10 new rules for building a career in a broken system
What actually works now that the playbook has changed, but nobody will admit it
The job market is disorienting right now. Companies that are reporting record profits are laying off thousands of employees. Application processes are endless and opaque. Even people with jobs are hedging their bets because somewhere deep down, we all know something fundamental has shifted.
And yet, the advice hasn’t changed. You’re still being told to “stay positive,” “build your network,” “polish your LinkedIn.” As if the same tactics that worked in 2015 are going to save you now.
If you know the old advice won’t get you where you need to go, read this.
1. Your job title has already stopped protecting you
The prestige you spent years accumulating is evaporating in real time. The industries laying people off aren’t struggling sectors or dying companies. They’re profitable corporations replacing entire departments with AI tools that barely work.
The most critical skill you can develop right now is learning how to build an identity that exists independently of your employer. Because when the title disappears and the role vanishes, the people who survive with their sense of self intact are the ones who saw this coming and prepared for it psychologically.
Most people can’t do this. They’ve fused their worth to their work so completely that job loss feels like ego death. That’s exactly why you need to start separating the two now, while you still have time.
This deep dive explores the identity crisis hiding inside the employment crisis and offers a framework for building psychological resilience when your entire career could vanish overnight.
2. The credential that got you here just became expensive scaffolding
Major corporations are quietly reconsidering degree requirements. New graduates are entering one of the worst job markets for their demographic in recent history. The system sold them a quarter-million-dollar ticket to stability, then changed the rules before they could cash it in.
Something fundamental is shifting in how credentials function. The diploma that used to open doors now mostly just gets you past the first filter, and even that advantage is eroding.
At some point, you have to stop optimizing for a system that’s already moved on.
Read about the forces reshaping the prestige hierarchy and why the credential arms race may be approaching its breaking point.
3. College taught you to perform intelligence, not question systems
The biggest con of higher education was convincing you that a credential signaled critical thinking, that performing academic rigor meant you’d mastered something real.
The people thriving right now are the ones who have learned to step back and ask whether the path still leads anywhere worth going.
If your entire toolkit is built on pleasing authority figures and performing competence on command, you’re in trouble. The economy that’s emerging values people who can see what others overlook, challenge what’s been taken for granted, and build things that don’t fit into existing categories.
This piece explores how elite education often trains you to stay safely within the lines while making you believe you’re coloring outside them.
4. Stop resenting nepo babies. Learn how they move instead.
At this point, the hiring process is less about finding talent than managing volume. Good people are being filtered out by bad systems and still being told not to take it personally. Relying on a broken system to validate you is a losing strategy.
It’s easy to resent people with money and connections. Trust fund kids and nepo babies land jobs before they’re ever posted. But once you stop expecting fairness, you can start studying how they move.
They don’t wait to be chosen. They assume access. They build relationships early, demonstrate value without being asked, and move like they belong because no one ever told them otherwise.
You don’t need their money or connections to adopt their playbook. In fact, this strategy works especially well for people who’ve been excluded. While others wait for permission, you can build something that makes permission irrelevant.
This piece breaks down how to reverse-engineer the nepo baby advantage and build your own version from scratch.
5. Linear career paths died and nobody told you
Most of us were taught to think of our careers like a ladder. You climb rung by rung, each step bringing a better title, higher salary, more prestige. But ladders only work in stable environments, where the rungs stay in place. That’s not the world we’re in anymore.
What works now is something more flexible. A ramp lets you shift direction, move at different angles, and pause without losing ground. It’s built for change. The traditional markers of success might still look impressive on paper, but they don’t always tell you whether you’re building something that can last. When the terrain keeps shifting, direction matters more than speed.
This essay unpacks why the ladder metaphor no longer works and offers a better way to think about progress when stability isn’t guaranteed.
6. Sometimes the smartest move looks like a step down
We’re taught to believe that every career decision should move us upward: more title, more salary, more prestige. Anything else feels like failure.
But that logic breaks down if you’re in the wrong place to begin with. Sometimes, a lower-stakes role with predictable hours gives you the space to figure out what’s next. The breathing room becomes the foundation.
This idea—of stepping back as a way to move forward—is something I’m exploring more deeply in The Slingshot Effect, the book I’m currently writing. What looks like regression from the outside can actually be the start of a more intentional path.
Of course, this only works if you’re not in survival mode. But if you can afford a temporary step back, the real obstacle is usually psychological, not financial. It’s the fear of how it looks.
This essay explores how strategic retreat can create space for breakthrough, and how to make this kind of move work in practice.
7. Optimizing for income too early can be a mistake
The conventional wisdom says never work for free. Protect your worth. Demand fair compensation from day one.
