Professional Development Ladder Levels

Combining knowledge areas and capability levels allows us to build career ladder levels. Ladder levels provide the mechanism for advancement and promotion. Moving up the ladder requires an engineer to obtain both additional breadth (more knowledge areas) and depth (improved capability within knowledge areas). It requires an increase in both knowledge and experience.

For historical reasons, our ladder levels go from 9 to 15. College graduates will generally start at Level 9, while experienced engineers may start at Level 10 or 11. Level 12 is considered full professional status at Construx. Many engineers within Construx choose not to go beyond Level 12, as Levels 13 to 15 can only be achieved by making significant, innovative contributions both to Construx and to the field of software engineering.

Table 16-3 describes each of the ladder levels and outlines the requirements for entering each level.

Table 16-3. Professional Development Ladder level requirements

LADDER LEVEL	DESCRIPTION	CKAS COVERED
9	A Level 9 engineer is beginning to learn the principles of software engineering and is generally just out of school. This person works under close supervision.	Not applicable.
10	A Level 10 engineer has some background in software engineering. This person either is recently out of school or has 1 to 2 years work experience. He or she is capable of performing work with limited supervision.	Introductory in all CKAs. Competence in 3 CKAs.
11	A Level 11 engineer has a fairly strong background in software engineering and can work independently as necessary. This person has worked on one or more completed projects and has experience in each of the basic software development lifecycle steps needed to release a product.	Introductory in all CKAs. Competence in 6 CKAs. Leadership in 1 CKA.
12	A Level 12 engineer has consistently had "wins" during his or her participation in all aspects of small and large projects and has been essential to those projects' successes. This person has a track record of consistently rendering clear technical judgment and routinely considering project-level issues. A Level 12 engineer is innovative, consistent, and contributes beyond the assigned tasks. He or she generally provides technical guidance to or supervises others.	Introductory in all CKAs. Competence in 8 CKAs. Leadership in 3 CKAs.
13	A Level 13 engineer is a champion who can consider both internal and external aspects of a project and ensure they are handled correctly and with consistently sound judgment. This person takes total ownership for all aspects of his or her project and makes many unique contributions. This engineer's decisions have a significant impact on Construx's profitability and overall well-being.	Introductory in all CKAs. Competence in 8 CKAs. Leadership in 5 CKAs. Mastery in 1 CKA.
14	A Level 14 engineer is a major technical resource to others in the company. This person consistently overcomes very difficult technical challenges, and makes key decisions on the goals and structure of Construx. A Level 14 engineer is familiar to many working software engineers both inside and outside Construx for one or more specific contributions that have advanced the art and science of software engineering. This person's areas of capability extend beyond company-level issues to industry-level issues.	Intentionally not defined.
	Work at this level requires a career-long commitment to the field of software engineering, including significant work outside of the Construx workday.
15	A Level 15 engineer is indispensable to Construx's success. This person consistently works to design and produce groundbreaking, world-class products. Working software engineers both within and outside Construx regard this person as a leader within the software engineering field. He or she takes primary responsibility for defining corporate practices. This person contributes frequently to the industry in numerous and varied ways. Work at this level requires a career-long commitment to the field of software engineering, including significant work outside of the Construx workday, and requires a degree of industry recognition for accomplishments that is well beyond the person's direct control.	Intentionally not defined.