Over time, the concept of a linear career path has given way to something much more dynamic, a career journey characterized by adaptability, exploration, and growth: the nonlinear career path.
Nonlinear career paths are careers that evolve as you learn new skills and tackle new interests. Over the course of decades, you might explore three or four new industries, each time collecting myriad soft and hard skills that pave the way for your next steps—and allowing you to feel inspired as well, since you’re feeding your curiosity with every new avenue.
And while it’s common for people forging these varied paths to change companies over and over again—it doesn’t have to be. Plenty of organizations have internal mobility programs that either: a) help employees move up in the company, b) help employees explore other roles in the company, or c) do a combination of both.
Palo Alto Networks, a leading cybersecurity company, uses their internal mobility programs to support what they call “career flexibility”—a culture where employees are empowered to navigate new opportunities and chart their unique paths. Through an easy application platform and a direct line to hiring managers, current employees are encouraged to transition into open roles, finding chances to learn and grow within the company.
We asked five employees—May Wang, Angela Robertson, Caitlin Delmore, Ayesha Mahmood, and Tiffany Henry—how this focus on career flexibility at Palo Alto Networks has encouraged them to shape and reshape their career trajectories. Through their stories, you’ll learn how you, too, can find a company whose support, programs, and values facilitate an adventurous, engaging, and long-lasting career.
A high-level read of Palo Alto Networks' InHerSight scorecard tells us quite a bit about the next-generation cybersecurity company: Consistently ranked on our list of Best Places to Work, Palo Alto Networks exceeds expectations for many of our 18 key metrics, but their top marks go to Support for Diversity, The People You Work With, and Paid Time Off. Women also tell us they feel they are paid fairly, receive helpful feedback, and that their growth and success are prioritized. Click to explore Palo Alto Networks' ratings, benefits, and open positions.
4 signs a company wants your career to grow
1. There are programs and a supportive culture in place to help define career trajectories
A company that provides resources and support for internal mobility acknowledges that employees' skills can extend beyond their current roles. A cultural approach like this encourages employees to explore different career paths without needing to leave the company, promoting personal and professional growth and learning.
Palo Alto Networks’ mission is to create a dynamic and supportive ecosystem that values this type of individualistic growth and empowers its employees to write their own career narratives. Service Delivery Leader Angela Robertson has felt this firsthand through the internal mobility program. “The program was the catalyst for helping me further my career. The team took time to understand what I was passionate about and how I could continue to build on my experience and skills,” she says. “As I was moving between roles, the internal mobility team provided me with guidance on growing my knowledge for the products I was going to be supporting by utilizing online training tools.”
One of the most helpful recommendations the internal mobility team provided her with was to reach out to colleagues in the role she was interested in to understand the job function at a higher level. “This was invaluable knowledge that helped me ultimately determine which job path was more closely attuned to my experience and future career goals.”
Systems Engineer Caitlin Delmore also leveraged the internal mobility program to make a move in her career. She says, “The internal mobility program clearly laid out all the requirements that needed to be met to apply for the new role, and made the transition very easy. The ease of the process made me feel supported throughout the transition, since I didn't feel like I was jumping through hoops trying to figure out everything on my own.”
Director of Front End Engineering Ayesha Mahmood says the program helps employees grow both horizontally and vertically. Besides the internal mobility program, she says supplemental mentorship and employee network groups (ENGs) are integral to career flexibility and development. “Changing teams within Palo Alto Networks is super easy with a ton of support provided to individuals. The best resources to help navigate a career or team change to me are the mentorship program and our ENGs that provide a safe space to discuss potential challenges and solutions that may come our way during these transitions.”
Read more: How Palo Alto Networks Lives Its Vision, According to 3 Women Employees
2. Career transitions are promoted as a way to reach potential
When a company assists employees in transitioning to new roles or departments, it sends a message that the organization recognizes and values individual talents. What does this mean in the long term? Retention. If individuals are able to find new challenges and opportunities within the same organization, they’re less likely to seek them out elsewhere.
“Palo Alto Networks encourages its employees to think long term and create a career as opposed to just taking a job. Personal development is one of the cornerstones that makes Palo Alto Networks one of the best companies to work for,” says Robertson. “Career flexibility is not looked upon negatively, it’s supported. I am grateful for the opportunities that have been made available to me through this program as they allowed me to grow and reach my fullest potential.”
For Delmore, Palo Alto Networks living its values of execution and inclusion has subsequently helped her pivot into her new role. “This commitment creates a culture where employees feel empowered to show up authentically, and to give every day their best effort,” she says. “Knowing I could authentically voice my goals, concerns, and strategy for my overall career path to leadership allowed me to feel aligned to my values as I navigated this process.”
