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career-ladder-map

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.

Published by mohitagw15856 ↗mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills

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career-ladder-map

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Use career-ladder-map to turn [current evidence] and [promotion rubric] into the two to four most important competency gaps, specific proof-generating projects, and a sequenced quarterly development plan.

Required inputs

  • [current evidence]
  • [promotion rubric]

User-approved starter prompt based on a pinned source version; check current skill requirements before running. Task evidence ↗

SKILL.md

name: career-ladder-mapdescription: "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 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 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:

CompetencyTarget-level barWhere I am nowGap
e.g. Scope of influencemulti-teamstrong 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):

GapProject that proves itOpportunity / askBy 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.

Example Trigger Phrases

  • "Map a career ladder."
  • "Find the gap to the next level."
  • "Build a development/growth plan."
  • "Figure out what to work on to get promoted."