This advice makes sense if you’re established in your field and someone’s trying to exploit you. It becomes actively harmful when you’re starting out or pivoting into a new industry and desperately need experience you don’t have.
Sometimes the smartest move is taking a role that pays less (or nothing) because it gives you access to learning, credibility, or relationships you can’t get any other way.
When you’re building toward something new, optimizing for immediate income can keep you stuck in work that leads nowhere. Optimizing for the right kind of experience positions you for opportunities that don’t exist yet.
This piece walks through when working for less makes strategic sense and how to protect yourself from actual exploitation while building toward something better.
8. Sometimes you win the game and realize the prize isn’t worth keeping
Achievement that looks impressive from the outside can still be fundamentally wrong for you. The gap between external validation and internal truth tells you everything you need to know about whether you’re on the right path.
What actually happens when you reach your goals is more complicated than the stories we’re sold. Sometimes you achieve exactly what you aimed for and discover that living with it conflicts with your core values in ways you couldn’t have predicted.
Walking away from something that looks like success to everyone else requires a specific kind of courage. People will question your judgment and assume you’re having a crisis. What they can’t see is that staying in beautiful misalignment would be the real mistake.
This essay examines what happens when you reach the peak and realize you climbed the wrong mountain, including the strategic options for course-correcting before the misalignment destroys you.
9. Flexibility beats prestige when the ground keeps shifting
The jobs that impressed people five years ago are disappearing. Entire industries are being restructured in real time. Meanwhile, new roles are emerging in spaces that didn’t even exist a few years ago, and no one’s handing out a map.
In this kind of chaos, the people who thrive are the ones who move early, adapt fast, and know how to combine skills in ways the old system didn’t account for.
A single impressive job title doesn’t offer real security anymore. Multiple income streams do. Transferable skills do. Portfolio careers used to sound unstable. Now they’re the closest thing to stability.
The moment you stop chasing other people’s definition of success, you open up space to build something on your own terms—even if it looks less glamorous from the outside. Some of the most strategic moves look like steps backward. Or sideways. Or completely off-script.
This piece breaks down why the prestige hierarchy is collapsing, and how real flexibility gives you leverage when nothing else is guaranteed.
10. You don’t have to burn it all down to build something new
We love the dramatic story: someone quits their job on a whim and makes it big. But what actually works—especially if you can’t afford to fail—is much quieter.
You stay employed. You build something on the side. You give it structure, time, and milestones you can control. That’s how momentum builds.
You’re building something real while the old thing still pays the bills. You’re moving toward freedom without blowing up your life to get there.
This essay lays out a practical path for career transitions when stability isn’t optional. You’ll learn how to structure your time, measure progress, and know when you’re ready to make the leap.
Where to begin, even when nothing feels clear
You don’t have to have it all figured out to start moving differently. The system is shifting beneath everyone’s feet, and no one has the perfect map. What matters is choosing to respond with clarity instead of panic, with intention instead of resignation.
Start where you are. Build something small that matters. Protect your time. The next step will become clearer once you’re in motion.
Do these new rules reflect what you’ve seen in your own career? What would you add to the list? Tell me below 👇
A special thank you gift from me to you:
There’s no paywall on any of my writing. Paid subscribers aren’t paying for access—they’re investing in work that resonates.
As a thank-you, you’ll receive a special gift:
The Identity Reboot:
7 Days to Reconnect with the Version of You That Success Forgot
If your sense of self has gotten tangled up in roles, titles, accomplishments—or the pressure to stay impressive—this guide is for you.
This is your reset.
It’s a 7-day PDF experience designed to strip away everything you’ve outgrown, so you can reconnect with what’s real, true, and still yours.
Inside, you’ll:
Uncover who you are beyond the resume, the job title, or the public performance
Identify which parts of your identity feel authentic—and which feel like armor
Rebuild a vision of yourself that isn’t based on productivity, approval, or prestige
This isn’t about starting from scratch. It’s about remembering who you were before the world told you who to be.
If you’ve ever seen yourself in my writing, this is your next step:
And if now’s not the right time?
I’m still glad you’re here.
Bring Carmen to your next event
Carmen Van Kerckhove is an author and keynote speaker whose work explores how technology, social class, and cultural change are reshaping ambition, identity, and the future of work. Her upcoming book, The Slingshot Effect (Crown Currency), shows why pulling back isn’t a setback—it’s how every breakthrough begins.
Based in New York City, Carmen speaks at keynotes, conferences, leadership summits, and company retreats. Explore her signature talks here.
→ For speaking inquiries, contact info@topflightfamilymedia.com.
Very helpful
7 and 9 are so key. But ultimately most of those are tied to Ego. When you can let go of it, magic finally happens and so comes content and potentially happiness in your career trajectory. At least in my experience :)