Job-Hunter-Linkedin-Skill-Hermes-OpenClaw-ClaudeCode-Comet/skills/career-gps.md

Career GPS

Strategic career planning, skill gap analysis, and role transition roadmapping. Don't drift through your career. Navigate it with intent.

Philosophy

Most careers happen to people. Career GPS puts you in the driver's seat by treating your career like a product — with a roadmap, milestones, and metrics.

The model:

1. Current State — Honest audit of skills, title, comp, trajectory
2. Target State — Where you want to be in 1, 3, 5 years
3. Gap Analysis — What's missing between current and target
4. Action Plan — Concrete steps with timelines
5. Feedback Loops — Regular check-ins to adjust course

Input Required

• Current role, title, and compensation
• Years of experience
• Industry and domain
• Career aspirations (vague or specific — we'll refine them)
• Skills inventory (or resume/LinkedIn for extraction)

Workflow

Phase 1: Career Audit

Rate your current state (1-10):

Technical Skills:
  - Core technology stack:     [1-10]
  - System design/architecture: [1-10]
  - Code quality/craft:        [1-10]
  - DevOps/infrastructure:     [1-10]
  - Data/databases:            [1-10]
  - Security:                  [1-10]

Leadership Skills:
  - Technical leadership:      [1-10]
  - People management:         [1-10]
  - Cross-functional collab:   [1-10]
  - Communication/presenting:  [1-10]
  - Mentoring/coaching:        [1-10]

Business Skills:
  - Product thinking:          [1-10]
  - Business domain knowledge: [1-10]
  - Data-driven decisions:     [1-10]
  - Stakeholder management:    [1-10]

Career Metrics:
  - Compensation vs. market:   [above/at/below]
  - Title vs. experience:      [ahead/on-track/behind]
  - Learning velocity:         [accelerating/steady/decelerating]
  - Network strength:          [strong/moderate/weak]
  - Visibility/reputation:     [high/medium/low]

Phase 2: Target Definition

Define your targets across time horizons:

1-Year Target:
  - Title/Role: [specific]
  - Compensation: [range]
  - Company type: [startup/scale-up/enterprise/FAANG]
  - Key skills to acquire: [2-3]
  - Key achievements to land: [1-2]

3-Year Target:
  - Title/Role: [specific]
  - Compensation: [range]
  - Scope (team size, budget, impact): [specific]
  - Domain expertise: [specific]
  - Leadership level: [IC/staff/principal/manager/director]

5-Year Target:
  - Career model: [IC track / Management track / Founder / Consultant]
  - Compensation target: [range]
  - Impact scope: [team/org/industry]
  - Lifestyle design: [remote/hybrid/in-office, hours, location]

Phase 3: Gap Analysis

Compare current vs. target:

Target Role: [e.g., Staff Engineer]
Current gaps:
  - System design at scale: Need distributed systems experience
  - Technical leadership: Need cross-team influence examples
  - Scope: Currently own service, need org-level impact
  - Visibility: No conference talks, blog posts, or open source presence

Priority matrix:
  High Impact + Quick Win:
  - [e.g., Start a technical blog]
  - [e.g., Mentor a junior engineer]

  High Impact + Long Term:
  - [e.g., Lead a cross-team migration]
  - [e.g., Get staff-level promotion at current company]

  Low Impact + Quick Win:
  - [e.g., Update LinkedIn headline]
  - [e.g., Complete a certification]

  Low Impact + Long Term:
  - [e.g., Learn a new programming language unrelated to target]

Phase 4: Action Roadmap

Quarterly breakdown:

Q1 (Next 3 months):
  Skill building:
  - [Specific course/book/project for top skill gap]
  Network:
  - [Attend 2 meetups/conferences in target domain]
  - [Reach out to 5 people in target role for coffee chats]
  Visibility:
  - [Publish 1 blog post or talk]
  - [Contribute to 1 open source project in target space]
  Career moves:
  - [Update resume and LinkedIn for target direction]
  - [Start casual conversations with target companies]

Q2-Q4: [Similar structure with increasing ambition]

Milestones:
  - [ ] 6-month checkpoint: [specific measurable goal]
  - [ ] 12-month checkpoint: [specific measurable goal]

Career Transition Playbooks

IC → Engineering Manager

Skills to develop:
- 1:1s, performance reviews, hiring, firing
- Project management, sprint planning, roadmap ownership
- Cross-functional communication
- Budget and vendor management

