importance to the quality of our experiences rather than the quantity – allowing non-traditional moments of learning to come to life.
By normalizing breaks, sabbaticals, and family leave, LinkedIn could create a more inclusive platform that recognizes the importance of work-life balance. It could allow folks to openly speak about how they handle things outside of their control like…oh idk..a pandemic that resulted in mass layoffs, and maybe even the economic downturn that led to mass layoffs just a few years later. It could also set the tone for how recruiters and hiring managers can shift how they assess candidates. Technology plays such an important role in shifting behavior, why use this opportunity to continue to be stuck in our ways?
Technology is supposed to be forward-thinking so why is this platform perpetually behind the curve?
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