Career Mastery

Career Roadmap — the 10-year arc

Most careers are accidents. The ones that compound are designed. This module forces a 10-year sketch you can revise quarterly.

The four-layer arc

1. Identity (10 yr): who am I trying to become — the title, role, lifestyle, and reputation.
2. Trajectory (3–5 yr): the next two roles that get me there, in order.
3. Position (1 yr): the role I am building toward this year — promotion, lateral move, or external offer.
4. Skill bets (90 day): the 2–3 specific skills I am compounding now to earn the position.

Roadmap worksheet

Skill Stack Analyser

Careers compound on skill stacks, not on single skills. Map yours, score it, and find the gap that pays the highest return.

Score your stack

List 6–10 skills relevant to your trajectory. For each, score honestly:

• Level: 1 (novice) → 5 (top 1%)
• Demand: 1 (niche / dying) → 5 (red-hot)
• Leverage: 1 (does not multiply other skills) → 5 (multiplies everything)

Skill stack worksheet

Total-Comp Calculator

Salary is not your compensation. Total comp is. Calculate it before any negotiation or offer comparison so you know what you are actually being paid.

Why this matters

• A "$140k base" with no bonus, no equity, no match can be worth less than a "$120k base" with all four.
• Sign-on amortises across a year — it doesn't repeat.
• Equity is not cash. Discount it in your head if the company isn't liquid.

Salary Negotiation Playbook

A 7-step protocol for the highest-leverage 30 minutes of your career — the offer call.

1. Anchor before they do. When asked for a number, give a researched range with the bottom of the range above what you would accept.
2. Know your BATNA. What is your best alternative to no deal? (Current job, other offers, savings runway.) Negotiate from BATNA, not from need.
3. Negotiate the whole package. Base, bonus, equity, sign-on, vacation, start date, title, remote terms. Trade across categories.
4. Ask for the offer in writing. Then take 24–72 hours. Decisions made under the same-day phone-call adrenaline are usually wrong.
5. Counter once, with confidence. "Based on [data + leverage], I was hoping to land closer to X. Is that something we can work toward?"
6. Use silence. After making your ask, stop talking. Let them respond.
7. Get it in writing again. Verbal final offer → written final offer → signature. In that order.

Pre-negotiation worksheet

Network Map & Cadence

Your network is the second-largest determinant of your earnings (after skills). Map it intentionally; cadence it on autopilot.

Five concentric rings

1. Ring 1 — Inner circle (5 people): trusted advisers who would take your call at 11pm. Cadence: monthly check-ins.
2. Ring 2 — Active allies (15): peers, mentors, sponsors actively helpful. Cadence: quarterly catch-up.
3. Ring 3 — Warm contacts (50): ex-colleagues, ex-bosses, former clients. Cadence: 2× per year.
4. Ring 4 — Loose ties (150): people you'd recognise. Cadence: yearly touch + occasional value-add.
5. Ring 5 — Audience: your public surface (LinkedIn, content). Cadence: weekly to monthly publishing.

Network audit

Performance Review Prep

Reviews are not surprise quizzes — they are negotiations you write the script for. Walk in with the document, not waiting for one.

The performance review document (you write it)

1. Top 3 outcomes shipped this period. Quantify in dollars, time saved, risk avoided, or reach.
2. Top 3 capabilities I built. Skills levelled up, certifications, scope expanded.
3. Top 3 challenges and how I handled them. Pre-empt the criticism by naming it first, with the lesson.
4. Goals for next period. Specific, measurable, aligned with team strategy.
5. What I need from you (manager). Resources, scope, sponsorship, feedback. Make the ask explicit.

Wins-into-impact reframer

Interview Prep System

A repeatable process for the four interview types. Stop walking in to wing it.

Four interview archetypes

1. Behavioural: "Tell me about a time…". Prepare 8–10 STAR stories tagged to common themes (conflict, leadership, failure, ambiguity, scale).
2. Technical / case: Prepare a 3-step problem-solving framework you say out loud (clarify → structure → solve → check).
3. Cultural / values: Prepare 3 stories that demonstrate the company's stated values. Read their handbook / careers page.
4. Reverse interview: Prepare 8–10 sharp questions you ask them. The questions you ask reveal as much as the answers you give.

