Top 20 LinkedIn Creators on Career Development (2026)

What changed in the top 20 LinkedIn career development creators since our last ranking

The pool is larger this time: 374 active career development creators, against 239 in our previous edition.

Ten names are new in this top 20, and three of them take the podium: Mike Leber at #1, Justin Welsh at #2 and Chase Dimond at #3. The seven others sit further down.

No returning creator climbs. Dan Mian holds #19, and every other returner ranks lower than before: Rob Dance moves from #2 to #4, and Dora Vanourek, our previous #1, is now #8.

Ten creators from our previous top 20 are no longer in it.

#20 · Ben Meer, 826 median likes per career development post

Ben Meer, who calls himself the Systems Guy, is a New York Times bestselling author and is new in this edition. Career development is 4% of his feed, 12 posts out of 293.

His best career post earned almost 6 times his median.

"Underrated career advice: Stack complementary skills." His most liked career development post of the year, a two-line hook before the explanation: 4,783 likes. Read it

#19 · Dan Mian, 829 median likes per career development post

Dan Mian is a career coach and the founder of Gradvance, which helps UK graduates land jobs. He is the only returning creator at the same rank as in our previous edition.

He also posts the least of anyone here: 80 posts in 12 months, 13 of them on career development.

"Some job offers are more dangerous than rejections. Taking the wrong job almost broke me." His most liked career development post of the year, a first-person story from just after university: 3,378 likes. Read it

#18 · Ankur Warikoo, 837 median likes per career development post

Ankur Warikoo, founder of WebVeda and a bestselling author based in India, is new in this edition. He has the biggest audience in the ranking, 2.6M followers, and the lowest engagement rate in the top 20 (0.03%).

His career development posts earn 23% less than his overall median.

"5 signs of a toxic job: 1. There is no respect or recognition. 2. There is no progress." His most liked career development post of the year, a five-point list announced in its first words: 2,875 likes. Read it

#17 · George Stern, 877 median likes per career development post

George Stern is an entrepreneur and speaker whose headline lists McKinsey, Harvard Law, elected office and volunteer firefighting. He ranks #17, down from #9 in our previous edition.

His career development median went from 1,319 in 2025 to 890 so far in 2026. His posts are the second-longest in the top 20, 362 words on average.

"Staying at a job that doesn't value you isn't loyalty." His most liked career development post of the year, written as the caption of a video: 2,543 likes. Read it

#16 · Andrew Bolis, 921 median likes per career development post

Andrew Bolis, a former CMO who now consults on AI and marketing, writes the longest posts in the top 20 (382 words on average, among the creators we hold writing data for). Career development is 5% of his feed.

His best career post earned 1.6 times his median, the smallest gap in the top 20. His place rests on steady posts, not on one hit.

"Your resume got you the job interview. But your answers decide what happens next." His most liked career development post of the year, on interview answers: 1,485 likes. Read it

#15 · Thomas Tsangaras, 998 median likes per career development post

Thomas Tsangaras guides careers and relocations from Switzerland and founded Follow Your Heart. Career development fills 30% of his feed, the second-highest share in the top 20.

His 60 career posts put him eighth on total career likes below. He ranks #15, down from #8 in our previous edition.

"Kicking off the new year with a clean shot 💥" His most liked career development post of the year, a New Year post addressed to people leaving a company, relocating or starting over: 4,069 likes. Read it

#14 · Will McTighe, 1,149 median likes per career development post

Will McTighe writes about LinkedIn and B2B marketing. His follower count in our data fell sharply since our previous edition, which we read as a data error, so his engagement rate is left out of every comparison on this page.

His career posts earn 86% more than his overall median, the third-largest premium here. His career development median runs the other way: 1,920 in 2024, 1,558 in 2025, 925 so far in 2026.

"When we look at our LinkedIn feed, everyone's career looks perfect. A straight line to success." His most liked career development post of the year: 4,898 likes and 525 comments. The setup admits what a feed hides, then lists it. Read it

#13 · Victor Trieu, 1,230 median likes per career development post

Victor Trieu, a former banking executive who now helps senior leaders leave corporate life, is new in this edition. On 42k followers his 2.93% engagement rate is second in the efficiency table below.

His career development posts earn 99% more than his overall median, the second-largest premium in the top 20.

"Your environment is making you go extinct. Most people don't realise until it's too late." His most liked career development post of the year: 2,478 likes, only twice his median. Read it

#12 · Colby Kultgen, 1,264 median likes per career development post

Colby Kultgen, a former accountant based in Canada who founded 1% Better, is new in this edition. His career development posts earn 39% less than his overall median, the steepest discount in the top 20: the rest of his feed does better.

Career development is 4% of his feed, 11 posts out of 272.

"Quick reminder: You’re under no obligation to be the same person you were yesterday." His most liked career development post of the year: 8,516 likes, almost 7 times his median. A permission line, then a list of things to change, career path among them. Read it

#11 · Maryann (MJ) Jamieson, 1,351 median likes per career development post

Maryann (MJ) Jamieson was a managing director and CIO at ANZ, BMO and Barclays and now coaches people on backing themselves at work. New in this edition, she leads the efficiency table below with a 3.01% engagement rate.

