In A Brutal Job Market, Leaders Are Leaning Into Career Agency
By Tracy Saunders, Founder & CEO of BossmakeHer
This article was originally published in Forbes.
A few months ago, I spoke with a senior leader who’d done everything right. Strong track record. Well-known company. Clear upward progression. Then her role disappeared.
At first, she approached the job search with confidence. Her résumé was solid. Her network was strong. She assumed momentum would follow. Instead, weeks turned into months, and the search stalled.
What surprised her wasn’t the lack of opportunity. It was how hard it became to decide what to pursue and what to walk away from. The advantage she had expected her title to provide never showed up.
I hear versions of this story every week.
For leaders navigating today’s job market, status alone isn’t enough. In what many professionals describe as one of the toughest job markets in decades, the leaders who regain traction fastest are leaning into a more strategic job search advantage: career agency.
Status And Agency Aren’t The Same
Career status reflects where you are. Your title, scope, visibility and seniority.
Career agency reflects how you decide. It shows up in how clearly you define what you want, how you evaluate tradeoffs and how you move through uncertainty without defaulting to urgency.
In stable markets, status often carries people forward. In unstable ones, it can leave them reacting instead of choosing.
Why Status Is Failing Job Seekers Right Now
Many leaders entering the market today didn’t plan to be there. Restructures, leadership changes and shifting priorities have pushed capable people into searches they never expected to run.
Others are still employed but quietly looking. Their role looks good on paper, but something feels off.
What I see most often isn’t a lack of skill or ambition. It’s difficulty answering basic but uncomfortable questions:
• What kind of role actually fits this stage of my life?
• What am I optimizing for right now?
• What patterns don’t I want to repeat?
Without agency, I see even experienced leaders default to familiarity, prestige or speed. In this market, that can stretch searches out and lead to roles that look good but feel wrong.
Where Career Agency Is Being Built
Some professional communities emphasize peer connection among senior leaders. Others focus more on helping professionals regain direction and momentum during transitions.
These approaches serve different needs. What matters most in a disrupted market isn’t access alone. It’s whether leaders are building the judgment required to choose well under pressure.
Agency isn’t about being in the right room. It’s about knowing what you’re listening for.
A View From The Inside
I work closely with women navigating job searches in this market. What stands out to me isn’t just how competitive the market is. It’s how often decisions are made without a clear framework.
In my experience, the leaders who regain momentum fastest usually aren’t the ones applying everywhere but the ones who slow down enough to get specific: They define what a good next role actually means for them. They name what they’re no longer willing to tolerate. They make tradeoffs consciously instead of letting pressure decide for them.
Agency doesn’t remove uncertainty, but it does reduce drift.
A Practical Guide For Leaders Job Searching Right Now
Career agency isn’t an abstract concept. Here are a few grounded practices to help you tap in.
First, set your decision criteria before opportunities appear. Waiting until an offer forces a choice usually leads to a fear-based decision.
Second, evaluate roles by trajectory, not title. Ask where the role leads in a year or two, not just how it reads today.
Third, separate your identity from employment. When identity is too tightly tied to role, every decision feels existential. Your clarity will improve when your identity is grounded in capability and judgment.
Finally, resist urgency. Speed can feel comforting in uncertain markets, but alignment is what sustains momentum.
Redefining Career Power
Status still matters. Experience still counts. Community still has value.
But in a market defined by unpredictability, career power increasingly comes from the ability to decide well, to assess options clearly and to move without panic when conditions change.
For leaders navigating one of the toughest job markets in decades, the real advantage isn’t just what you’ve achieved. It’s how intentionally you decide what comes next.
If you’re navigating a leadership transition and want more clarity, strategy, and support in your next move, we invite you to connect with us.
At BossmakeHer, we help women leaders move from uncertainty and stalled momentum to intentional, aligned career decisions with confidence.
Book a clarity call with our team to explore what your next chapter could look like:
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