Career Pathway Frameworks
Knowing what path you’re on for the next six months can help you frame the type of projects you work on until the next review cycle. These pathways include: the consistency path, the excellence path, and the leadership path.
If it helps, think of six months as "semesters." Who path do you want to be on for the next “semester” of your career?
Consistency path
Description: This person is great at what they do, and wants to stay in that lane for now. [Reasons why: Maybe things are hectic at the job, or in life, or they're in a good spot in their career and want to stay there]. They're not looking for special projects, or more leadership opportunities, or more education – they're looking to stay in their lane and produce great work and meet expectations.
Example: Most freelancers. They produce excellent work, use best practices, and have great client relationships. Are they open to new things? Yes. But they're not going to pitch them or ask for them. They don’t tend to be super interested in managing people, going to conferences, or reading business books for fun. They're content with the high quality of work they’re currently producing.
Within a Company: Promotions/Raises - Promotions might not come as quickly or raises not quite as high; it's more of a slow burn with smaller bumps. That said, consistent solid work is greatly needed and appreciated. Value - Companies often use reliable folks as pitch-hitters – they know they can put these folks on any project and the work will be solid.
Manager support: Your manager is looking for honesty from you that is your chosen path. This will save both of you from unnecessary conversations about pushing you to do more. If you're good with where you're at and want to stay on that track, great. The manager's role is to then ensure that you're still producing what need to be done at the proper standard.
Excellence Path
Description: The person desires excellence in their craft. They are open to trying new tactics, always utilizing best practices, open to getting certifications or going to conferences or watching webinars, and have a keen eye toward results of their content. They typically don't want to manage people. They may teach others, but often stay in their own lane. Their main goal is to become experts of their craft, and be the best at what they do. Their top traits tend to be reliability, speed, curiosity, and very high standards.
Examples: 1.) A principal writer within a tech corporation. She created the online education survey every year, which got better each time and received a ton of press coverage. She didn't run her own team, but she did lead the monthly writers meeting. She spoke at conferences. She gave interviews. She was the go-to person to represent BC's excellence. 2.) A content strategist at an agency. She didn't lead a team. However, she built out content frameworks for our clients [eg. what type of content should appear during which stage of the customer journey] and did a lot of competitor analysis reports.
Within a Company: Promotions/Raises - Promotions and raises are typically slower for this path. Most companies tend to move up managers faster than experts. But increased skills (if used) can receive a bump. Company value - Experts are highly valued in terms of their knowledge and can often find themselves as the go-to person. However, there's usually only one designated content expert at a company – such as the content strategist or the principal writer.
Manager Support: The manager is mainly there to offer you support, suggest learning opportunities, and ask questions about what projects you're working on. You’ll likely need to have candid conversations with your manager about what career growth means to you, and whether you’re looking to move up or continue diving into your craft at the same level.
Leadership Path
Description: The person desires growth and growing people around them. They are keen on suggesting strategies, trying new things, noticing and fixing problems ahead of time, leading people around them, and pitching ideas that haven't been tried before. They typically want to manage people. They tend to want to teach others and collaborate. Their main goal is to move the needle forward, and help others become experts at what they do. Their top traits tend to be proactiveness, strategy, relationship-building, and leadership.
Example: 1.) Former Editor II at a tech corporation. She noticed how terrible the onboarding process was so proactively changed the whole trial system (working with the Copyediting and Onboarding teams). She then rolled out this improved process for all teams on the site. This was a great example of scope. She also proactively tried to fix the site map by meeting with the SEO and Engineering teams to find a solution – while building her own. She proactively taught other teams how to use various tools. She started managing two people. She also pitched a channel we've never tested content in. 2.) Most managers are on this path.
Within a Company: Promotions/Raises - Promotions and raises are typically faster for this path. Companies tend to like the assurance that this person can lead a team. Companies are also looking for scope – is this person's leadership not just helping their team but other teams as well? Company value - They are often the ones tapped to lead new initiatives.
Management Support: Your manager will likely act as a sort of coach, and push you to pitch new strategies, lead initiatives, train others, and be proactive in solving issues. Since someone on the leadership path is often next up for a promotion, it's your manager's job to keep you in the spotlight.