Top 10 Podcasts to Develop Your Career in 2021

This holiday season will look different than years past, but one thing we’re all looking forward to is a bit more downtime to rest, reflect, and get ready to start 2021 on the right foot. 

Despite the pandemic and economic challenges, our careers continue to offer opportunities for more fulfillment in our lives and to make the world a better place.

As you reflect on all that you’ve lived through in 2020 and the goals you have for your career in 2021, podcasts are a great way to turn some of that holiday downtime into personal development time. Here are 10 of our favorite podcasts to help you change, advance, or transition your career:

1. Squiggly Careers

Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast to help you take control of your career development. Hosts Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your confidence gremlins to micro-aggressions and discovering your strengths. Each episode is full of ideas, actions, hints and tips that you can put into practice in your own life. Once a month they take a break from talking to each other to interview other people who are leading the way in making work better, like this episode featuring The Joy of Work author Bruce Daisley. 

2. Happen To Your Career: Stories of How High Achievers Find Career Happiness and Meaning

Happen To Your Career is a podcast for anyone thinking “there has to be something out there that’s better.” Host Scott Anthony Barlow provides the inspiration, tools, and roadmaps to move from where you are to work that matters to you and uniquely fits your strengths and talents. Episodes are relevant to the career challenges people are facing right now, like this one about making a career change during COVID by finding hidden opportunities. 

3. Pivot with Jenny Blake 

Looking for guidance about what’s next for your career and creative projects? In this podcast hosted by Jenny Blake, author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, learn how to embrace fear, insecurity, imperfection, and intuition as the superpowers they are while pivoting. Episodes include intimate conversations with authors and friends like Seth Godin about finding opportunity in unexpected places through practical tips and tools. Jenny’s motto? If change is the only constant, let’s get better at it. 

4. Career Warrior Podcast

The Career Warrior Podcast’s goal is to help job seekers land their dream jobs and to help them live their best life. Hear motivational advice and job-hunting strategies from industry leaders like LinkedIn’s Andrew Seaman, resume experts, and job seekers to help guide you through your career. This show retells the stories, dreams, and struggles of successful career coaches, brave startup founders, and professionals who just want to bring light into everyone’s career paths. Hear how they fell into career pitfalls and how they climbed out of it in 30 to 40-minute episodes.

5. Career Talk: Learn - Grow - Thrive

In Career Talk, host Stephanie Dennis is on a mission to empower people to take control of their careers by offering holistic career advice. Topics include job hunting, career development, dealing with a bad day, perfecting your resume, preparing for an interview, and more. You’ll get practical advice about everyday challenges like dealing with burnout and how to explain a job-hopping past.

6. The Marie Forleo Podcast

Named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation, Marie Forleo’s goal is to help you become the person you most want to be. In this podcast, Marie and her guests share actionable strategies for greater happiness, success, motivation, creativity, productivity, love, health, contribution and fulfillment — often with a lot of laughs. From business, marketing and career advice, to tackling failure, disappointment and fear, to philanthropy and doing our part to make the world a more loving, just and equitable place — this podcast covers it all.

7. Switch, Pivot, Or Quit

In this podcast, host Ahyiana Angel offers an intimate look at navigating career transitions on your own terms, with candid conversations for when you're deciding if you need to Switch, Pivot, or Quit. She draws on her own experience of successfully switching careers from a sports entertainment publicist to a published author, as well as that of her guests who share stories of women who have learned best practices through personal and professional development resulting in practical advice and actionable tips. Topics include everything from remote working tips during COVID to working through imposter syndrome.

8. The Career Reset

Hosted by Mel Savage, former senior Fortune 500 Executive turned Founder and CEO of The Career Reset, this podcast is your one-stop-shop for creating a career that gives you meaning and purpose, and still pays the bills. Each week, you’ll get inspiration, tools and advice to grow your career, get a new job, change careers, manage mental health at work, become a stronger leader, deal with a bad boss, write a killer resume, deliver a powerful interview, build a support network and build your personal brand. Mel also interviews subject matter experts from coaches to corporate executives to give you the behind the scene details on how career management works in the real world.

9. The Evolved Career

The Evolved Career is a podcast meant to inspire, entertain, teach and motivate you to move forward powerfully and confidently to get the career and the life you want. Host Julie Bauke believes in a world where we are all working - and living - in alignment with our best selves, giving our time and talent to the things we truly care about. Learn about things like resilient communication and how to win both at work and at home.

10. The Career Change Maker

The Career Change Maker podcast helps you answer questions like: How do I find my dream job? How do I change careers? How can I pivot without taking a pay cut? Is now really the right time for a career change? Each week, host Janine Esbrand brings you career change tips, strategies and inspirational stories that can help you to get unstuck and transition into work that you love. Janine shares the approaches she used to leave her corporate lawyer job and build a portfolio career that has her jumping out of bed every morning. Along with sharing her best tips, she interviews amazing everyday change makers who are loving their work and life since making a career move to share insights about things like the power of embracing change.

Know of any other great podcasts that should be part of this list? Drop us a note at info@movingworlds.org! For even more customized support developing, changing, or accelerating your career in 2021, apply to our February cohort of the MovingWorlds Institute Global Fellowship.