Design the Career Path You Want (and Deserve!)

Back in 2014, I became the product manager at a software company. Before I took on the role, it didn’t exist.

I’d been with the company for several years by that point. And while I liked my job, I was (frankly) bored. Ready for something new? But not ready to go elsewhere.

Many companies are very, very bad at creating defined career paths for employees — especially small companies. So people feel like they hit a ceiling.

And many managers aren’t proactively thinking about employee growth. They may encourage their direct reports in other ways, but they don’t consider, “What comes next?” if there’s no clear path to a promotion.

Instead of feeling held back, you can view this as an opportunity. Think of the role you want, and take the initiative to propose it to your manager. Provided you have a boss who supports you (and wants to retain you as an employee), you might get what you want.

No one else will look out for your career. You have to take control.

Identify a specific gap

You first have to ask yourself what you want from your next role within the company. Are you looking for a more senior version of your existing role, or a new role altogether?

If the senior role doesn’t exist, what will the role’s responsibilities include?

If the role overall doesn’t exist, what is the business purpose of the role?

In both cases, you need to answer the question: how will the company benefit? Companies aren’t likely to hand out new roles (especially since they involve more compensation), unless they understand “What’s in it for me?”

A senior role might fill a strategic gap, for example. A new role may bridge multiple departments, creating better alignment.

When I proposed a new role to my company — the product manager role — I saw a gap between the customer success team and the developer group. Working in customer success, I had a pulse on what customers needed and wanted from the product. But that information was often lost in translation, and as a result, new features would sometimes miss the mark.

Fewer missteps would have measurable benefits for the company (on top of everything else I thought I could bring to the role).

Outline a role

When you’re crafting a new role, you need to clearly define what the role will do. It’s almost like writing a job description, though it should be more detailed since you have the benefits of internal knowledge about the company.

I did a lot of research about product managers: typical responsibilities and how results are measured. I thought about how the role might fit into my company’s (small) structure.

My proposal for the new role included the following:

• Description of the role
• Responsibilities of the role
• How frequently the responsibilities would occur (like quarterly planning, bi-weekly touch-base meetings)
• Who the role would report to and what people reporting to the role
• How success would be measured
• Prior results from the existing role, demonstrating the probability of success in the new role
• Existing responsibilities that would need to be delegated elsewhere

My proposal was long. I wanted to show my boss that I had thoroughly considered the role. And, as much as possible, I didn’t want to leave any unanswered questions about the role. If I’d been vague, it would have left room for additional responsibilities to land in my lap, or that I’d end up doing too much work from my prior role.

Commit to a timeframe

Part of your proposal should include “When will this change occur?”

If there’s a raise (and there should be a raise!) the company may have to budget for the new role — especially if you’re leaving a gap in your prior role. It may mean that the company has to backfill your old role.

In other cases, creating a path to a new role may include incremental changes, such as a quarterly review of your existing role and its results before you take on the new role. And once certain milestones are hit, then you will assume the new role.

In either case, you want to have three pieces of information:

• When will a decision about the new role be made? (yes/no)
• What milestones need to be met first? (if any)
• When will the new role/compensation be effective?

At a minimum, you don’t want to be left hanging, especially if the company can’t afford a new role. Continue to follow up with your boss until you have a clear answer.

Create a transition plan

What will the transition between your old role and your new role look like?

It’s a lot different than hiring from the outside. There will likely be a period of overlap when you are doing both jobs. This is often the hardest part because you’re doing a lot of work, like training someone else in the department to take over your responsibilities. Plus adjusting to your new role.

A transition plan should be clearly outlined. If it isn’t, you might end up doing your old role for longer than anticipated, which makes it hard to be successful in your new role.

For example, my old role on the customer success team included account management. My new role as a product manager would not have that responsibility. All of my accounts had to be transitioned to other account reps. This was temporary, as a new hire was planned. However, by transitioning the accounts, ensured that I wouldn’t be responsible for some of the customer interactions until a new person was hired.

Don’t let a job hold you back

You may go through all of the work only to hear “no.”

Maybe the company can’t afford the additional compensation. Maybe they don’t see the value in the new role. Maybe they’re not open to an addition to the org structure. Maybe they say, “Not now, maybe later.”

It’s always a mistake. Companies that fail to nurture talented folks will ultimately lose talented folks, which ends up costing more in the long run.

If you hear “no” you know your next move: leave.

You can’t let a company control your career trajectory, no matter how much you like the company. You also can’t wait for the company to change its mind someday.

You’ve already done the legwork. You know what kind of role you’re looking for. You have a current list of your accomplishments to easily update your resume.

Always create your own career path. Don’t rely on any company to create it for you.

Check out my free eBook: 17 Smart Tools Solopreneurs Need to Start, Grow, and Scale.