The term for what you're already doing quietly
Career Cushioning
Preparing a backup plan while still employed, before you need one. Here's how to do it on purpose instead of anxiously.
You're not job hunting. You're not unhappy, exactly. But somewhere in the back of your mind you've started quietly updating a portfolio, keeping an old contact warm, wondering what you'd do if the ground shifted. That instinct picked up fast through 2025 and 2026, alongside layoff headlines and real uncertainty about how AI reshapes specific roles.
The instinct is reasonable. Most people just do it badly, vaguely enough that it never turns into anything but background anxiety with a nicer name.
Definition
What is career cushioning?
Career cushioning is quietly preparing a backup plan while still employed, rather than waiting for bad news to force a decision. It means updating a portfolio, keeping a network warm, or building a skill that widens your options, all without necessarily job hunting yet. It's preparatory, not active job hopping, most people who cushion well never actually leave. The value is in having real options, not in using them.
Where it goes wrong
Vagueness, dressed up as preparation
"Keeping my options open" often means a slightly updated CV, a LinkedIn profile nobody's touched in years, and a general sense of unease that never turns into anything concrete. That's not cushioning, it's anxiety with a nicer name.
Real cushioning answers a specific question: if I had to move in the next twelve months, what role, and what's actually missing between here and there? If you can't answer that in one sentence, you're drifting, not cushioning.
What it looks like done well
Three things that separate direction from drift
01
Name the specific target
Not "something more senior" or "maybe a different industry," but an actual role or function you could describe in one sentence, and defend why it's realistic.
02
Build one visible proof point
A CV update is invisible until someone asks for it. A documented project outcome, a public write-up, a specific new responsibility, is something you can point to, not just claim.
03
Have the actual conversation
Research tells you what a role looks like from the outside. Talking to someone doing it tells you what actually matters versus what just sounds impressive on a job posting.
Most of what makes cushioning feel productive instead of anxious is having someone outside your own head pressure-test the target.
Use the contact form or book a free 15-minute call.Why listen to me on this
I've coached people through exactly this kind of quiet transition, moving from other functions into GTM, and more recently from long enterprise careers into startups. The pattern is always the same: the vague version stays vague forever, and the specific version turns into a real plan within weeks, not months.
FAQ
Common questions
What is career cushioning?
Career cushioning is quietly preparing a backup plan while still employed, rather than waiting for bad news to force a decision. It means updating a portfolio, keeping a network warm, or building a skill that widens your options, without necessarily job hunting yet.
Is career cushioning the same as job hopping?
No. Job hopping means actively moving between jobs frequently. Career cushioning is preparatory, it's about being ready to move if you need to, not about moving right now. Most people who cushion well never actually leave, the value is in having real options, not in using them.
How do I do career cushioning without my employer noticing?
Most of it happens outside work hours and outside your current company's view entirely: building a specific skill, having conversations with people in a target role or company, documenting your own achievements for future use. None of this requires telling your employer anything.
What's the difference between doing this well and just being anxious?
Real cushioning has a direction: a specific role or function you could describe in one sentence and defend as realistic. Anxious drifting is a vague sense of unease with an updated CV attached to it. The test is whether you could explain, specifically, what you're preparing for.
Related reading
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