---
aliases: ["Career Ladder Map"]
tags: [pm-skills, skill]
skill: career-ladder-map
description: "Map where you are against the next level and build a concrete plan to close the gap. Use when asked to map a career ladder, find the gap to the next level, build a development/growth plan, or figure out what to work on to get promoted. Produces a level-gap map — current vs. target competencies side by side, the specific gaps, and a prioritised 1–2 quarter plan of evidence-generating projects to close them."
---

# 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`](../promotion-packet/SKILL.md)
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-doc`](../brag-doc/SKILL.md) helps).
- **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.

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