Career progression no longer looks the way it once did. The idea of climbing a single, linear ladder over the course of decades is being replaced by something far more dynamic, personal, and real: the squiggly career.

Today, career growth can mean changing industries, exploring new roles, taking sideways steps, returning after a break, or discovering strengths in places people never expected. And for many employees, those unexpected moves are often the most valuable parts of their journey.

In this two-part blog series, we’re sharing real employee stories that highlight the different paths people have taken throughout their careers. From career pivots and internal mobility to moments of uncertainty that led to growth, these stories show that success doesn’t always follow a straight line.

We’ll explore the workplace cultures, managers, and opportunities that have empowered employees to take chances, develop new skills, and grow in ways that work for them.

So let’s kick off with part one, looking at squiggly career stories from the UK Intelligence Services, Goodlord, Merlin, Virtalent, Mondelēz International, and St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy.

UK Intelligence Services

One of the things we get asked a lot is “What could my career look like at MI5, MI6 or GCHQ?” Well, there’s a role and career for everyone here. Whether you want to progress investigations as an Intelligence Officer, provide invaluable support in areas such as recruitment or business infrastructure, or develop cutting edge technology, there’s plenty of opportunities to shape your career.  

Many of our people specialise in a particular area, whilst others choose to develop their skills across a range of very different roles. It really is up to you!

Even if you aren’t sure where you’d like your career to go, one thing’s for sure — whatever path you decide to take, your career will be exciting, and you’ll learn a variety of skills along the way.

Below, a couple of our employees share where their career paths have taken them.

“My first role was in 2007 as a Language Analyst, and I was promoted to Senior Language Analyst three years later. They were interesting roles, and exciting, knowing that the work I was doing directly contributed to real world outcomes. 

I returned to the office after a year on maternity leave in 2014, in a language strategy team as a Support Officer. I was responsible for increasing the sense of shared identity across our language community. 

I applied for an overseas posting in 2016 as a Senior Language Analyst, and was joined by my family. Here, I undertook operational translation work and developed closer working relationships with intelligence partners.

In 2019, I moved back to the UK into a Languages Intelligence Coordinator role on temporary promotion. My role was to ensure our external reporting had the right kind of impact with government officials.

I wanted to broaden my experience in other areas of the office, and was successful in a promotion as an EDI Officer in GCHQ’s EDI team in 2021. I worked on several EDI projects, including writing a Gender Equality Action Plan.

I returned to working in languages in 2022 as a Language Recruitment Manager, where I work with multiple stakeholders right across the business to understand their current and future recruitment requirements.

Languages are my passion, so I’m pleased I’ve been able to return to work in this area but utilise my skills in a different way; recruiting our future language analysts.”

- May, Language Recruitment Manager

“I joined the office as an Admin Assistant in 2007, providing admin support to a vetting team, and spent one day a week helping our Occupational Health team with ad-hoc admin.

I really enjoyed working with Occupational Health, so I applied for a permanent Support Officer posting within the team in 2009. It was a great opportunity and I learnt lots about how the office supports staff wellbeing.

I wanted to do something different, so I applied to be an Operational Support Officer in one of our operational teams in 2011. It was hard work with long, unsocial hours, but it was extremely rewarding.

In 2014, after taking a year off on maternity leave, I secured a post in our agent handling section as an Operational Support Officer, where I provided support to our Agent Handlers — so exciting!

Now with two young children, I needed a role that afforded me a better work/life balance, so I took up a job on promotion as an Analyst in a data management team in 2017, analysing data and writing reports.

My current role is as an EDI Officer, in our EDI team. I support senior EDI Officers to develop and run EDI initiatives across the office — a real passion of mine!

I’ve loved working in both operational and corporate roles, and plan to go back to operational work when my children are older. It’s great that your career can flex to your personal circumstances.”

- Manish, EDI Officer

Goodlord

“I joined Goodlord as an Insurance Claims Facilitator in August 2022 from a competitor. Since then, I’ve progressed through the Claims department, first into a Senior Insurance Claims Facilitator role, and now as Insurance Claims Team Leader. 

I enjoy working at Goodlord because having the opportunity to share my skills, knowledge, and experience with others is incredibly rewarding — especially knowing that my work directly contributes to the company's growth and success through a department that impacts the bottom line. 

I also find it incredibly uplifting to be part of a company that truly lives and breathes its values. Every day, I see those values come to life through the passion, integrity, and collaboration of the amazing people I work with, allowing me to progress through the department.”

- Katie, Insurance Claims Team Leader

“Right from the start of my Goodlord journey, it was clear that Goodlord had a strong culture of supporting talent within the company. Starting out in the Referencing team taught me a lot about the lettings industry. At the time, a large amount of our management team within referencing was made up of former Referencing Executives, and I found that really inspiring — leading me to become a Referencing Supervisor. 

