The Professional Development Ladder

Finally, well-defined career paths for software professionals.

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Want to know more? Start here. The most in-depth, well-thought-out career progression guide available. Our paths cover developers, architects, Scrum masters, agile coaches, technical managers, testers, quality managers and product owners. Learn the ways that the PDL can help you to retain teams and amplify their effectiveness.

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professional development ladder by construx

Why is there a need for career pathing?

Unlike with more established professions, career paths for software professionals have never been well defined. But we’ve changed that.

Having a well-defined career path presents a great opportunity. For individuals, it supports enhancing their personal capabilities and advancing in their careers. For companies, career pathing increases staff capacity and capability over time—without adding extra staff.

A software professional’s experiences should build in ways that tap into each person’s ability to grow over time. In turn, that will result in steadily increasing contributions to their organizations.

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The Five Career Paths


Software
Architect

Career Path
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Agile Technical
Coach

Career Path
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Software Quality
Manager

Career Path
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Software Technical
Manager

Career Path
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Product
Owner

Career Path
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Frequently Asked Questions

At Construx we believe every software project can be successful. Led by Code Complete author, Steve McConnell, our team is comprised of professionals who are software experts first, software trainers and consultants second. Our mission is to make your software teams more effective.

We know what lessons individuals and organizations need to learn in order to be more effective, and our career pathing offers the most comprehensive program available to developers and their organizations.

Organizations that provide career pathing are better able to retain technical staff, are aware of any knowledge gaps in their software organization and are capable of filling those gaps. This all leads to a more effective software organization overall.

Wanting to learn more is a fundamental trait of technical staff. Our Professional Development Ladder gives a clear path for individual success. Instead of learning lessons the hard way and developing your own curriculum, we’ve developed our ladder to maximize individuals’ time spent learning, so they can truly master their craft the same way that those in traditional vocations do.

The content is designed to be consumed over the course of six to ten years to reach mastery in any given path. However, the benefits of implementing a Professional Development Ladder will be noticeable within the first few months.

Yes. To get the full benefits of the PDL, we suggest an implementation workshop to customize the PDL to fit your organization’s needs.

Our experience says, absolutely. Lacking opportunities to grow professionally, or not having clear career pathing, leads to stagnation and high turnover. Implementing a PDL at your organization shores up a weak spot in company culture.

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Want help customizing the Professional Development Ladder?

Many organizations want a customized ladder or career track. We can help you tailor a program that meets your company’s needs.

Learn more about our PDL support services and contact us.