As a nationwide TikTok shutdown looms, over 100,000 full-time TikTok content creators are scrambling to figure out the best way to reconcile their primary source of income.Among them are CareerTok creators, a group of influencers who offer workplace and job-hunting advice in the form of short videos. As the platform disappears, so will their followings and years of past content.Last year, Congress passed a bill that required TikToks parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. assets or go dark this Sunday Jan. 19. Although the future remains uncertain, as of today, no sale has been approved and the Supreme Court upheld the ban. Both viewers and creators are bracing for an impending shutdown and figuring out next steps.We spoke to Hanna Goefft and Courtney Johnsontwo CareerTok creators with around 300,000 followers eachabout how theyre preparing for the ban and their thoughts on the future of career advice on social media. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.I would not be where I am right now without TikTokHanna Goefft: Hands down, I would not be where I am right now as a full-time content creator without TikTok. From my own career journey, I gained a lot of career-related job-search-strategy knowledge that seemed like common sense to me. But from talking with my friends, I started to see that it wasnt. I saw an opportunity to start sharing this base of knowledge that I had a great handle on, so I posted my first TikTok. My videos got so much traction and I realized there is a real appetite for this kind of career advice content. In 2024, I left my corporate career to pursue this full-time.Courtney Johnson: I had worked at a bunch of marketing agencies building brands for other people, and I realized it was time to start building my personal brand. So I started posting consistently about marketing and career first on LinkedIn and then TikTok, and everything has taken off over the past few years. TikTok is my biggest platform, and if TikTok is banned, I will lose revenue, opportunities, and so much of my audience.De-risking and diversifyingHG: As soon as the ban came under discussion, a big focus of mine became de-risking and diversifying my platform. Ive really focused on Instagram growth over the past year, just as a way to immediately make available my brand partnership opportunities that I rely on for income. Im also thinking about other channels: LinkedIn is getting a lot of traction and is top of mind for career-related creators. YouTube also increased their Shorts limit to three minutes. But its a totally different strategy to be creating content across all these different platforms. I also now have a goal to build my revenue in a way that lessens my reliance on brand partnerships. In the career-advice space, coaching and online courses seem like obvious offerings to explore.CJ: Immediately when I heard the ban might happen, I downloaded and saved my TikToks for the future. I had only started posting on Instagram a year ago, but now Ive really doubled down on my Instagram. I started posting more Reels and more Threads. Im optimistic that my pivot can help me focus on whats important and be successful. About a third of my income comes from my coaching, and another large portion comes from courses and online materials that I create for others. I probably get around half of my coaching customers from TikTok, and Im sad to see that go.Unlike any other platformHG: TikTok has such a unique content culture that I have not seen anywhere else. Instagram is focused on connecting you with people you already know, and on Youtube you have to go and seek out any short-form content. Nothing else has TikToks authenticity or that highly curated algorithm that knows exactly what you want to see. There are so many full-time creators with no protection; this shutdown is kind of like doing a mass layoff with no severance.CJ: I think every creator is worried right now that their audiences will shake up. TikTok is so unique in that the discoverability is unlike any other platform. It sends you people that align with your values and the topics youre interested in, in a way other platforms just cannot do.