Career development is 21% of her feed, the third-highest share in the top 20, and those posts earn 30% more than her overall median.

"No position is forever. Your job can change at any moment." Her most liked career development post of the year, which moves on to AI reshaping whole functions: 4,167 likes and 350 comments. Read it

#10 · Melissa Grabiner, 1,375 median likes per career development post

Melissa Grabiner is a resume writer and co-founder of 1Yes, a career coaching business. Career development fills 45% of her feed, the highest share in the top 20, and her 98 career posts are also the most here.

That volume makes her third on total career likes below. She ranks #10, down from #5 in our previous edition.

"This is my wish for everyone seeking a new opportunity. 💚 Keep going, keep networking and know this time will NOT last forever." Her most liked career development post of the year, which leads into a job search guide she wrote: 9,034 likes. Read it

#9 · Mel Robbins, 1,499 median likes per career development post

Mel Robbins, author of The Let Them Theory and host of The Mel Robbins Podcast, is new in this edition. She has the second-biggest audience in the ranking, 1.6M followers, on a 0.09% engagement rate.

Her 12 career development posts, 3% of her feed, earn 14% less than her overall median.

"YOU’LL NEVER FEEL READY. Ready isn’t a feeling. It’s a decision." Her most liked career development post of the year, which then tells how long she waited to start her podcast: 4,632 likes. Read it

#8 · Dora Vanourek, 1,522 median likes per career development post

Dora Vanourek, an executive advisor for senior leaders starting a new role (formerly at IBM and PwC), was number one in our previous edition and ranks eighth in this one.

Her median of 485 comments is the third-highest in the top 20, behind Justin Welsh and Rob Dance, and her career posts earn 14% more than her overall median.

"Changing jobs doesn't mean you're unstable. It means you're brave enough to admit you want more." Her most liked career development post of the year: 7,353 likes and 903 comments. It takes the side of the job changer against the usual verdict on them. Read it

#7 · Rachel Mitchell, 1,541 median likes per career development post

Rachel Mitchell is an executive producer who helps experts get booked on TV and streaming. New in this edition, she has 981k followers, the third-biggest audience here.

Those career posts make up 8% of her feed and earn about her usual median (-4%).

"Laid off unexpectedly. No warning, no backup plan, and no idea what was next." Her most liked career development post of the year: 7,605 likes. It tells a man's layoff in the third person, not her own story. Read it

#6 · Jalonni Weaver, 1,794 median likes per career development post

Jalonni Weaver, a LinkedIn personal brand educator and talent consultant, leads the total-likes table below. Her 87 career development posts are the second-highest count in the top 20.

Her career development median has barely moved: 1,830 in 2025, 1,794 so far in 2026. She ranks #6, down from #4 in our previous edition.

"I pray that February will be the month you get a job offer." Her most liked career development post of the year, the same opening repeated line after line with a new wish each time: 11,346 likes. Read it

#5 · Juhi Bhatia, 1,871 median likes per career development post

Juhi Bhatia is a global recruiter based in the United Arab Emirates and the founder of JB. Her best post is the single biggest in the top 20, 11 times her median, also the widest gap.

Her career development median was 2,139 in 2025 and stands at 1,880 so far in 2026. She is down from #3 in our previous edition.

"I'm happy to announce that, as a recruiter in 2026, I don't care about..." Her most liked career development post of the year: 21,064 likes. The hiring side lists what it will not hold against a candidate, starting with age and current salary. Read it

#4 · Rob Dance, 2,133 median likes per career development post

Rob Dance, chief executive and founder of ROCK, is based in the United Kingdom. Of the five creators here with both a 2025 and a 2026 career development median, he is the only one rising: 1,108 in 2025, 2,088 so far in 2026.

His median of 676 comments is second only to Justin Welsh's. He ranks #4, down from #2 in our previous edition.

"People often want quick proof that their hard work is paying off." His most liked career development post of the year, which names the proof people wait for (a pay rise, a promotion, a title) before answering it: 7,818 likes and 834 comments. Read it

#3 · Chase Dimond, 2,377 median likes per career development post

Chase Dimond is an ecommerce email marketer, new in this edition, and the extreme case of this page. Career development is 2% of his feed: 15 posts out of 925, more than two posts a day.

His overall median is 160 likes. On those 15 career posts it is 2,377, a premium of 1,386%, the largest on this page. He also writes the shortest posts in the top 20, 74 words on average, among the creators we hold writing data for.

"The biggest risk isn't failing. It's spending years wondering what would have happened if you had tried." His most liked career development post of the year: 4,600 likes, under twice his career development median. Read it

#2 · Justin Welsh, 3,161 median likes per career development post

Justin Welsh, a writer and entrepreneur who publishes The Saturday Essay, is new in this edition (we profiled him in his data biography).

His median of 1,004 comments per career development post is the highest in the top 20 and the only one above a thousand. Career development is 3% of his 466-post year, and those posts earn about what the rest of his feed does (-2%).

