The Career Path You Didn’t Know You Needed - Are You Missing Out on the Multi-linear Advantage?
As I’m putting the finishing touches to the Multi-Me Career Design Playbook, some of the very frayed loose ends are popping up to be addressed. One of these relates to how to clearly, but briefly, describe the career Multi-Me career map. This lack of clarity is one of the reasons this core concept is only now being covered in my newsletter issue #10, and not at the outset.
That’s how I roll. If I get stuck, try and keep moving on all other tasks and come back to the loose ends later. Coincidentally, recently I have seen more and more mentions online, that careers are no longer linear, but are non-linear. I agree, but isn’t that just a zigzag line? I’ve also seen careers described as ‘Squiggly’ in a popular career book and I agree too, they are a bit chaotic.
However, for efficient career planning on your own or with collaborators, there must be a better way to plan the myriad of career activities than with a singular line differing only by the direction it takes?
I mentioned in my predictions for 2025, multiple incomes will become normalised.The main drivers of Multi-linear careers are technological advances, remote work & gig economy and changing workforce values as younger generations prioritise purpose, flexibility, and skill diversity over stability.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and others predict that 50% of workers will have multiple incomes within 10 years. Eh, we didn’t learn how to do this in school. Career education is so far behind on this one, and it could take a decade to catch up. Luckily I’ve been working on a career planning book and course called Multi-Me which is out soon. It is hard to do this on your own so my goal has been to make the tools as user friendly as possible for personalisation.
Linear Career Paths
A linear career path follows a traditional, predictable progression within a single industry or profession. It typically involves:
Clear upward trajectory with well-defined hierarchical steps
Consistent advancement within one company or industry
Structured promotions (e.g., junior → manager → director → VP)
Specialised expertise developed in one field
Often requires continuous education/certifications within that field
Career growth that follows a relatively straight line
Examples include climbing the corporate ladder in accounting, medicine, law, or traditional corporate environments.
Non-Linear Career Paths
A non-linear career path is more fluid and dynamic, characterized by:
Forms more of a zigzag or web pattern than a straight line
Career shifts across different industries, functions, or roles
Lateral moves rather than strictly vertical progression
Periods of experimentation and exploration
Development of transferable skills across multiple domains
May include entrepreneurial ventures, freelancing, or portfolio careers
Can involve sabbaticals, education breaks, or career pivots
Examples include switching from engineering to marketing, combining multiple part-time roles, or transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship.
Multi-linear Career Paths
In the multi-linear icon, I show three lines and these denote three career channels namely Workers, Partners, and Owners. I will explain later in more detail, but in summary, Workers have no ownership, Partners have shared ownership and Owners are full owners of their career activities. However, there is no limit to the amount of career activities you can plan and manage using this model.
Today's workforce increasingly embraces multiple activities as career longevity increases, industries evolve rapidly, and work preferences shift toward greater flexibility and purpose.
A multi-linear career path is characterised by:
Multiple concurrent or parallel career trajectories
Simultaneous progression in different but related domains
Development of complementary skill sets that enhance each other
Intentional diversification rather than random career shifts
For example, someone might:
Advance in their primary role while developing secondary complementary expertise
Build an employment career while growing a side business
Maintain specialised expertise in one field while expanding into adjacent areas
Develop multiple career paths that work in harmony
Multi-linear careers differ from purely non-linear paths because they maintain some structured progression and intentionality rather than complete single-line randomness. They often involve building bridges between different disciplines or markets in a strategic way.
This approach provides more stability than a purely non-linear path while offering greater flexibility than a strictly linear one. It can be especially valuable in today's economy where versatility and multiple income streams provide security and growth opportunities.
With a background in marketing, I love coming up with new concepts and brands, but I also know how hard a naming process it can be. Often it is best to just pick a working title and get started testing your ideas. You can change the name later.
Hence I tested some of these ideas at my ‘Career Lab’ events, knowing this was not a good name for a career planning model, but an adequate name for career events. The name Multi-Me came from my research into names with multiples. The big differentiator for my Multi-Me career planning model is the ability to simultaneously, and easily, plan multiple career activities.
It seems logical to have a multi-linear career model for managing multiple initiatives and incomes.
Have you got a multi-linear multi-year career plan?
If you are looking for multi-linear career advice and some help creating your one-page career plan, book a session with me. To make it more affordable, I created a new offer for Fridays. I believe everyone should have a multi-linear multi-year career plan for the times we live in. My Career Design Playbook will be out soon and some webinars too.
At what stage are you with your career? If you are like me and contemplating more moves, what’s on your mind?In a world where anyone can do almost anything, what will you do?
Yours,
Conor
Song of the Week
Here’s this week’s Song of the Week to inspire you to get thinking about career planning with all the lines! Enjoy Blurred Lines!
Multi-Me Weekly Newsletters 2025
Read the newsletter on LinkedIn or on my website here -
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/move-mastery-the-four-career-mega
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/create-your-own-career-experiments
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/what-is-your-ideal-career-persona
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/my-first-investment-was-a-calf-my
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/have-you-got-your-personal-market
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/design-thinking-careers-career-design
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/dont-look-for-a-job-look-for-work
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/productise-your-expertise-to-grow
https://www.conorlyn.ch/p/welcome-to-2025
Have you got a multi-linear career plan?