Showing results for career ladder. Search instead for Career+Salaries.

career ladder

American

[ker-eer lad-er] / kərˈɪər ˈlæd ər /

noun

a series of jobs, roles, or positions of increasing importance or responsibility, through which one progresses or is expected to progress; corporate ladder.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

career ladders

plural

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Marks and Spencer is launching a new training scheme for young people trying to get on the career ladder in a bid to tackle the "growing youth unemployment challenge".

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

The traditional bottom rung of the career ladder is disappearing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Graduates looking for jobs have been told to find local jobs first to get on the career ladder.

From BBC • Sep. 30, 2025

“There are a lot of rungs on the career ladder that are disappearing,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2025

Skills-based hiring is on the rise, job-hopping has become more accepted and the traditional career ladder is being replaced by a more flexible, nonlinear career path.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023