"You're 2-3 years away from an insane life. One question decides if you get it: Do you have the patience?" His most liked career development post of the year: 11,572 likes and 1,582 comments, the most commented best post in the top 20. Read it

#1 · Mike Leber, 3,451 median likes per career development post

Mike Leber, an executive advisor to senior leaders and founder of the Innovation Leader Accelerator, tops this ranking with 3,451 median likes per career development post, 58 times the typical career development post we measured. He is based in Austria and new in this edition.

His place rests on 10 career development posts, the floor of this ranking, 3% of his feed. Those posts earn 29% less than his overall median of 4,890: his other topics do better still.

He also makes the efficiency table below (1.08%), the only account in it above 50k followers.

"Most careers don’t fail from lack of talent. They fail from quiet self-rejection." His most liked career development post of the year: 10,700 likes and 617 comments. Read it

Where do these cards come from? We computed every figure on this page from public posts with MagicPost's LinkedIn analytics: median engagement per theme, share of feed, premiums and trajectories, across 374 career development creators and 22,033 career development posts. Run it on your own profile, side by side with anyone on this list.

Which career development creators just missed the top 20?

Five names sit right behind the cut, all within 48 likes of number twenty:

Reno Perry, at #22, is the one creator in these 25 for whom career development is more than half the feed (56%). He published 197 career posts in 12 months and ranks second on total career likes below.

Carlos Stella, at #25, carries the widest theme premium among the five: his career posts earn 136% more than his overall median.

Which LinkedIn career development creators have the highest engagement rate?

Raw likes flatter the largest followings, so divide by reach: engagement rate on career development posts, median likes divided by followers (20k followers and over). The order changes completely:

Two Australian accounts under 50k followers lead it, Maryann (MJ) Jamieson (#11) and Victor Trieu (#13), at about two and a half times the rate of anyone else in the table. Mike Leber, our #1, is fourth, on 319k followers.

For how career development compares with other subjects, see our study of LinkedIn engagement rate by topic.

Which career development creators get the most total likes on LinkedIn?

One more cut counts the total likes on career development posts over 12 months, where frequent posters gain ground:

Jalonni Weaver leads on 87 posts, and Reno Perry needs 197 to land just behind her. Melissa Grabiner reaches almost the same total in 98, and Juhi Bhatia makes the table on only 37.

Three names come from outside the top 25: Jonathan Javier, Anna Chernyshova and Roberta Storey, each with more than 200 career posts. Mike Leber, our #1 on 10 posts, is not in it.

Which LinkedIn career development creator gets the most comments per post?

This cut divides comments by likes. The record in our career development pool belongs to Meera Remani, an executive coach: 208 median comments against 233 median likes, close to one comment for every like.

Nathan Hirsch and Loren Rosario-Maldonado complete the podium (counting creators with 100+ median likes). None of the three is in the top 20, where the typical creator gets one comment for every 6 likes.

Are the top LinkedIn career development creators full-time career voices?

No. Of the 374 creators who post career development consistently, 53 give it at least half their feed, and none of them reaches this top 20. The most dedicated names here are Melissa Grabiner (45%), Thomas Tsangaras (30%) and Maryann (MJ) Jamieson (21%).

Fourteen of the twenty keep career development under 10% of what they post.

For these tourists the topic swings both ways. The three biggest premiums all go to them: Chase Dimond (+1,386%), Victor Trieu (+99%) and Will McTighe (+86%). So do the three steepest discounts: Colby Kultgen (-39%), Mike Leber (-29%) and Ankur Warikoo (-23%).

Thirteen of the twenty earn more on career development than on their other posts. The three most dedicated creators sit between -2% and +30%.

The top 20 is mostly American: 10 of the 20 are based in the United States, two each in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and one each in Austria, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and India.

Country by country rankings: the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, the full series.

Next to this theme, see our ranking of the top LinkedIn personal development creators and, for the hiring side, the top LinkedIn recruiting creators. And if showing up in these creators' comment sections is part of your plan, an engagement feed keeps it to a five-minute daily habit.

How we ranked the top LinkedIn career development creators

All of this is MagicPost's own research. We went through 22,033 career development posts from the last 12 months and ranked 374 creators by median likes on their career development posts.

Only creators with at least one post in the last 60 days are ranked, a rule new in this edition. The method:

• Floors: at least 5,000 followers and 10 career development posts in the window; deleted posts excluded.

• Median rather than average: no single viral post can buy a place.

• Career development posts only: our own classifier tags each post's theme, and only career development posts count.

• Career development posts analyzed: the posts our dataset holds per creator, sometimes fewer than they published.

• Per creator: share of feed, premium over their own median, yearly trajectories, engagement rate and comment ratio.

Twelve of the top-20 medians rest on fewer than 20 career development posts, our #1's on exactly 10, so a few posts can move a rank. Rankings refresh as the data does. No placement here was sponsored; every rank comes straight from the median.

Study them, then study yourself. With MagicPost you can analyze any career development creator the way we just did (median engagement by theme, share of feed, premiums, trajectory) and benchmark your own profile against the pool. The data on this page is the product.