Tiffany Henry is a senior director of global network security go-to-market. In her eyes, the ability to make career transitions allows for people's aspirations and needs to change over time. “There are key experiences and moments in our life that prompts us to revisit our current work-life balance, assess and diversify our skills, and gain access to resources that enable learning and development. Palo Alto Networks has a treasure chest of tools and selfless people who contribute to support each of those aspects of career flexibility and more.”
3. Both in-person and remote collaboration are utilized for career growth
Internal mobility and career growth require ample support. While working remotely for Palo Alto Networks, Delmore has felt fully supported by the rest of her team. She says, “I am fortunate that despite the remote structure and the three-hour time difference to the East Coast (and my team), I have always felt supported and included at Palo Alto Networks. My management is supportive of travel to meet with customers and attend key conferences. This arrangement has allowed me to feel engaged, impactful, and visible within the company as well as with the customers.”
Henry agrees that as a remote employee, the company has prioritized providing unique opportunities for networking and professional development. “Within the first year of joining Palo Alto, I was invited to participate in the company’s inaugural ‘Leading with Purpose’ program,” she says. “The program was rooted in ‘Grounded & Conscious Leadership,’ focused on developing leadership skills and perspectives that help us think deeper, learn faster, and collaborate better. It was also focused on women leaders across different disciplines in the company. This enabled us to create valuable connections and community while gaining peer mentorship and support.”
While flexibility remains top of mind, many employees at Palo Alto Networks are beginning to return to in-person work following the COVID-19 pandemic. For nonlinear career explorers, this move can be a huge bonus. They’ll have 1:1 peer support as well as other tools and opportunities needed to chart their career paths and cultivate growth in a manner that aligns with their unique circumstances and goals.
Due to the collaborative nature of her position, Mahmood prefers working in-person to enable her growth. “It's great to see my team in-person, interacting with them in brainstorming and planning sessions. It's helping me keep my team aligned better on priorities and architectural decisions, creating lesser technical debt.”
Chief Technology Officer of Internet of Things (IoT) Security May Wang leads the machine learning initiatives (ML) for IoT and threat prevention within the cloud-delivered security services (CDSS) engineering team. She says, “As many initiatives I am driving require multi-teams' collaboration, being able to meet in-person in the office makes it much more efficient to brainstorm and move things forward faster. It’s easier to find people to exchange info and clear any road blocks timely.”
4. Leaders act as mentors
Having the proper encouragement from leaders and managers when making a career transition is crucial. Leaders have a unique opportunity to act as mentors—they can offer personalized guidance and share insights from their own experiences. When employees have safe spaces to discuss their aspirations, they can make more confident, informed decisions and navigate new paths, ultimately creating a culture of continuous learning and empowerment.
Delmore feels fortunate to have always been aligned with excellent leadership at Palo Alto Networks—but especially so throughout her job transition. “Managers and leaders in both departments supported me throughout the transition. My previous manager acted as a mentor, ensuring the decision was coming from a place of authenticity that strongly aligned to my goals. Management from the new Federal SE (system engineer) Team also took time to understand my motivations and goals. They ensured I met key team leadership, and clearly articulated expectations for the new role. They acted more as a sponsor, guiding me through the process, ensuring I was comfortable and supported throughout. The transparency and communication from both managers were key in making me feel supported throughout the transition.”
Mahmood agrees the leaders at Palo Alto Networks genuinely promote career growth. She says, “I have worked with managers who really gave me autonomy, and I felt they were vested in my growth as a leader. I love the feedback, and people-focused culture.” Right there with her, Mahmood says during her transition, leaders proactively reached out to her to answer any questions or concerns she might have.
Even when not making a full transition, employees feel empowered to grow within their current roles with the help of their managers. Henry says, “I have remained in the same go-to-market organization over the last two and a half years at Palo Alto Networks. Although that’s the case, my role and scope have evolved. My direct leadership team and supporting stakeholders were supportive at every step of the way, in the form of coaching, mentorship, and providing visibility to new opportunities for growth and stretch assignments to push me out of my comfort zone. This enabled me to grow, discover new strengths, and ultimately become even more impactful.”
Wang wholeheartedly agrees with Henry. “I didn't transition teams, but I did need to work with new teams and new managers. Both my original teams and managers, as well as the new ones, are super supportive and helpful,” she says. “The flexibility Palo Alto Networks provided to collaborate with different teams helped a lot. We worked together toward a common goal, provided complementary skill sets, and learned from each other.”
