career ladder
noun
variants
or corporate ladder
: the series of progressively higher positions that can be attained in one's working career conceived of as a ladder to be climbed toward greater responsibility and financial success
… a twentysomething heroine working her way up the career ladder …—
Clarissa Cruz
Clarissa CruzThe more skills you acquire and use, the more you can earn – even if you don't jump to the next rung on the corporate ladder.—Jaclyn Fierman
Jaclyn FiermanLike most successful women in the pop-music industry, Rhone, 42, started off answering phones and watching men climb the corporate ladder to success.—Lorraine Ali
Lorraine Ali… the kind of resentment that a man who has spent his life climbing the ranks of a large bureaucracy feels toward a man who leapfrogs up the career ladder through a special and obnoxious blend of deferments and degrees.—Michael Lewis
Michael LewisToday as vice-president and director of global diversity, she works with the office of the CEO to ensure that women and people of color with the potential to move up the corporate ladder are identified and groomed.—Rhonda Richards
Rhonda RichardsExamples of career ladder in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bringing low-key, quiet luxury to the masses, Bieber is responsible for the army of jeans-and-a-tank-top girls traipsing through Erewhon on one coast and the West Village on the other, sporting slick buns while climbing the career ladder, and then stopping off for a spritz.
—Olivia Allen, Vogue, 29 May 2025
More workers blend smart technology with traditional hard skills as automation and AI shake up the classic career ladder.
—Geoff Whitmore, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
This new model means fewer jobs, shorter employment periods and diminishing opportunities for mid-level writers to develop their craft and climb the career ladder.
—Jd Barker, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2025
Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that instead of climbing the career ladder toward a senior leadership role, fully 94% of Gen Z workers want something less prestigious, but perhaps more conducive to work-life balance.
—Mark C. Perna, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for career ladder
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Olivia Allen, Vogue, 29 May 2025
More workers blend smart technology with traditional hard skills as automation and AI shake up the classic career ladder.
—Geoff Whitmore, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
This new model means fewer jobs, shorter employment periods and diminishing opportunities for mid-level writers to develop their craft and climb the career ladder.
—Jd Barker, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2025
Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that instead of climbing the career ladder toward a senior leadership role, fully 94% of Gen Z workers want something less prestigious, but perhaps more conducive to work-life balance.
—Mark C. Perna, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for career ladder
Cite this Entry
“Career ladder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/career%20ladder. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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