Ladder-Based Career Progression

To illustrate how Construx's Professional Development Ladder supports career development, consider the progression of a technically oriented engineer from Level 10 to Level 12. The target leadership areas for this engineer are Engineering Tools and Methods, Design, and Construction.

Figure 16-2 shows the requirements for the engineer to reach Level 10. For each level, the boxes indicate the obtained capability level in each CKA.

Figure 16-2. Sample Professional Development Ladder requirements to reach Level 10.

As Figure 16-3 illustrates, to reach Level 11, the engineer adds depth by achieving Leadership in Construction and breadth by obtaining Competency in several other CKAs.

Figure 16-3. Sample Professional Development Ladder requirements to reach Level 11.

As Figure 16-4 shows, to reach Level 12, the engineer achieves Leadership in Design and Engineering Tools and Methods and obtains Competency in two additional CKAs.

Figure 16-4. Sample Professional Development Ladder requirements to reach Level 12.

The Professional Development Ladder supports a variety of career paths by allowing technical staff members to select the knowledge areas they wish to focus on. This provides both flexibility and structure as each person may guide his or her specific career path within the constraints of the capability level/CKA requirements. In the example shown in Figures 16-2 through 16-4, the developer has focused on Engineering Tools and Methods, Design, and Construction. In other cases, an engineer with a management orientation might focus on Engineering Management, Process, and Requirements. An engineer with a quality orientation might focus on Quality, Process, and Testing. Construx's Professional Development Ladder provides a consistent means of defining career progression regardless of the engineer's orientation.