STAR story bank (build 8–10)

Reverse-interview question library

• "What does great look like in this role 12 months in?"
• "What's the biggest challenge facing the team that you'd want me to take on first?"
• "How does this team measure success — and where does that diverge from how the company measures it?"
• "What's the strongest reason someone leaves this team?"
• "How is performance reviewed and rewarded here?"
• "Who would I be working most closely with day-to-day, and what's their working style?"

Career Pivot Calculator

Pivots feel scary because the math is fuzzy. Make it explicit so the decision is about fit, not fear.

Beyond the dollars

• Skill compounding: does the new path open more options in 10 years, or fewer?
• Energy: does the work pull or push you on a Sunday night?
• Optionality: if the new role doesn't work in 18 months, is the next move easier or harder than from here?
• Identity drift: do you become the person you want to be by doing this work?

Annual Career Review

A 90-minute review you run on yourself once a year. Most people only do it after they get fired.

The 12-question review

1. What did I ship this year that I am proud of?
2. What did I avoid that I shouldn't have?
3. What skill compounded most? Least?
4. Did total comp grow more or less than 7% real (above inflation)?
5. Am I closer to my 10-year identity or further?
6. Who in my network helped me most? Have I thanked them?
7. Who did I help? (Reciprocity audit.)
8. Energy: in the green, yellow, or red?
9. If I had to interview for my own job today, would I get it?
10. If a recruiter called with a "perfect" role, what would it look like?
11. What is the single biggest career risk I am ignoring?
12. What is the one bet for next year?

Manager Relationship Cadence

Your manager is your single largest career asset (or liability). Manage the relationship deliberately, not reactively.

The 4-meeting cadence

1. Weekly 1:1 (30 min): tactical — current work, blockers, decisions needed. Bring the agenda.
2. Monthly skip-level prep (30 min): what to surface up the chain. Brief your manager so they look good.
3. Quarterly career conversation (60 min): not status — career. Promotion path, skill gaps, scope expansion. Schedule it; they won't.
4. Annual review (90 min): two-way. You review them as much as they review you.

The "manage up" toolkit

• Update format: use a consistent weekly format (e.g. shipped / in progress / blocked / asks).
• Pre-empt the question: if you know they will ask, answer it in writing before the meeting.
• No surprises: bad news travels with you, not to you. Tell your manager before they hear it elsewhere.
• Reciprocity: ask once a quarter "What would make your job easier this month?"

Manager fit audit

Skills & Wins Log

A running log of skills built and wins shipped — so reviews, interviews, and resumes write themselves.

Wins log template

Skills log template

Exit / Transition Planner

A pre-built protocol for leaving a role well — whether by your choice or theirs.

The 90-day pre-exit window

1. T-90: emergency fund check. 3–6 months of expenses available before any voluntary exit.
2. T-90: network reactivation. Tell ring 1 you are exploring.
3. T-60: resume + LinkedIn updated. Wins log made portable.
4. T-60: reverse interviews — talk to 5 people in roles you might want.
5. T-30: active applications / conversations.
6. T-0: resign professionally with 2–4 weeks notice. Bridges intact.
7. T+30: document handover. Last impression compounds for years.

Resignation script

"Thanks for the time today. I wanted to let you know I've accepted a role at [or 'I've decided to move on to a new role'], and my last day will be [date, ~2–4 weeks out]. I want to make this transition as smooth as possible — I've started a handover doc and I'm happy to help recruit my replacement. I've appreciated [genuine specific thing]."

Career Principles — the operator's code

A short list of decision rules. Tape it to the inside of your head.

1. Optimise for trajectory, not title. The title is a label; the trajectory is the asset.
2. Skills compound; companies don't. Pick the role that builds the skill stack, even if the brand is weaker.
3. The best raise is a different job. 7–20% comes from staying. 25–60% comes from moving. Plan accordingly.
4. Manager beats company beats role. A great manager in a mediocre role still grows you. A bad one in a great role still breaks you.
5. Get the offer in writing before deciding. Always.
6. Negotiate. Always. The expected value of asking is positive. The downside is "we can't move on that" — never "offer rescinded."
7. Document the wins as they happen. Memory is a liar at review time.
8. Burn no bridges. Industries are smaller than you think; the next 10 years compound on the last 10.
9. Reputation > resume. What people say about you when you leave the room is the asset.
10. Run the annual review on yourself. Or someone else will.
11. Never resign without a runway. Three to six months of expenses, in cash, before any voluntary exit.
12. Pay it forward. Every senior career was lifted by people who didn't have to.