Early on during my time with Goodlord, I became curious about Account Management as I was particularly passionate about customer experience. My manager at the time encouraged me to apply for a role as an Account Manager, and although I was actually unsuccessful, I got great feedback that I was able to take away and learn from. Some time later I applied for another role within Onboarding and this time, I was successful. 

Since then, I’ve become an Onboarding Consultant where I deliver both online and in-person training sessions for new agents using our platform. It became a full circle realising that I deliver training to customers when I once processed references.”

- Ruth, Onboarding Consultant

Merlin

At Merlin, it's rare you won’t meet someone whose journey began as a summer job at one of our attractions. With attractions across the globe and roles spanning everything from Operations and Engineering to Marketing, Technology and Finance, career journeys at Merlin are anything but linear and are built on transferrable skills. Whether you choose to grow within one attraction, explore a new function, or even move to another country, there are countless paths to discover and at Merlin, we always support our people to grow and develop. 

Just like our world-famous attractions, careers at Merlin are full of unexpected twists, exciting turns and new adventures. We champion curiosity, encourage development, leverage our diverse global portfolio and empower our colleagues to take the next step, wherever that may lead. Because at Merlin, growth isn't just possible — it's part of the journey.

We asked some of our wonderful team to share their career stories so far.

“My career hasn’t followed a straight line, and that’s a big part of what’s made it so rewarding. My first job was on the turnstiles at Chessington World of Adventures as a teenager, which taught me very quickly how important first impressions are, and how much the frontline shapes a guest’s whole day. 

Over time, I’ve been fortunate to work at every level of the business from frontline to Team Leader, Assistant Manager, Manager, Head Of, and now Director. That journey has given me a real understanding of what it takes at each level and a huge respect for the teams delivering day in, day out. 

One of the big early steps for me was moving into the Head of Operations role at Thorpe Park, which opened my eyes to the scale and complexity of the wider business. From there, I made what was probably a slightly unexpected sideways move into Head of Guest Experience at LEGOLAND© Windsor. That role gave me a different perspective again, less about just running the operation and more about how the whole guest journey feels, how teams connect, and where experience and standards really come from.

After stepping outside of Merlin into a General Manager role, returning to Thorpe Park as Operations Director felt like a huge moment, because it brought together everything I’d learned, both inside and outside of Merlin. More recently, stepping sideways again into Planning & Business Support Director has been another important part of that journey. It’s given me the chance to look at the operation through a different lens, connecting planning, commercial performance and operational delivery in a much more joined-up way.

Looking back, the biggest lesson for me is that career growth doesn’t always come from following a neat ladder. Some of the most valuable moves I’ve made have been sideways or outside my comfort zone because they’ve given me broader experience and ultimately helped me grow into the leader I am today. That breadth of experience is what shapes how I lead today grounded in the front line but always focused on moving forward.”

- Colin, Director of Planning and Business Support at Thorpe Park

“From opening retail units to setting the strategic direction of bringing in new talent to Merlin. It’s been a ride! 

I started my journey back in 2014 as a Retail Training Manager for New Openings. Having been a fan of Merlin, the opportunity to work on our latest gateway attraction openings and train our teams globally was an opportunity I couldn’t resist applying for. The biggest draw to the role was the opportunity to travel globally and create retail experiences that would be memories to take home for a lifetime. I was lucky enough to work across APAC and North America creating, building and merchandising our stores and supporting our teams for the first year of opening. Being able to connect with guests globally and our international teams was a life-changing experience, and it was all thanks to Merlin.  

From there I moved into Food & Beverages, working with our hotels on menu concepts and creating awesome new food experiences for our guests. My journey in learning then continued, taking up a Head of Learning role across our Gateway estate supporting leadership and frontline teams in their own development journeys across Merlin.

The most memorable project I created was in my role as Head of Early Careers: XCalibre Rising, a development programme for our front-line teams to work and travel across the world building skills in Marketing and Operations. This programme ultimately led to those on the programme moving into management positions in which the team are still growing today. 

Today in my 12th year at Merlin, I am the Global Head of Talent Acquisition delivering our strategy in talent sourcing, employer brand and tech stack improvements to our ATS. This role allows me to connect with our business globally and use my learning and frontline opening experience to bring to life how we engage new talent using our Merlin vision. As a single mum, the flexibility in working and opportunity to continue my career progression has been truly amazing, and I couldn’t be prouder to work for Merlin!”

- Miranda, Global Head of Talent Acquisition

Virtalent

“For years, Chloe worked as a busy corporate recruiter in London; a fast-paced and exciting role –— but one that left little room for anything else. Once her two daughters came along, the rigid demands of a city commute and a corporate 9-to-5 collided with her desire to be present for her family.

