# Build a career ladder from staff to partner for my firm

A level-by-level career framework for a professional services firm with competencies, expectations, and promotion criteria.

- Topic: HR & Hiring
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Career, Leadership, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/build-a-career-ladder-from-staff-to-partner-for-my-firm

## Prompt

```text
Help me build a career ladder for my professional services firm, from entry-level staff to partner or principal.

**Firm type and size:** [e.g. "40-person accounting firm", "25-person architecture practice", "engineering consultancy with 3 offices"]
**Current levels and titles:** [e.g. "Staff, Senior, Supervisor, Manager, Senior Manager, Partner" or "Designer, Project Architect, Project Manager, Associate, Principal"]
**Licensing expectations:** [e.g. "CPA license required for Manager", "PE license required to be engineer of record", "architect registration for Project Architect"]
**What we value:** [technical quality, client service, business development, people development, firm citizenship]
**Partnership path:** [equity / non-equity / both; buy-in expectations]
**Problems to solve:** [e.g. "people don't know what it takes to make manager", "promotions feel political", "good technicians stuck because they don't sell"]

Produce:
1. A matrix with levels as columns and competency areas as rows: technical expertise, quality and risk management, client relationship, project or engagement management, business development, people leadership, and firm contribution. Each cell describes observable behaviors, not adjectives.
2. Typical expectations per level: chargeability range, supervision scope, and client-facing responsibility - leave numbers as [FIRM TO SET] unless I provide them.
3. Promotion criteria and process: evidence required, who decides, timing, and how licensing milestones factor in.
4. A technical-expert track for people who do not want to lead business development.
5. Example development goals for someone moving from each level to the next.

Keep language fair and inclusive and avoid criteria that favor face time over results. Review with HR or employment counsel for local law, pay transparency rules, and consistency with existing policies before rollout.
```

## What to fill in

- equity / non-equity / both; buy-in expectations
- FIRM TO SET

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