How to become a creative zigzagger

Here are just a few things we were told growing up about entering the working world: that we would climb a career ladder to progress; that switching jobs too frequently would look bad on our CVs; that changing careers was tricky. But as work rapidly changes – with 92 million jobs projected to disappear by 2030 and 170 million to be created in their place – ‘normal’ career trajectories are also shifting. Enter the zigzagger, moving laterally between different roles, disciplines or industries. The designer who started in customer service, the strategist who studied law, the creative director who spent years freelancing across different disciplines before finding their niche.

Twin Peaks still

The age of zigzagging

It’s time to wake up to the new reality of work. According to the World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs’ report, on average, workers can expect that two-fifths (39%) of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period. “The world of work is changing faster than traditional career ladders were designed for,” career change coach Camilla Young tells CLIP. “Entire functions are being reshaped by technology, new roles are emerging all the time, and many of the most valuable skills now sit between disciplines rather than within them.” Specialising in one specific skill, particularly if it's tech adjacent, is now a risk.

Plus, the days of staying in one job until retirement are behind us. We’re craving more diversity from our careers: “Today's workforce is looking for variety, growth and the freedom to evolve as their interests and ambitions change,” notes Camilla. For a lot of us, this looks like freelancing: three-quarters of Gen Z have no plans of going full-time for their whole lives and 39% of all U.S. workers are freelance, a figure set to rise to 50.9% by 2027. In turn, the opportunity to build various skills across disciplines and organisations is readily available.

Set yourself apart

Is a zigzagging career more fun? Maybe – you’re constantly learning, trying new things and taking the reins on the projects you take on and the people you work with. And, zigzagging can help you stand out as a creative. “For creatives in particular, [zigzagging] can also be a source of originality. Every industry, role and environment exposes you to different ways of thinking. The more experiences you collect, the larger your library of ideas becomes,” says Camilla.

The essential zigzagger toolkit

So what skills should you be focusing on developing as a budding zigzagger? Studies show that you should turn your attention to transferable soft skills. The World Economic Forum found that analytical thinking remains the most sought-after core skill among employers, with seven out of 10 companies considering it essential in 2025. At the same time, creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning, are expected to continue to rise in importance over the 2025-2030 period.

Camilla’s career-coach-approved skills for succeeding as a zigzagger:

Joining the dots

Despite the pivots, zigzagging should still have a common thread. Rather than a particular skill, your career might now be guided by values – say the kind of companies you want to work with – or a feeling – such as curiosity. “The goal is not to get every decision right. The goal is to keep learning, stay curious and pay attention to what energises you,” notes Camilla. “Don't become too attached to a single version of your future,” she adds. The whole thing about zigzagging is that it’s dynamic and unpredictable.

‘Creativity involves breaking out of expected patterns in order to look at things in a different way,’ wrote Edward Bono, and you can apply the same logic to your creative career. The twists and turns, the zigs and the zags, will invoke a new way of thinking. Start by unlearning what you thought your career would look like; instead, learn to move with change rather than against it.