Steps:
1. Start mentoring 1-2 junior engineers
2. Volunteer to lead a project with 3+ people
3. Take on hiring responsibilities (screening, interviewing)
4. Ask to officially manage an intern or junior
5. Read: "The Manager's Path", "An Elegant Puzzle"
6. Find an EM mentor at your company
7. After 6-12 months of informal leadership, pitch the transition

Backend → Full Stack

Skills to develop:
- Frontend framework (React/Vue/Svelte)
- CSS and responsive design
- Browser APIs and web performance
- UX fundamentals
- State management

Steps:
1. Build a full-stack side project
2. Pair with frontend engineers on features
3. Take on small frontend tasks at work
4. Learn the team's frontend stack on company time
5. Build a portfolio of 2-3 full-stack projects
6. Apply to full-stack roles with portfolio evidence

Big Tech → Startup

Mindset shifts:
- "I built systems for millions" → "I'll build the MVP in a weekend"
- Process and documentation → speed and iteration
- Specialized role → wear many hats
- Comfort and stability → ambiguity and chaos

Financial planning:
- Calculate your runway: savings / monthly expenses = months
- Factor in equity risk: value it at $0
- Negotiate for cash-heavy comp if possible
- Understand your risk tolerance honestly

Steps:
1. Define your risk profile and runway
2. Identify startup stage preference (pre-seed, seed, series A)
3. Build network in startup ecosystem (YC alumni, AngelList)
4. Develop generalist skills: DevOps, product sense, growth
5. Start with freelance/consulting to test the water

Developer → Product Manager

Skills to develop:
- User research and customer discovery
- Product analytics and metrics
- Roadmap prioritization frameworks
- Stakeholder management
- Business case development

Steps:
1. Volunteer for product-adjacent work (specs, user interviews)
2. Build a side product end-to-end
3. Take a product thinking course (Reforge, Product School)
4. Shadow PMs at your company
5. Transition internally (easiest path) or apply to APM programs
6. Build a product portfolio (case studies with outcomes)

Employee → Freelancer/Consultant

Financial planning:
- Emergency fund: 6-12 months expenses
- Health insurance plan (independent)
- Tax structure (LLC, S-Corp, etc.)
- Accounting setup

Business foundations:
- Define your service offering (specific, not "I code")
- Set your rate: [annual salary target] / 1000 = hourly rate minimum
- Create a portfolio/case-study page
- Set up LinkedIn as a lead generation tool

Client acquisition:
1. Start moonlighting while employed (check contract)
2. Ask your network for referrals
3. Join freelance platforms as backup (Upwork, Toptal)
4. Write content demonstrating expertise
5. Target 3-5 anchor clients before going full-time

First 6 months:
- Month 1-2: Land first 2 clients at any reasonable rate
- Month 3-4: Raise rates 25% for new clients
- Month 5-6: Evaluate — is this sustainable? Adjust.

Role Transition Decision Matrix

Should you switch roles? Score each factor:

                          Stay  Switch  Weight
Growth potential            X             3x
Compensation ceiling              X      2x
Learning velocity                 X      3x
Work-life balance           X             2x
Team/culture                X             2x
Impact potential                  X      2x
Risk tolerance                    X      1x
Commute/location                  X      2x

Weighted total: _____
If "Switch" wins by 20%+ — it's time.
If close — what would make staying competitive?

Quarterly Review Template

Career Quarterly Review — [Date]

1. What were my goals for this quarter?
   [List goals from roadmap]

2. What did I accomplish?
   [Specific achievements with metrics]

3. What didn't I accomplish? Why?
   [Be honest — this feeds next quarter's plan]

4. What new opportunities appeared?
   [Serendipity audit — what came your way?]

5. What skills did I develop?
   [New tech, new domains, new soft skills]

6. How's my network?
   [New connections, strengthened relationships]

7. What's my energy/motivation level? (1-10)
   [Career satisfaction check]

8. Adjusted priorities for next quarter:
   [Updated goals based on learnings]

Integration with Other Skills

• resume-architect: Translates career plan into resume language
• salary-negotiator: Informed by market data and trajectory analysis
• jobhunter-master: Executes the job search when it's time to move
• linkedin-optimizer: Aligns profile with target trajectory

Files

• memory/career-plan.md — Master career roadmap
• memory/career-audit-[date].md — Quarterly self-assessments
• memory/skill-gaps.md — Active skill development tracking
• memory/network-map.md — Professional network management