Career advice for experienced professionals
By Justin KullaLast updated
Know your market before you need it
Look at postings for the role you hold and the one above it every few months. Note the titles, the skills that repeat, and the pay where it is posted. If your skills are drifting away from what employers ask for, you want to find out while you still have a job.
Keep proof of your results current
Keep a running list of what you shipped, saved, grew or fixed, with numbers. Add to it monthly. It makes your resume, a raise conversation and a sudden job search far easier, and people who can show results are chosen over those who can only describe duties.
Keep your network warm
Reach out to former colleagues and managers when you have nothing to ask for: congratulate, share an article, make an introduction. Most senior roles are filled through someone who knew the person, and those relationships are hard to build in a hurry after a layoff.
When to stay and when to go
- Stay when you are still learning, your manager backs you and the pay is within the market range.
- Start looking quietly when growth has stopped, you have been passed over twice, or the company’s direction worries you.
- Move fast when the problem is your health, safety or ethics.
- Whatever you decide, decide with offers or market data in hand, not only how last week felt.
When advice is not enough
If you are weighing a change of field, a layoff is near or a search has stalled, a plan built for your background is more useful than general advice. A career coach can pressure-test the plan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important career advice?
Build and document results you can point to, and keep relationships alive with people who have seen you work. Both make every later move easier.
How often should I look at the job market?
Every few months, even when you are happy. It takes about an hour and tells you whether your pay and skills are still competitive.
Is it too late to change careers at 45 or 50?
No. Most people who change fields in mid-career reuse what they already know. See the career pivot guide for how to choose the target and tell the story.
See where you stand
The free Market Reality Assessment shows how the market reads your background and what to work on first.
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