Career Ladder Map Skill
"How do I get to the next level?" usually gets a vague answer. This skill makes it concrete: lay your
current demonstrated competencies next to the target level's, find the real gaps, and turn each into
a specific project that will generate the evidence a promotion-packet
needs. A plan, not a pep talk.
Required Inputs
Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:
- Current level → target level, and the ladder/rubric for both (the competencies each expects).
- Your current evidence — what you've demonstrated and where (a
brag-dochelps). - Constraints — your role's scope, time, and what opportunities are realistically available.
Output Format
Career Ladder Map — [name], [current] → [target]
1. Side-by-side — each competency at current vs. target, with your honest status:
| Competency | Target-level bar | Where I am now | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| e.g. Scope of influence | multi-team | strong within my team | 🟡 partial |
Status: 🟢 already demonstrating · 🟡 partial / inconsistent · 🔴 not yet.
2. The real gaps — the 2–4 competencies (🔴/🟡) that actually stand between you and the level. Be honest — a flattering map wastes quarters.
3. Evidence-generating plan — for each gap, a specific project that would create the proof, plus how you'd get the opportunity (ask your manager, volunteer, scope it yourself):
| Gap | Project that proves it | Opportunity / ask | By when |
|---|
4. Sequencing — what to focus on this quarter vs. next (you can't close every gap at once; pick the highest-signal ones).
5. Manager alignment — what to confirm with your manager so you're calibrated on the same bar (the #1 cause of surprise "not yet"s).
Quality Checks
- Both levels are mapped against the actual rubric, not a generic guess
- Your current status is honest (🟢/🟡/🔴), not aspirational
- Each gap has a specific project that generates evidence — not "get better at X"
- The plan names how you'll get the opportunity, not just the goal
- It's sequenced (this quarter vs. next), and includes a manager-calibration step
Anti-Patterns
- Do not produce a flattering self-assessment — an honest 🔴 you can fix beats a 🟢 the committee disagrees with
- Do not list goals without the project that proves them — "show more leadership" isn't a plan
- Do not try to close every gap at once — sequence by signal; depth beats breadth
- Do not skip manager calibration — closing gaps against a bar your manager doesn't share leads to a surprise "not yet"
- Do not confuse activity with evidence — the project has to produce a demonstrable, level-appropriate outcome
Based On
Career-ladder / competency-framework practice — gap analysis against the target level and evidence-led development planning.