Chloe needed a career pivot that wouldn't force her to choose between her professional identity and motherhood. That’s when she reinvented herself as a Virtual Assistant with Virtalent.

Joining Virtalent allowed Chloe to embrace a truly flexible, remote Virtual Assistant career without sacrificing the high-level, meaningful work she thrives on. Today, she brings her corporate expertise directly to ambitious business owners, tackling diverse projects that genuinely drive their growth. Backed by a supportive team, Chloe does work that matters, all while being there for school drop-offs and afternoon playtime. Her career isn't a straight line anymore — it's squiggly, empowering, and proof that you can have the best of both worlds. 

You can hear more about Chloe’s story on our YouTube channel.”

Mondelēz International

“I joined Mondelēz International in 2009 as a baker in LU Soft Cake R&D. Moving from a technically focused B2B role in the bread industry, I began my consumer journey at LU, taking on projects that grew from simple line extensions to breakthrough innovations like the Brownie range and Petit LU Moelleux.

After six years in the MEU Baking category, my family and I relocated to Bournville, UK, for what was meant to be a one-year adventure that turned into a rewarding 11-year journey. Being at the heart of chocolate category development within Mondelēz International has allowed me to grow from Senior Scientist to Senior Group Leader, with experience across both regional and global roles. 

I have evolved every two to three years, sometimes horizontally and sometimes up the managerial ladder, always guided by passion and curiosity rather than title. Since October 2025, I have been leading the R&D Product Team for the newly formed TWTR BU (Toblerone & World Travel Retail), an exciting, agile, and dynamic group at the heart of Mondelēz innovation. I love it!”

- Jean-Maurice, Senior Group Leader Toblerone and World Travel Retail

St. James's Place Financial Adviser Academy

Not all routes into a career in finance are the same. Graduates of St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy are proving that diverse backgrounds are helping to move the dial and in effect, will make financial advice accessible to even more people.

Rachel had a 15-year career in law before pursuing her own business as a financial adviser. Working within both law practices and in-house, Rachel was dedicated to the career that she studied for at university, but after a time, she realised that she lacked fulfilment. Rachel comments, “Working in law I found myself sitting behind a desk often doing work for other people which I felt didn’t deliver a huge amount of purpose. I couldn’t always see the benefits of the work I was doing. It was easy to feel that I’d been put in a box and unable to spread my wings in this career. Whilst I was ambitious and career driven, I knew that this career wasn’t going to hold me for another 15 years. Having my two children gave me the impetus to change direction.”

Rachel’s experience is similar to that of many women who are the main carers of their children. When her request to reduce her hours at work to four days a week was declined by her employer, she knew it was time to make a change. She decided to set off down a new path, to look for a career that offered more flexibility and one which she hoped would also provide the sense of fulfilment that she had lacked in law.

Rachel’s career in law crossed over with the financial services sector multiple times. Working within the legal and financial services industries, Rachel was able to build up a strong base of contacts - and it was one of those connections that led her to consider financial advice as a career.

Rachel explains, “A contact and friend of mine had a large financial advice practice under the St James’s Place Financial partnership. He offered me the chance to shadow him for the day to get a flavour for what the day to day of financial advice involved. During the day, I witnessed some difficult conversations between him and his clients but rather than be put off, I found myself further drawn to the profession. While I was listening, my head was whirring with ideas of how I would handle the conversations, what I’d do differently and what value I could add. It was an exciting prospect to be able to help another person, perhaps even somebody not too dissimilar from myself, that just wants to make the best of what they’ve got. After shadowing for the day, I was hooked.”

Rachel signed up to the St James’s Place Financial Advisor Academy in June 2019. She graduated after six months, qualified and with the necessary skills and ongoing support to launch her own financial advice business.

She recalls that the experience was both rewarding and challenging. She explains, “Within the St James’s Place Financial Advisor Academy curriculum, you’re given all of the tools needed to do the job, with access to support, mentoring and some valuable contacts. But to be successful in setting up your own business, you need to be incredibly driven and committed. I’m not afraid to admit, there were a few ‘rabbit in headlights’ moments, but I just needed to pick myself up and get on with it – after all your own success is down to you. For me, it was an unnerving, yet exhilarating place to be.”

Rachel – who has a tendency to be her own worst critic – is really pleased with how far she has come and how well it has all come together. Most importantly, she feels that she has a successful business doing something that she truly enjoys. “Most of all I get a great deal of satisfaction, fulfilment and enjoyment in what I do. The added bonus is I get to take my children to school every single day. Graduating from the St James’s Place Financial Advisor Academy and starting my own business has completely changed my life. I am now content in all areas of my work and family life – it’s a great place to be.”